Feeling my presence, he turned and saw me. In the smooth amber lights surrounding us, I looked at his face, at the sharp angles and sculpted planes that always made my heart melt. And even in this light I could still see his eyes. One eye blue, azure blue like the sky, and the other brown.
Claudius.
Against the night he looked like a vengeful god, exuding the power he held, and the authority.
All the emotions I’d ever felt for this man came rushing back into my soul. They flooded my soul and made my head spin.
As he stepped closer to me, eyes holding me in place, I saw the inky black tattoo of the cross on his cheek.
The cross he wore for my sister, his wife. His late wife.
My twin sister.
He must have loved her so much.
And me?
I was nothing. I had to remind myself that I was nothing to him. I was nothing and meant nothing. I was the nothing he’d slept with four years ago and left me, so I’d get the message that I was nothing.
Why was he here?
Why now?
“Hello, Angel Doll,” he spoke, taking a few more steps.
Angel Doll… that was what he used to call me. Way back when I’d thought he was mine. Our story was such a twisted mess.
Was it foolish of me to start explaining it with ‘I saw him first…’?
God, I was so stupid.
Yes, was…
The naïve, innocent person he used to know was long dead. She didn’t live here anymore.
My blood now simmered and heated, making me feel like I’d combust.
“Ava, I—”
I didn’t give him the chance to finish. Fueled by the fire that heated me up all over, my hand took on a life of its own. Taking advantage of my six-inch heels, it rose up and landed a slap right across his cheek.
In that moment, I didn’t care who he was or what he was. Don of the Chicago Mafia or not.
Maybe he would kill me. I didn’t care. He could fuck off.
I cursed the day I met him. I wished like hell it had never happened. Because that was the day when I lost control of my heart.
Ten years. How could one person feel like this after ten years?
I was twenty-one when I first met him. At thirty-one I wished I could forget him.
Maybe that slap was the first step.
Turning on my heels, I left.
Chapter 4
Ava
Ten years ago…
“Luc, look at that girl,” came a deep voice from the table to my left.
He pretended to whisper, but I think he meant for me to hear him.
I glanced over my shoulder at the two guys sitting at the table.
They’d come in an hour ago. Gino, the maître ‘d, had served them.
They’d ordered from the special list. It was the most expensive food we made at the Delizioso. Pa designed the menu for his VIP customers.
These guys both looked VIP.
They were both Hollywood gorgeous, both had the chiseled features and muscles on muscles. The kind of guys Marissa and I would call magazine guys and swoon over.
You could tell they were brothers. They looked a lot alike physically and in their mannerisms too. The one who was talking about me, however, had long hair that ran down to his back. Long black hair that made him look too pretty for a man.
Then there were his eyes. Striking. One blue, the other brown.
I’d never seen that before.
He looked at me directly, giving me a look so scandalous my whole body blushed.
“Excuse me, can we place our order?” said the woman at the table I was supposed to be tending to.
When I returned my focus to hers, she looked annoyed at me. She had really big puffy eyes that reminded me of a frog and an even puffier face that looked like it hadn’t smiled in a while. The neat up-do she’d fixed her gray hair in reminded me of my high school librarian, Mrs. Chase. That woman was strict, but even she could crack a smile every once in a while.
I blinked a few times and straightened. “I’m so sorry. What would you like?” I gave her my best smile.
She grimaced and shuffled in the chair, which creaked under her weight. “I’d love the calamari to start with and the beef lasagna from the lunch menu.”
“Sure.” I wrote her order down on my little pad. “Anything else?”
“A glass of pinot noir.”
“Got it.” I offered up another smile and moved back to the kitchen. As I took each step, eyes bore into me. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw the guy looking at me.
Feeling another blush, I looked away. I’m sure Pa would have my head if he caught me flirting with his customers.
I hated waitressing. I would have much rather preferred to be in the kitchen. That was what I’d thought I’d be doing. I’d waited a long time for my parents to even allow me to work here.
Every year, they took on an apprentice, and that apprentice had to have at least completed two years study at college.
They had the same stipulation for me, didn’t matter that I was their daughter. I was in the middle of my senior year at Brown University and this was my first shot at proving myself. The idea was for me to work the daytime shift during term breaks. Right from the restaurant opened until three when the staff for the evening shift took over.
I was definitely hoping for more of a cooking work experience though. Pa, however, said waitressing came with the whole package. A chef didn’t just have to know how to cook, they had to mingle with their customers and get to know them. I kind of would rather not.
I wasn’t exactly a people person. Not by a long shot. Marissa was that for both of us. We might have come from the same egg, wore the same face, and were identical in many ways, but she was definitely the more outgoing twin.
I’d bet if she were here now, Mr. Gorgeous and his equally gorgeous brother would have been looking at her. Not me.
Me, the shy wallflower.
Marissa was in Florida with her friends. She’d be home in a few days, and I’d get the full rundown of her adventures.
“Ava, let Gino take over from you with Mrs. Archer,” Pa said the minute I stepped into the kitchen. “I want you to finish up the order for the guys on table four. Find out if they need anything else.”
