Scandalous Shifters Paranormal Box Set

by Mia Taylor

  “No, I wouldn’t even think about that,” Angela replied truthfully. “And I wouldn’t have come to work here if I thought I would see him.”

  “Luca won’t let anything happen to you,” Tanya sighed. “For as much of a dick as he can be, he is very loyal. To a fault, really.”

  Angela’s heart began to pound and she perked up her ears, shooting Tanya a sidelong look.

  I’ve been wasting my time listening to all these conversations going on around me. I should have been focusing my attention on Tanya. She knows where all the skeletons are hidden.

  “What makes you say that?” Ang asked curiously. “Why to a fault?”

  Tanya grimaced, grabbing a freshly printed chit from the machine and Angela took her cue, grabbing for another glass.

  “It doesn’t matter,” she mumbled but Angela could tell she was close to learning something about Luca, something she hadn’t already figured out.

  “You wouldn’t have said anything if it didn’t mean something,” Ang pressed, trying to keep her voice light even though her heart was hammering wildly in her chest. “Come on, Tanya. I’m just trying to learn my way around here… especially with Luca.”

  She hoped there was enough plaintiveness in her voice to win over the skeptical bartender.

  To her relief, Tanya’s face seemed to relax slightly.

  “These guys are tough,” she offered, lowering her voice. “But they can get taken in by a beautiful girl who pays them the proper amount of attention, you know what I mean?”

  Angela’s breath caught in her throat but she only nodded. An unexpected stab of jealousy shot through her as she considered how many other beautiful women had stolen Luca’s heart.

  “Luca is smarter than some of these paesanos,” Tanya continued. “But he got screwed over once too.”

  A fusion of alarm and envy flowed through her but she forced herself to remain composed.

  Is she talking about Val?

  Willing herself to breathe normally, she turned her attention fully on Tanya.

  “He got his heart broken?” she asked innocently and Tanya scoffed.

  “Luca Gallo is not a fool,” she hissed, sliding a tray of drinks toward a waiting server. She waited until he marched off before turning back to Angela.

  “Mara was sexy and she had her charms, but there was something about her which didn’t sit well with anyone. And if Luca wasn’t thinking with the wrong head, he would have seen what she was all about long before shit hit the fan. But he figured it out eventually and dealt with her.”

  Beads of sweat popped along Angela’s hairline. Tanya’s words were an unmistakable warning, one that caused bile to sweep through her body.

  Steady your breaths, she warned herself. Don’t give yourself away.

  “What happened?” Angela whispered while silently praying she did not do anything to arouse suspicion, but her need to know suddenly outweighed the desire to be discreet.

  “No idea,” Tanya replied shortly. “All I know is that one day Mara was here and then she wasn’t. No one really talked about what happened much. But my point is, Luca can be very loyal—until he’s not. I wouldn’t want you doing anything stupid and testing that loyalty.”

  Angela’s eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms over her chest.

  “You know what happened,” she insisted, knowing that she was pushing too hard. “You know everything that goes on around here, don’t you?”

  A faint smile touched Tanya’s full mouth and she shrugged indifferently.

  “I have an idea,” she replied and Angela waited, gulping back her nervousness.

  “Well?”

  Tanya studied Angela through her peripheral vision.

  “I learn things by keeping my mouth shut and not gossiping,” Tanya growled, snatching a dishrag off the sink to wipe down the counter. Ang could tell she was just trying to look busy.

  “Oh, come on,” she pleaded, lowering her tone as she glanced about furtively. “This is my boyfriend we’re talking about. I deserve to know if there’s something shady in his past. I would tell you, Tanya.”

  If Tanya could hear the near desperation in her tone, she didn’t comment and instead gave Angela a speculative look. Angela almost exhaled loudly when Tanya nodded.

  “I think…” she began slowly, also looking about to ensure they weren’t being overheard. Content that they weren’t being paid any mind, she continued, “…when Luca found out that she was trouble, Mara ran off with Sammy.”

