16.Luca
Luca
“Get out of here,” I order the redhead who’s been trying to get me hard for twenty minutes now without success. “I’m sure I could...” she starts again in a low, sultry voice, but I cut her off, pushing her aside, and she falls backward onto the floor.
Alin’s hurt expression sears into my mind, burning. Why did she suddenly decide to show up here? I’ve been trying to erase her from my mind for two whole weeks. I can’t concentrate on anything, and I’m not getting any answers from any direction. I can’t connect her to anything or anyone.
But all the evidence points to her working with the Russians.
I want to believe she isn’t, but I can’t stop thinking about her the way I am now.
The way I’ve thought about her every minute of these shitty two weeks.
I can’t go to her directly and accuse her without proof.
I never work without proof and all the details in hand.
I straighten up and adjust my clothes. No whore in this filthy club could compare to even a strand of her hair.
I slam my fist on the glass table in front of me in frustration and take a gulp from the whiskey glass next to me.
I’ve lost count of how many whiskey bottles downed these past two weeks.
Why is it so hard for me to deal with her?
The sparkle in her gemstone eyes went out for the first time when she saw that whore on me.
I wanted so badly to push that bitch away and run to her, but there’s no place for traitors among us.
And what if she wasn’t a traitor? What if I made a mistake? I keep giving myself tiny pieces of hope every time I somehow come to terms with the situation.
“Fuck it,” I spit out into the air and stand up. I have to catch her and settle this once and for all. Even if it means she and the Russians will find out we’re onto them. I lost my sanity because of her—Alin. The redhead is still on the floor; it looks like she took a big dose today.
I frown in disgust. “Get her out of here!” I command the guard standing at the entrance to the room, before I quickly follow Alin outside, spotting her swaying drunkenly toward the parking lot with another man facing her.
It’s not hard to see that he’s scanning her body like a fucking pervert. Son of a bitch, I’ll kill him.
“In that case, you really are just Luca’s whore, nothing more,” I suddenly hear him say. I recognize that voice.
“Stas,” I call out immediately, and any trace of humanity in me vanishes. So they do know each other.
I feel a fire rising in my chest, and I’m one second away from burning down this entire club with both of them inside.
“Luca,” he turns to me, responding in the same cold tone, a smug look on his face.
I clench my fist tightly, resisting the urge to break his jaw right here and now.
I watch Abert pull Alin away and decide that this is probably my best chance to get more information.
The opportunity has literally fallen into my hands.
I love it when things are handed to me on a silver platter.
“I see your whores just keep getting better. You really caught an exotic one this time,” he remarks mockingly. He’s really testing my patience now.
“Looks like she caught your attention. What happened? Not enough interesting girls on your side, so you come to us?” I retort, hoping to provoke him into revealing information about Alin.
“She’s quite the catch, and as much as I’d love a taste.
..” Stas smirks, his tone mocking and suggestive.
Before he can finish, anger surges through me like a tidal wave.
Without thinking, I lung forward, gripping his collar with one hand and pull him close.
His laughter falters as my other hand moves swiftly, drawing my gun from its holster.
I press the cold metal against his stomach, feeling his breath hitch in surprise.
“I didn’t come here to discuss whores,” he manages to say, his voice strained with discomfort as my grip tightens on his collar. Fury still burns hot within me, but I reluctantly release him, cursing under my breath. I slowly holster my gun, the tension in the air palpable.
Behind me, Mariano silently appears, his presence suddenly feeling like a looming threat. “You’re on the wrong side of town, Stas,” Mariano’s voice cuts through the air like a blade, dripping with menace.
Stas glares defiantly at me for a moment before turning to face Mariano, his expression unreadable but his posture tense.
“And here comes your little lapdog, great. I need answers,” Stas responds with disdain, pushing my patience to its limit.
“You won’t come to this side of town and disrespect me or my brother.
Talk now, or you’ll be heading back to your men in pieces,” I grind out, stepping forward to grab him again, but he raises his hands in mock surrender.
“I came here because I wanted to know more about that girl of yours,” he begins. “She made quite an impression on my men.”
Now she’s fucking his men too? Who are you, Alin, and what the hell are you doing? I feel Mariano’s stare piercing my back, thinking the same thing.
“That girl caused serious internal injuries to my men, leaving them in the hospital for days,” he coolly volunteers, while showing me a picture of Vladimir strapped to a hospital bed on his phone. Mariano mentioned two weeks ago that they were injured that day. Did Alin do that?
“What are you talking about?” I ask, unable to hide the curiosity in my voice this time.
A spark returns to Stas’s eyes. “Seems like you don’t know what kind of gem you have here,” he taunts. Son of a bitch. “Maybe she really is just another one of your whores. I want her, name your price, and I’ll pay it now,” he offers, not hiding his intentions, which only increases my questions.
Is he admitting he works with Alin? But if that’s the case, why does he want to buy her from us? Could Mariano and I be wrong? I need to figure out what’s going on. I’ve been in the dark for too long with her. No one plays me.
“She’s not one of my whores, and she’s definitely not for sale,” I declare menacingly. I won’t give him any explanation. “Let’s get to the point. We both know what your men tried to do to Alin that day. Now start talking about what happened there, or I’ll lose my patience.”
He looks at me and smirks. “So, this treasure’s name is Alin.
..” he mutters, almost to himself. “Whether you sell her to me or not, she’ll end up working for me eventually,” he states confidently, turning to leave.
I can’t hold back anymore and reach for my gun again, but then a hand rests on my shoulder from behind.
“Brother, this isn’t the time. We need to figure out what really happened there. It seems Alin wasn’t actually working with him,” Mariano brings me back to a clear mindset, confirming what I’ve also started to believe. She wasn’t working with the Russians.
“So what the hell happened at the aquarium?” I whisper, running my hand through my hair in frustration, restraining myself from putting a bullet right between Stas’s eyes as he gets into a car waiting for him in the parking lot. He’s a dead man walking, and he doesn’t even know it.
“That’s it, I’m going to find her and she’s going to tell me everything I want to know,” I hiss through gritted teeth to Mariano, who gives me that same wary look he’s been giving me for the past two weeks— like he’s walking on eggshells around me.
Have I really lost my mind because of her?
A quiet curse slips from my mouth as we head back up to the private room in the club.
“You need to think clearly, brother. I can’t find any other reason she’d lie to us. And I don’t believe Alin could harm Stas’s experienced men to the point of severe internal injuries,” he tries to make me see reason, but it’s easy for me to believe what Stas said.
I saw the look of a dangerous animal in her eyes the day we burst into her apartment. If someone cornered her, I wouldn’t be surprised if she caused some serious damage. It wasn’t the look of someone who doesn’t know what danger is. Stas called her a ‘gem,’ what exactly did she do to them?
I’ve underestimated her. She might not be working with the Russians, but she still screams danger, and I’m not going to fall for that trap again.
I’ve been blinded by those eyes for too long; it’s time to get answers the way only I know how.
You won’t escape me, Alin Gray. You’ll leave the family one way and one way only–in a coffin.
“You’ve completely lost it. You’re actually going to believe that?” he finally cuts through my thoughts when I don’t answer him.
I return his gaze with a menacing look, “I am starting to believe Alin isn’t working with them, but the fact that she lied about what happened there is certain.
Now that the suspicions about the Russians are off the table, it’s time to handle her as my job requires.
” I’ll muster all my strength to be ready to finish the job if the situation calls for it.