Chapter 24
“Tell me what happened tonight,” Ava asked softly, placing her hands over Luca’s where they rested on her stomach.
It was early—maybe around five o’clock in the morning now—but neither of them had slept.
Every time Ava closed her eyes, she saw that madman, Tanaka, pointing a gun at Luca while Luca watched through the bars of that cage.
She could feel her heart speed up just thinking about it.
And she knew Luca hadn’t slept either. His restless breathing gave him away, as did the way he kept stroking her stomach, his touch warm and grounding. She needed that. She needed him.
Luca sighed, rolling onto his side and pulling her closer. "Riko Tanaka is a member of the Gekuryuu gang out of Japan."
"Gekuryuu?" she asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.
"It means 'Raging Current,' or something like that. They like intimidating names, hoping to terrify their victims."
"How is a ‘raging current’ scary?" she asked, a touch of sarcasm in her voice.
"They say their gang flows like a dangerous, unstoppable river, sweeping away everything in its path." Luca shook his head slightly. "Not my description. I’m just telling you what we’ve learned about him over the past few months."
"Why does he want to kill you?" Ava asked in a tiny voice.
Luca’s arms tightened around her when she stiffened, and he kissed her forehead, his touch soft.
"He didn’t really care about me, exactly," he replied.
"His boss is trying to push more designer drugs through the Seattle and San Francisco ports. Max Diatras controls the Pacific Northwest, and he’s not about to let the more dangerous drugs slip through.
He keeps a tight grip on the drug trade, ensuring the really dangerous stuff stays out. "
"If he has that kind of power, why not just keep all the drugs out?" she asked, a bit incredulous.
Luca shook his head. "It doesn’t work like that.
People will always seek out illegal drugs.
I do the same in Vegas and Reno. There are designer drugs coming from all over—Asia, Europe, and a lot of them are manufactured here in the U.S.
They’re not only more addictive, which means more desperation if people can’t get their fix, but also more deadly.
Max and I, along with our friends in Boston, Detroit, Chicago and New York, keep a tight control on the drug market so people don’t go crazy.
We keep the really dangerous stuff out, as much as possible, to reduce violence and keep the business running smoothly. "
Ava blinked, processing this. "That makes a weird kind of sense."
"Tanaka tried to dethrone Max a while ago," Luca continued. "But Max is solid, has everything locked down. So, Tanaka’s next plan was to lure Max out of Seattle. If he could get him here to Vegas, he thought he’d have a better shot at killing him."
"Diabolical," Ava said, shaking her head. "I’m sure there’s a lot about the drug trade that I don’t want to know about." She shifted so she could see his face. "But why would your friend come here?"
Luca let out a frustrated sigh. "Tanaka tried organizing union strikes across Vegas. When that didn’t work, he started vandalizing my construction sites. He’s been trying to get under my skin for a while now."
Ava frowned thoughtfully. "I still don’t understand why those kinds of activities would draw someone like Max to Vegas."
Luca paused for a moment, his eyes narrowing as he considered the situation.
"Tanaka needed something big to get Max’s attention.
He wanted to draw him out because I helped Max with a…
uh…problem several years ago. But Max isn’t stupid.
He knows Tanaka's been trying to weaken my control here. But I’m perfectly capable of handling problems occurring in my territory.
I don’t need Max coming in to solve my problems for me. "
Ava’s hand found his, squeezing it tightly. She didn’t fully understand everything about the world Luca was part of, but she understood one thing: he was determined to protect the people he cared about. And right now, that was her.
“Max, Dimitri, and a few other men around the country, and I have a sort of unspoken agreement,” Luca continued.
“If one of us runs into trouble, the others step up. If I need Max, he’ll be here within hours.
Same for me helping them out. We are all good friends and not the competitive mafia bosses that the media and movies like to portray us to be.
We all control our territories, but it’s a delicate balance.
If one falls, the others will feel it. We have to maintain control of our territories for everyone’s sake. ”
Ava snorted. “I’m sure the business leaders wouldn’t agree with that.”
Luca gave a small, ironic chuckle. “Actually, the business leaders can be far more corrupt than the gangs. They’re more subtle, but just as dangerous.
If they raise prices too much, they risk angering the public.
Riots and protests in the streets are far worse for businesses than the drug trade.
Addicts stick to the shadows, but angry consumers take to the streets.
If protests don’t work, they escalate to riots.
And when the average worker gets desperate enough, they resort to stealing. ”
He sighed, a slight puff of air that ruffled her hair as he spoke. “Like I said, it’s a delicate balance. Corporate greed is insidious. I allow the corporate assholes some leeway, but I have to reel them in from time to time, or they’ll burn everything down.”
Ava didn’t know how to respond. She’d always treated her employees with dignity and respect, sharing the profits of their work. But Luca was right. Cheap products, corporate greed, the slow erosion of trust between the consumer and the corporations—it was becoming a bigger issue by the day.
Luca turned his attention back to her, his voice softer now. “Why do you get so nervous when I…?”
Ava closed her eyes as she spoke, her voice quiet but steady.
“Because my mother used to control me,” she admitted with a sigh.
“She was frantic about everything—dating the right man, looking a certain way, changing her hair, her makeup, her boyfriend…whatever fad was new, she had to try it, and she dragged me along with her. She was obsessed with staying young. One week it was a diet for weight loss, the next it was for her skin, the next to prevent dementia. And she’d make me follow them all with her. ”
She pressed her cheek against his chest, finding some comfort in his warmth.
“One week it was just meat. Another week, all we ate were carrots.” A small laugh escaped her.
“We both turned orange. Leone and Franco used to sneak me food at school because I was starving. My mother never gave me money for lunches—claimed cafeteria food was ‘toxic.’”
Her lips twisted in a wry grimace. “That part might not have been completely wrong. I mean, didn’t a president once sign off on ketchup being classified as a vegetable?” She snorted, shaking her head at the absurdity.
She sighed and continued. “But that’s why I get so nervous when I feel like someone’s trying to control me,” she explained, her tone sobering.
“Her manic obsession with staying young—telling me what to eat, how to dress, what makeup to wear—got baked into me. I didn’t realize it then, but the moment I finally broke away from her, I swore I’d never let anyone run my life again.
Stubbornness, independence…they stopped being choices. They became survival.”
Luca stroked her hair gently, listening quietly as she worked through her feelings. Ava met his eyes, a sheepish smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “I know you probably won’t believe me, but my stubbornness isn’t nearly as bad as it used to be.”
Luca chuckled, his lips curling with a mixture of amusement and affection. “When are you going to marry me?”
Ava laughed, the tension in her shoulders easing. “Well, we just happen to be in a town that lets you get married on a whim, with practically no preparation. Plus, we could be married by a famous person!”
His eyes twinkled with amusement. “There is no way in hell we’re getting married by an Elvis impersonator,” he told her firmly.
Ava laughed, and Luca, unable to resist, tickled her, making her scream even harder. When she finally calmed down, she cupped his face with her hands, her expression softening. “I really do love you. So please, don’t let anything happen to you. Okay?”
“Okay,” he replied, kissing her gently. “So, next week?”
Ava grinned, still amused by his insistence on avoiding the Elvis wedding route. “Okay, fine. Next week,” she agreed, knowing that no matter what, she was ready to take this next step with him.