“Don’t worry about her,” Samantha protested. “She’s just sore that she’s not the one giving you an orgasm like that. She knows you would never let her, but it’s obvious it hasn’t really sunk in until now. I think she’s been so used to having you all to herself.” She smiled suddenly. “I, on the other hand, think it’s great. It’s about time you found someone—even if your relationship does sound a little unconventional. I’m happy if you’re happy. Are you happy?”
I had to think about that for a moment. It was something I had always thought I was until now. I think I had just been stuck in a rut for far too long and had just come to accept that this was my way of life. It was strange that it took this handsome, dark stranger coming into my life and turning my world upside-down for me to see that rut for what it was.
Samantha saw me hesitate slightly. “I’ll put it another way, then. How does he make you feel?”
Without meaning to, I smiled. I didn’t know where it even came from; it just surfaced like a submarine once gravity has relinquished its hold.
“I think that answers your question, Samantha.” Belinda nudged Samantha in the arm, and they both chuckled.
“Okay, you guys. You’ve had your fun. Time to start mingling. There are a few faces I don’t recognise, and I’m eager to find out who they are.”
Belinda looked around with me. “Yes, it would seem Luca has brought in some new clientele. The rooms are filling up by the minute. Tonight will certainly make up for the days of lost profit.” Belinda smiled, and I smiled back, hoping she was right.
As the evening wore on, Luca was never far away from me, and neither did he let me out of his sight. Each time a man tried to talk to me, Luca was there—offering a possessive hand on my back and a “don’t you dare fucking go near her” look. After a while, my eyes had rolled so many times that it was actually starting to hurt, and the exhaustion of the whole evening was taking its toll.
Some of my girls had paired off and disappeared into their respective rooms while others were still enjoying the ambience. I had come to believe that some were here not just for the sex, but for the masquerade itself. I had to hand it to Luca; he had done well here.
It was later—while in the relative quiet of the toilet—that the excitement of what was coming later really began to brew. I had butterflies in my stomach at the prospect, and it was a feeling that was completing overwhelming me. He was an egotistical, domineering … alpha bull of a man. But, for some reason, my heart fluttered and my knees went weak whenever he was around. He was steadily shattering my defences one by one—and he knew it. He also knew I knew it. I just couldn’t have him command me like he so desperately desired. He wanted me begging and submissive beneath him. I just wasn’t prepared to do that. Not for him—not for anyone.
I was headed back to the bar when I bumped into a man I recognised from earlier in the evening. He was one of the ones who had been staring at me in the crowd—and he hadn’t stopped staring. He looked like he was in his late thirties, and he had jet-black hair and dark brown eyes. He was tall, slim, and had an air of arrogance about him. “Clara Murphy, isn’t it?”
I could hear the slight twang of an Italian accent. He must be either one of Luca’s cronies or a new client. If he belonged to the latter group, he obviously hadn’t received the memo about me. Especially since he was leering at my breasts.
“Yes, and you are?”
“My apologies.” He smiled and took my hand. “Antonio Cavelli.” He kissed my hand before giving it a seductive stroke. “I am a very close business friend of Luca’s, and I can see that he has snapped up the most beautiful woman here.”
I laughed sarcastically. This man was so full of shit. “He didn’t ‘snap me up.’ No one can.”
Antonio smiled. “Quite. No wonder he won’t let you out of his sight. I should imagine you frustrate the hell out of him. That would be quite something to witness.”
I smiled, thinking how right he was. He wasn’t trying to be smutty with his remark; I could tell. It seemed he must know Luca very well to so quickly come up with that conclusion.
“You have a beautiful smile, Clara.”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
“I heard about that awful business at the club.”
“Oh?” I knew this was where he was headed all along. He had an agenda, and I was eager for him to get to the point.
“It makes me laugh every time he pulls a stunt like that. He likes to play games with his girls, you see.” I was totally confused. What the hell was he on about? “Oh, I’m sorry. You never knew. Those two boys at the club work for Luca. They had you in their sights from the very beginning. You didn’t really think Luca was unaware of your presence there from the very start? He knows everything. He came in like the proverbial knight in shining armour he was posing and rescued you from the two bad men. Luca is someone who always gets what he wants, and he will go to great lengths to get it. You’ve not been the first, and you most certainly won’t be the last.”
I was livid. In fact, the pain in my stomach told me I was more than livid. I felt hurt and betrayed. I was beginning to let him in, and all the while, I was just a silly game to him—a challenge.
“I’m sorry this has hurt you. You seem like a lovely lady, and I don’t want to see him take advantage of that.”
I felt my fists ball and my breathing hitch through the hatred I felt for Luca. If I was angry before, that was nothing compared to how pissed I felt at that moment.
I stormed off. I eventually managed to find my feet and began marching towards the bar area.
Antonio grabbed my arm. “Do you think this is wise? You seem angry.”
I stopped and glared at him. “Let. Me. Go.” He immediately complied once he saw the fire in my eyes. I was not to be messed with. Not after that revelation.
With Luca now in sight, I was vaguely aware that Antonio was right behind me. Luca looked up, saw me, and then saw the person standing behind me. He looked super pissed.