I bit the inside of my lip. Table four was the holder of Mr. Gorgeous.
“Okay, why though?” Pa never gave anybody special treatment. So far, I’d noticed Gino treated them like royalty. I’d never seen them before because we tended to come here as a family on Sundays. Also, I’d been away a lot.
“Ava girl, you ask too many questions,” Pa huffed, tossing around a few chopped vegetables in his skillet. They sizzled.
“I just want to know.”
“They’re important. You see them come back here, you serve them. That’s your task.”
Vague, but that was what he was like.
“Okay. Here’s Mrs. Archer’s order.” I hung it on the little wire that held the customer orders, then headed back out to the floor.
Mr. Gorgeous zeroed in on me again, and his interest seemed to pique as I got closer.
“Luc, she’s coming over to us,” the guy said in that purposefully not whispering tone.
“Hi,” I said acknowledging them both as I got to the table. “I just came over to find out if you need anything else.” I didn’t know how I kept the quiver out of my voice, or my knees from turning to water.
“Yes,” Mr. Gorgeous declared, straightening and tucking a lock of his hair behind his ear. “I’d love a peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich.”
I’d readied my pen to take down his order, but then I looked back to him and arched a brow.
Was he serious? I couldn’t tell.
Pa said these guys were important. Did that mean making them whatever they wanted? We were what I’d call an up and coming restaurant in the sense that we stocked various fine wines and did homemade dishes that were divine. Sandwiches though…
&nbs
p; Not so much.
“We don’t really do sandwiches here…”
While the brother muttered something under his breath, Mr. Gorgeous smiled, introducing me to the dimples in his cheeks. As if he weren’t gorgeous enough as it was.
“Oh, I heard it on good authority that you do.” He straightened, and the sleeve of his biker jacket tightened over the bulge of muscle in his arm.
“I’m sorry. Forgive my brother,” the brother said, shaking his head. “He’s a damn prick.”
At first, I felt a little thrown and silly because I wasn’t sure what to do or how to respond.
“Luc, can’t a guy order his favorite sandwich?”
Luc stood and placed a wad of cash down on the center of the table. As far as I knew, he hadn’t asked for the bill, and it looked like that wad of cash contained three hundred dollars easily. So much more than what anything on the menu would have come to.
“We have to bounce. Meet Henry, then head to Raphael’s. You know he hates when we’re late.” Luc looked to me, and the bright blue of his eyes sparkled. “Compliments to the chef. Great meal. We’ll be back.”
“Thank you.” I stared at him as he headed to the door and noticed that while Mr. Gorgeous stood, he hadn’t followed Luc.
I looked him over as he stared at me. My cheeks warmed, and I knew that I was blushing uncontrollably.
“Did you want the sandwich?” I had to talk, say something. That was what came out of my mouth.
He chuckled. “Not so much. That was just a clever ruse to talk to you. See, now you’ll remember me.”
Like I was likely to forget him. “Okay.”
His smile widened, reaching his eyes. “What’s your name, Angel Doll?”
I pressed my lips together. “It’s, um… Ava. Ava De Luca.”
“De Luca?” He thought for a moment. “Like Mario?”
“He’s my father.”
He looked impressed. “Wow, we really did get star treatment. Tell your father I said thanks.” He lifted his head slightly and looked me over from head to toe. “My name’s Claudius. Claudius Morientz.”
That was a seriously cool name. It had an old-world ring to it, like something from old Greek mythology.
“Nice to meet you.” I gave him a small smile.
He backed away now. “You too. See you tomorrow, Angel Doll.”
Angel Doll.
He winked at me before he continued to the door.
Of course, I stared, watching him until I couldn’t see him anymore. That was the kind of guy a girl could get lost in. And that’s exactly what I did.
I got lost.
The next few days were the kind I’d always fantasized about.
For three days in a row, Claudius came in with Luc, and they ordered the same things for lunch. Claudius would order Pa’s beef and four cheese special ravioli, and Luc gnocchi.
We swapped conversation here and there in between me serving them, and always I could feel his gaze on me.
Thursday came, and I thought I’d wear something a little nicer and have my hair down. All week I’d had it up because Pa liked his kitchen staff to keep their hair back even if they weren’t directly cooking.
I only had two days left until I had to go back to college, so I figured why not.
I got to the restaurant a little later than usual, and that was my mistake.
Marissa was back. Back, and it looked like she’d come here straight from the airport. Her skin had that golden sun-kissed tone to it, and it made her platinum hair look even more stunning. As always, my sister looked amazing, like she’d stepped off the cover of a fashion magazine. Something like Vogue.
And, as my luck would have it, she was actually sitting with Claudius, Luc, and another guy I hadn’t seen with them before.
All three men looked entirely engrossed in Marissa’s conversation. I couldn’t hear what she was saying, but it must have been exciting because she had them hanging on to every word. They didn’t see me.
Claudius didn’t see me.
No surprise there.
Feeling deflated, I headed straight to the kitchen, where both my parents were. They didn’t see me either.