  “What?”

  The question flew from her mouth before she could stop herself, but she didn’t understand the sentence which Tanya had just spoken.

  Who the hell is Sammy now?

  “What what?” Tanya grumbled. “When Luca found out about her and Sammy Petrucci, I think she feared for her life.”

  Angela continued to stare at her blankly, wishing that she could decipher the seemingly cryptic words that the bartender spoke.

  “What?” she asked again, hearing the dumbness of her question in her own ears, but what else could she ask?

  Tanya sighed and shook her head, obviously regretting that she had said anything at all.

  “If Giovanni ever found out Mara was sleeping with Sammy Petrucci, she was as good as dead anyway. The smartest thing she could do was take off before DiMarco got his hands on her.”

  Suddenly, a flood of information assaulted her senses.

  Sammy Petrucci… he’s the underboss of the Vittoro family. Val was cheating on Luca with him?

  That was certainly the story that Tanya was trying to feed her, but somehow, it didn’t ring true and Angela couldn’t say why. So many emotions swept through Angela in that moment, she was unsure of how she felt.

  She was never outed as an undercover agent. She was having an affair with a member of a rival family. What the hell was Val doing while she was under?

  She realized she could ask herself the same thing.

  “She was cheating on Luca…” Angela murmured before she could stop herself. “Any chance he killed her?”

  Angela wanted to stuff the words back into her mouth but they were already out there. Now there was nothing left to do but gauge Tanya’s reaction to them. The bartender smiled mirthlessly.

  “For cheating on him?” Tanya snickered. “Hardly. Luca loves women to a fault. He took care of his mom after his dad was killed while his brothers tried to have her committed. If he found out anything, Luca probably warned Mara to get out of town before DiMarco got to her.”

  “Are you sure?” Angela demanded, her voice rising an octave. “Are you sure that he didn’t do anything to her?”

  Tanya’s brow furrowed and she examined Angela’s face pointedly. Whatever she saw in Angela’s face made her own soften slightly as she sighed and shook her head.

  “I know this is new to you, Teresa, and that Miami is a different place than where you come from, but if you’re gonna roll with these guys, you’re gonna have to learn that sometimes, this shit comes with the territory.”

  Angela closed her eyes, inhaling sharply.

  She seems so sure, but how can she be? How can she know for sure?

  Her instinct told her to drop it, to leave it alone, but she just couldn’t, not so easily when she felt like the truth was directly in her grasp.

  “I get it,” Angela replied slowly. “But I also need to know if my boyfriend would kill me because he suspected I was cheating on him.”

  “Touché!” Tanya chuckled, her brows rising in amusement. “And the answer is no. Luca didn’t touch her.”

  “How can you be so sure?” Panic laced her words and Tanya scowled slightly, her brow knitting. Angela could clearly read the regret in her face.

  It’s too late to back out of this now. I need to know, Angela cried out to her silently. Tanya read the desperation and grunted.

  “I just know,” Tanya replied, trying to turn from her, but Angela grabbed her arm.

  “How?”

  Tanya was suddenly uncomfo
rtable, her blue eyes narrowing as she stared at Angela.

  “You’re acting crazy, Teresa. Get a grip before you attract attention to yourself,” she hissed urgently. Angela tried to remind herself where she was and what she stood to lose, but no matter how she tried, she couldn’t let it go.

  “Do you blame me?” she squeaked, refusing to let Tanya off the hook. “Please tell me how you know for certain that Luca didn’t kill Mara.”

  Tanya sighed deeply before grabbing Angela by the collar of her shirt and pulling her into the supply room. The brunette didn’t fight the movement, sensing that she was finally getting somewhere, if not a few steps closer to the truth about what had happened to Val.

  “If you tell anyone this, including Luca, I will hunt you down and murder you myself. Is that clear?” Tanya growled, her words crisp, concise, and sincere. Angela had no doubt that she was speaking the absolute truth and her breath caught in her throat as she nodded in agreement.