That made two of us!
I thundered into the room, and the minute I had Luca in my sight, I stormed toward him and then slapped him across the face. One hard smack—God it felt good—right across the kisser.
Stunned, Luca looked at me with an expression of concern. “Don’t you fucking come near me again,” I growled.
Many onlookers were stunned, but others were smiling. The horny fuckers probably thought this was a prelude to sex. Luca could kiss my ass, though.
Not wasting any more time, I marched off.
“What have you said to her?” Luca screamed at Antonio. “What the fuck have you said to her?”
“Only what she needed to hear.”
“You fucking asshole!”
All hell broke loose behind me, but I was already pacing up the stairs to my tower. Luca was not getting into my room. I was going to make sure of that.
Slamming the door behind me, I immediately retrieved a key from my drawer. I always kept one just in case I needed it for added security, and I was going to need it the way the night was going.
Not wasting any more time, I put the key in the hole and locked it. If he wanted to get in, he was going to have to literally barge his way through the door.
Flopping down on the bed, I threw my mask on the floor and grumbled. I was angry, I was upset, but more than anything, I was hurt. I couldn’t believe Luca would do something like that to me. I was just a challenge and always had been. He knew me from the start, so he must have known my reputation. I was probably the biggest challenge he had ever faced, and it must have been turning him on to know I was crumbling to his will. It wasn’t happening anymore. It stopped right here—right now.
The expected banging came a little later than I had imagined, but it did come. Luca was screaming at me to let him in, but he had another thing coming if he thought I would.
“Clara, let me in. I can explain.”
“Fuck off!”
“Let me in, goddammit! I can’t talk to you
through a door.”
“Then, don’t. Just piss off. I don’t want to hear it.” I folded my arms across my chest. The anger was rising again, and soon it would be consuming me. I didn’t want to get that way. I didn’t want to end up as a crying heap of a person on the bed, who spent the night pining away and longing for something I never even had in the first place. I wasn’t going to let him in enough to make me that way.
As if sensing my frustration, Luca sighed. “I’m not going to let this go. We need to talk, but we’ll do it in the morning.”
Silence soon filled the room, and I realised he was keeping his word. With that in mind, I got ready for bed. My anger soon subsided and along with it, the desire to break down also abated. I wasn’t going to break down. Not for him. Not for anyone.
The next morning, I sat bolt upright in my bed, hearing alarm bells ringing. In my dozy state, I knew I was missing something, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. I was confused as to why Luca wasn’t there, too. All too soon, however, I remembered. It was then I realized I hadn’t been hearing alarm bells at all; it had been my mobile. I didn't feel like talking to anyone, though, so I blindly silenced it when it rang once more.
Sighing with disappointment, I felt a pain in my stomach, so I decided to just get up and take a shower. I had a mission to accomplish, and it needed to have been done yesterday.
Once I walked out of my room, I was half expecting to meet Alessandro or Luca, but there was no one around. It was all eerily quiet; it was too quiet.
I proceeded down the stairs, feeling for all the world like I was a naughty teenager for daring to sneak out of my room. I stopped about halfway down and mentally slapped myself. Why the fuck are you sneaking around?! Ridiculous!
Once I reached my familiar office, which I had been forced to neglect for the past few days, I half-expected Luca to be in there, taking over—like he has with everything else. Prick! Everything was in its proper place, however, and it was extremely quiet.
I slowly and calmly walked over to my desk. Sitting down, I pulled my temporarily forgotten mobile out to see who had been trying to reach me. As it turned out, it was the very person I had come in here to call. I picked up my office phone and dialled the number I knew by heart. I was racing to find some answers. After two rings, she picked up.
“Aunt Trudy.”
“Clara, thank God. I’ve wanted to speak with you for days. How are you?”
I sank back in my chair. “I’m fine. I’m just a little bit disappointed that you felt you couldn’t come to me with this and that I had to learn what I have about your troubles from Luca instead of you.”
Trudy sighed. “I’m so sorry. I really am. I wanted to tell you, but I felt ashamed.”
“Why? There’s no need to be. If you needed help, I would have been there for you—no matter what.”
“I know you would have, but things just got out of control.”
I felt the tears well at her confession. “What happened? Please tell me.”
Trudy sighed again. “I have a problem … a gambling problem. It took Luca coming round to my house to realise it.”
“He didn’t hurt you, did he?” I was starting to get mad again.
“Oh, no. Of course not. He doesn’t seem the type. Has he hurt you?” She heard me hesitate. He had hurt me—just not in the sense she was referring to. “Clara?”
“No. He hasn’t hurt me at all. He’s just been a pig-headed, domineering, self-centred, egotistical, judgmental prick.”
“Oh… I found him quite charming myself.”
“Aunt Trudy, please. Can we get back to the point?”
She cleared her throat. “Of course. Sorry. If I’m going to tell you this, then I may as well tell it to you from the beginning. When I was younger, I met a man with whom I fell in madly love. I’ve never told you about this because it breaks my heart to think about it, let alone talk about it. It was a whirlwind romance, and before long, we were talking of marriage and children. This all happened during the month of December in 1957.