I hated when this happened. It was like I was invisible to everyone.
I grabbed the drink inventory list and made my way back out to the floor. Checking the drink list was always a great distraction. Plus, it helped me learn all the names of the drinks too.
I went behind the bar and started on the first row of wine. This was our sweet range from Italy. Pa had everything organized by taste and country. Then age. The aged wine was our expensive list. The older wines, however, he kept in the cellar.
“That looks interesting,” came a voice from behind me. Claudius.
I whirled around to face him, and he gave me that sexy smile he’d sported all week. The half-smile that brought out his dimples and made him look all the more alluring.
He had on a blazer today with a white ribbed T-shirt underneath it. It still kept that bad-boy image he had going on but held more sophistication.
“Hi. I’m just checking the stock.”
He smirked. “Cool. So, met your sister. Didn’t know you had a twin.”
Instantly, I thought this was going to be the usual talk I’d gotten about Marissa that I’d had practically my whole teenage and adult life. The kind from back in high school where the guys would ask me stuff about Marissa and what she liked.
“Yep, I sure do. Marissa’s great. She’s the fun one. Never get bored with her.”
As if on cue, Marissa started laughing, and I glanced over to the table.
She looked back to me and waved with that sassy one-shoulder shrug the guys always liked. I waved back and noticed her gaze drift to Claudius. Knowing my sister the way I did, I could immediately tell that of the three guys he’d held her interest the most.
I returned my gaze to him, finding that he was already looking at me.
“Did you get us mixed up?” Again, I had that momentary loss of what to say, so I thought I’d go with light conversation.
“No.” His gaze lingered on mine.
“I guess she has a tan. Mostly, people get us mixed up, and it takes about five seconds to realize I’m not her. It’s the outgoing charm she has, and her fashion sense. She’s more vogue, and I’m boho chic.” I was talking way too much, verging on babbling.
A smile inched across his full lips. “Do you want to go out with me?”
I blinked several times trying to process what he’d just said. “I’m sorry… what?” I had to ask. I really did because there was no way that this guy had met Marissa and wanted to go out with me.
He chuckled and moved closer to the counter. The ends of his hair swished over his shoulder as he cocked his head to the side. “Do you want to go out with me, Angel Doll?”
He kept steady eye contact, keeping his gaze trained on me.
“Yeah… yes. I do…” I kept my gaze on him too, almost scared that looking away would make him disappear. Like I’d just imagined the whole thing.
“Great, pick you up at eight.” A cocky smile brightened his face now.
“Eight? Tonight?”
“Uh huhh. Your dad said you go back to college tomorrow. I figured if we go to dinner tonight, I could fit in a lunch date tomorrow.”
I didn’t think ‘shocked’ was the right word I was looking for. And he’d spoken to Pa? About me? “Tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow. Tonight first.” He moved back. “Wear this.” He motioned to all over me, at my blue summer dress, and nodded. “Your hair just like that. I like it.”
“Thank you.”
“No… thank you.” He winked at me, pulling me even deeper into the enchantment of him.
My heart fluttered, and my nerves scattered at the anticipation of tonight.
Tonight and tomorrow.
At what would happen next.
Chapter 5
Claudius
* * *
Present day…
I straightened as Amelia walked into the dining room. She smiled when she saw Luc. It was the kind of smile a wife gave her husband. The sort that told you they were happy and in love. When she didn’t smile at him like that, she had the look. The look was all there in her eyes.
She’d always looked like that. Right from that first day I’d met her.
That day when I’d rescued her, at the mall.
Amelia, the daughter of Raphael Rossi, our old boss.
She’d thought I was Luc. We weren’t twins, but we looked a lot alike. Maybe I looked like a more badass version of him. Especially these days.
“Goddess.” Luc beamed as she skipped into his awaiting arms.
“God, you two need to get a portable bed,” Maurice scolded. He sat next to me at the dinner table. Gio and Dante chuckled.
Most nights, we gathered like this. We met up as family and ate dinner at Luc’s.
“We don’t need a portable bed in our own house,” Amelia snapped at him and full on kissed Luc. She didn’t care who was watching.
Maurice made a sound like he was choking. I couldn’t even make my usual snide remarks. Wasted in the mood. In fact, I almost hadn’t come tonight.
“Can I get you boys anything?” Amelia asked when she moved out of Luc’s grasp.
“We’re about done, Mrs. Boss.” Dante nodded.
The guys still called her that. They all did.
“Cool, I’m going to check on Raphael,” she said that with a little glint in her eyes. The only person that woman loved more than Luc was my little nephew, who she’d named after her father. “Is he sleeping?”
“Out cold.” Luc nodded. “Let him sleep. Go wait for me upstairs.”
Maurice rolled his eyes and stood up. “That’s our cue to leave, men. Plus, if I get back too late, Gigi will turn me into a toad.”
Luc laughed. “I’m pretty sure she won’t.”
“She will try.” Maurice frowned. He’d married the good little witch. Amelia’s best friend.
Dirty Hearts: A Bad Bod Mafia Romance Page 4