  “Nod if you understand what I’m saying,” Tanya insisted when no words came out of Ang’s mouth.

  She nodded vehemently but Tanya still hesitated.

  “I don’t know why I’m telling you this…” she mumbled and Ang could feel her second-guessing her own decision.

  “Oh my God, Tanya!” Angela yelled. “Tell me what you know!”

  Surprise colored Tanya’s face and an entirely new expression fell over her features as if she were seeing something in Ang that she’d never noticed before.

  “Please?” Ang added, giving her an imploring look.

  “Mara is alive and hidden where no one can find her.”

  Angela gaped at her in disbelief.

  There is no way that Val would be hidden and not reach out to her mom to tell her she was okay. She wouldn’t let everyone think she was dead for all these years. That’s just cruel. Tanya is lying.

  Her heart began to hammer in her chest as she considered that maybe Tanya had something to do with what happened to Val.

  Angela wanted to trust the busty blonde as she stared at her with earnest eyes, her head cocked to the side. Before she could voice her doubts aloud, Tanya sighed.

  “You don’t believe me but it’s true,” the bartender insisted. “She’s in hiding, not dead.”

  “How can you know that? Is that what they’ve told you?” Angela muttered dully. “Because they could tell you anything. You know that.”

  A quick, sarcastic smile formed on Tanya’s lips and she shook her head.

  “I learned long ago not to trust these stronzos,” she replied quietly, again looking over Angela’s shoulder to ensure they were still alone. “I only believe what I can see with my own two eyes.”

  The implication of her words filled Ang with shock and hope.

  “And you’ve seen Mara alive?” Angela gasped, realizing what she was saying.

  Tanya gnawed on her lower lip and nodded, dropping her eyes.

  “What? Where? When?” Angela gasped, the questions tripping out of her mouth one after the other.

  Slowly, Tanya raised her eyes again and met her eyes squarely.

  “I am the one who hid her away,” Tanya confessed. “Mara is my lover.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Explosive Information

  He checked the phone again, gritting his teeth as he waited. His anxiety was mounting although he couldn’t say why specifically. Some instinct was telling him that there was trouble afoot even though he had no idea what.

  Where the hell is Teresa?

  Her shift had been over for two hours and Luca had made himself comfortable in her apartment, naked and longing for her body.

  It was the only thing which had gotten him through a typically rough day—the thought of surprising her when she walked in the door to take her on the floor before she even got a word out of her lips.

  Despite his frustration at being made to wait, he was willing to forgive her lateness if she would only show up in the next few minutes.

  But she was not answering her phone or text and with each passing minute, Luca was beginning to have a terrible sense of déjà vu.

  The day had been long, the shipment finally making its way through an inlet at Biscayne Bay. He knew he should be thankful for small favors. At least that had gone without a hiccup for once.

  It only took a week but it’s here. Now Gio will get off my ass for a while.

  The don had not taken to Teresa’s placement at La Perla well, particularly when he hadn’t been notified until after Luca’s lover had started her first shift. Luca had anticipated his dismay.

  “I don’t know a damned thing about this broad!” the old man exploded. “You expect me to give her a place in my restaurant? What were you thinking, Luca?”

  “I already gave her the job,” Luca replied smoothly. “Think of it as insurance that she won’t sue you for the assault which occurred.”

  It had been the wrong thing to say.

  Giovanni’s eyes turned black and he leaned forward, his voice a strangled whisper.

  “She’s gonna blackmail me? Are you blackmailing me?”

  Luca shook his head quickly, wishing he’d thought his position a little more thoroughly.

  “Of course not,” he answered. “She’s not stupid and she’s not that kind of girl. I’m just saying that she’s new to Miami, a pretty, Southern girl who needs a job. If what happened with that stronzo, August, happens to get out, at least it will show that you are trying to do right by the girl. Think of it as good PR, Gio.”

  “Why do I get the feeling you’re banging the girl?” Gio asked caustically and Luca forced himself to remain passive, despite his temper flaring at the wording.