“He was on his way back from a contract in London. He worked on many engineering projects, which sometimes had him working in all sorts of places.
“We were both eager to see each other and plan our wedding, which was to take place the following May. I was excited because I hadn’t seen him in a few days, but most especially, I wanted to tell him that we were expecting our first child.”
This news hit me hard. As far as I knew, Trudy had never been married and had never had any children. What she was telling me was shocking beyond words.
“When it happened, I knew. I just knew something was wrong. Before I even got the phone call, I had a feeling that he wasn’t with me any longer. It was like a part of me had been ripped away from the inside. He was just … gone.”
I placed a hand on my heart. “Oh Trudy, what happened?”
“He was on a train which had collided with another train. The collision caused the bridge to collapse, and many people perished… My John was one of them.”
“Oh my God. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. It was a long time ago now. The silly old fool that I am never got over it, though. I even lost our baby due to the grief. I couldn’t even keep that part of him with me. I felt like I had lost everything. I felt like there was nothing left for me to live for.”
I could feel my aunt’s pain oozing down the phone line. I really wished I could be there to comfort her and hold her hand. She was hurting, and I wanted to be able to support her.
“I tried to take my own life. As you know, it didn’t work, which is how I’m here to tell you the tale. I was taken to hospital after overdosing on pills, and I was given help to ease my pain. I suffered a lot back then, and to be honest, I still do even now. My sister—your mother—was not a lot of help. She shouted at me and said that I would spend an eternity in limbo for what I had done. She had no sympathy for my loss; she only had reprimands and lectures about what a failure I was—as a sister—to offer me. But then, you already know how she is.”
I laughed sarcastically. I knew all too well what my mother was like, and Trudy had always felt guilty for not getting me out of there sooner. It’s no wonder she never did, though. She’d had her own pain to deal with.
“I started playing poker as a way to escape. Nothing too fancy—just the odd wager here and there. It soon turned to Blackjack and Slots. Before I even realized it, I was spending over a thousand pounds each week on gambling alone. What started out as just a hobby became a habit and then it was my crutch. It helped take the pain away and mask what it was I was truly feeling. I had something else to worry about instead of constantly thinking about John or the baby we had lost.”
I didn’t realise tears were streaming down my face until she stopped talking. “I want to see you,” I sniffled.
“I’m getting ready to leave shortly. I’m going to finally get the help I need. Luca has been very nice; he set it all up for me. He’s paying for me to get help. I have to stay in a rehabilitation clinic for the next twelve weeks. It’s time, Clara. I need to do this, and, for the first part, I need to do it alone.”
I felt desperate. “But, I’m here. I can help you. Please, let me take you to the clinic.”
“No, it’s okay. I have a taxi coming to pick me up in fifteen minutes. I’ll be in touch in a couple of weeks. I will be allowed to call you by then. It’s just something I need to do. You have to understand.”
“Yes, of course I do. I just want you to be happy.”
“I know you do. You’ve worked so hard, and I’m so proud of what you’ve achieved. I know springing Luca on you like this was not the best idea in the world, but at least you can get the help you deserve from him.”
I huffed my annoyance. “I don’t need his help.”
“Yes, you do. I don’t want you to end up like me.” The stern severity in her words hit me like a ton of bricks. I was lost for words. “Luca is the owner of one of the casinos I used to frequent. He
came by after I had racked up over six hundred thousand pounds worth of debt. I had heard of him, and I was obviously frightened when he came to visit. He was not at all what I had expected. He was charming, very polite, and seemed to genuinely want to help me. When he stumbled across your picture, I saw something in his eyes which I hadn’t seen in a very long time. It was the same glint I always saw in John’s eyes whenever he looked at me. He was looking at you like you were the only woman in the world who had ever existed. I knew then he was never going to let you go.”
“I don’t understand.” I didn’t understand. I was just a game to him. A simple challenge.
It was then that something caught my eye on the table. It was a newspaper article which read, “Two arrested on possible rape and drugs charges.”
“He started asking questions about you and who you were to me. That was when I told him about us and our little venture. He was impressed and wanted to offer me a way out. I took it because I knew he was capable, and I knew he was safe. He offered me help, and I agreed as long as he promised me that he would look after you. I didn’t think I needed to ask, but it made him smile to see that I had been so protective of you. I told him a lot about you, and he was enthralled by it all. He asked question after question about you until I thought my head would spin. He was like a man possessed—a man instantly in love.”
One part of me was listening to Trudy, but the another part had me reaching for this newspaper article. I had to read more. “You can’t fall in love with someone you’ve never met before.”
Trudy laughed. “Stranger things have happened. Why are the young ones always so cynical?” she chuckled. “Listen, I’d better be off. I think my taxi has come early.”
I sighed. I still wasn’t happy that she was on her own. “Okay. Please take care of yourself, and get in touch the minute you can.”
“Of course, my dear. Just tell me one thing before I leave. Are you happy? Is he treating you well?”
I smiled for my Aunt Trudy. I would tell her anything if it meant she could go on and get the help she needed. I wanted her to leave thinking there was nothing she needed to worry about.
Luca - You Will Be Mine (Sicilian Mafia #1) Page 13