  What I have with Teresa is so much more than just sex… even if that is amazing.

  “So what if I am?” he replied evenly. “It doesn’t make what I just said any less true.”

  “She’s better than that other one—Maria,” Gio conceded and Luca bristled in spite of himself.

  How does the mere mention of her still send me into a fit of disgust?

  “Mara,” he corrected flatly.

  “Whatever. Good riddance to her. I never liked that one.”

  Luca waited, willing himself not to take the bait.

  “So? Teresa can work at La Perla?” he asked, willing Giovanni to get on board with the change he’d already made.

  Gio snorted.

  “What the hell do I care? If Tanya can tolerate her, I don’t give a shit.”

  And that had been the end of that conversation, but it had dredged up old feelings about Mara and questions he did not have the answers to.

  What really happened to that woman? Was she really having an affair with Sammy Petrucci, and if so, where is she now?

  He recalled the night he had smashed the bathroom door down to find her cowering over her phone.

  “Open the door, Mara,” he growled, his amusement becoming anger.

  “No!” she snapped. “Leave me alone!”

  He pounded on the door.

  “Mara, open the goddamn door,” he snarled. “Or I’m going to bust it down.”

  “Screw off, Luca,” she retorted in her smug way. The words sent a spark of rage through him and before he could stop himself, his foot lashed out, splintering the frame of the door.

  Mara choked and gasped, her cell phone falling from her hand as she jumped up from the toilet seat cover.

  “Luca!” she screamed.

  “Who the hell are you talking to?”

  “No one!” she panted, reaching for the phone, but Luca kicked it out of her reach, snapping it up before she could touch it.

  A red film covered his eyes as he grabbed for the fallen device, reading the texts on the screen.

  As if in slow motion, he lifted his head and stared at her, his breath catching in his chest.

  “What the hell is this?”

  Her lips parted but no words came out.

  Mara’s face turned opaque with fear, her arms raised as he approached, hu
rling the cell at the wall over the toilet.

  “Luca, please!” she squealed. “Please calm down!”

  “Calm down?” he echoed. “Calm down? What the hell is this? You’ve been lying to me, to everyone!”

  “I can explain!” she cried out plaintively, the fear in her eyes almost palpable.

  “There is no explanation for this,” he breathed, feeling his body transforming as he struggled to maintain control.

  Slowly, he turned to look at himself in the mirror but he didn’t recognize the face staring back at him. His eyes bulged from their sockets, his dark waves an unkempt mess around his livid face. Puffs of smoke emanated from his nostrils.

  In that moment, he wasn’t sure what he was capable of.

  “Who the hell is this? Who are you sending pics of yourself half-naked to from my bathroom?”

  She rose abruptly, her dark eyes flashing with indignation as she snatched the cell out of his hand.

  “I’m out of here,” she hissed. “Screw this. Screw all of this.”

  There was something in her face, a look which told him that she had reached a breaking point he hadn’t noticed her approaching before. His fury was only pushing her further over the edge but he wasn’t about to let her go so easily, not without an explanation.

  “Mara! Get your ass back here!” he roared, chasing after her, but she was gone, the door to the condo reverberating as she slammed it in her wake.

  And no one ever saw her again.

  The rumors shot through the back alleys, of people who had seen her in Fort Lauderdale or down in Homestead.

  Someone had claimed she had run off with Sammy Petrucci while another declared she had been a federal agent. The latter had always made him snort contemptuously. There was no way that woman was a cop of any kind, least of all FBI.

  At least, he had convinced himself that was impossible.

  All Luca knew was that Mara had deceived him and even though he had seen it coming for a long time, the lack of closure still burned at him.

  I don’t miss her, not in the least. Teresa is twice the woman Mara was, and since she’s come around, I’ve barely thought about her.

  It was true.

  For the first time in three years, he was looking forward to a future, despite the odd thoughts that sometimes filtered through his mind about his missing former lover. All he wanted was to get through the next days, to build a life outside of everything he’d known.