by Samantha Bee
The stranger is looking back and forth between the two of us with his eyebrows raised, obviously trying to determine what the exact relationship between us is. Good luck, man.
I bend over and slip out of my heels so I can pull my jeans back on.
“Oh, you're not going to rub yourself all over me again?” Luca teases me but I can’t quite tell if he’s annoyed with my stunt or not.
Not entirely sure how to respond, I go with my usual humor to deflect, “I could if you ask nicely,” I wink at him.
I expect him to just laugh the whole thing off, but he surprises me when he grabs my hips and yanks me towards him. He reaches down and pulls my jeans the rest of the way up, dragging his fingers along the skin on the back of my thighs and ass as he goes. I shiver at his touch, heat pooling into my center as he rests his head on my shoulder and presses his lips just below my ear.
“Why are you making this even harder than it already is?” he whispers for my ears only.
I sigh in defeat as I drop my head against his chest, “You started it.”
He leans back away from me and looks down, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear, “I know, I’m sorry, Letty. I’ll be more careful from now on.”
I nod as I lean back into his chest and let him wrap his arms around me, “Can we just say I drank too much and forget it all happened?”
Luca laughs, “How much did you drink tonight?”
“I don't know” I shrug, “Like six shots and a few mixed drinks.”
He raises his eyebrows at me, knowing that I have a higher than normal tolerance and while that’s enough to take partial blame it’s not really enough alcohol for me to justify my actions.
He just laughs and nods, “Sure, we can blame the alcohol.”
“Thanks, you’re my favorite,” I smile as I pull away out of his arms. Thankful he isn’t mad at me, but I also can’t help that small niggling of disappointment trying to break through the ice around my heart. I shove that shit down and let the storm rage back through me as I look over at the stranger who has been observing the whole interaction.
“What’s up, Stranger?” I smile, feeling more like myself now that I’m not in Luca’s arms.
“Luca on your roster?” he asks.
I shake my head, looking at Luca from the corner of my eye, he looks confused at the familiarity the stranger is addressing me with, “Luca is just,” I hesitate, “Luca,” I shrug not really sure how else to explain it.
Stranger laughs, “Well shit, if that’s how you treat guys not even on your roster, I can’t wait to see how you treat the guys that are.”
I grin, “You may never find out.”
He clutches his hands to his chest as if I’ve wounded him, “Are you saying you don’t think I can impress you?”
I shrug, “Well you already got two strikes against you.”
Luca is looking back and forth between us probably trying to figure out how we know each other.
“Oh,” the stranger chuckles, “and pray tell, what are these strikes against me?”
“Well, you know Luca,” I say pointing to my boss who still looks confused, “and you’re too,” I hesitate trying to figure out exactly how to word it as I gesticulate up and down in his direction, “preppy looking,” I finally finish.
“Preppy?” Luca chokes out, cracking up at the same time the stranger gasps, feigning outrage.
“Wait, seriously?” Luca asks.
I just nod and shrug before checking my nails. Luca starts cracking up as he pulls me back into his side, wrapping his arm around me.
“Well, it’s clear you have no idea who you’re talking to,” he looks up at the stranger and asks, “Did you recognize her or are you just as clueless?”
The stranger shakes his head, “No, sorry man. I didn’t realize she was one of your dancers, let alone your favorite dancer. We met up outside and talked for a bit.”
Luca starts cracking up again, “Oh, this is great.” I look up at him trying to figure out exactly what it is he is so entertained by.
“Okay, Stormy,” he says, placing an odd amount of emphasis on my stage name. I raise my brow at him, but he just squeezes me tighter to him, not bothering to hide his amusement at all.
The stranger looks just as confused as I do. “This is Kade,” Luca continues gesturing to his friend before continuing, “He’s one of my cage fighters.”
Oh, well that explains why they both looked so confused at me calling him preppy, it also explains that dangerous vibe I got from him.
“We’ve known each other for a long time,” Luca continues, again placing an odd amount of emphasis but this time on the word long. I just stare at Luca, trying to figure out what exactly he's trying to tell me.
“We met in foster care,” he continues.
I gasp, “No!”
Luca starts chuckling again as I’m finally putting it together. I look back at the stranger and start examining him all over again from head to toe. My eyes are drawn back to the scar on his cheek and gasp again. My fingers trail down my own cheek where his scar is. I was there when he got that scar. He got it defending me.
“Kade?” I whisper. I haven't seen him since just after my eighteenth birthday when I left the group home we met in. He’s looking back and forth between me and Luca, obviously not recognizing me, not that I blame him. My own mother wouldn’t recognize me if she were still around to see me.
Now I understand why Luca is so amused, Kade is never going to believe it's me. I lean more into Luca, letting a small smile spread across my face.
“Kade, I don’t know if you remember her,” I roll my eyes. He’s just being an ass now. Kade will remember me, he just won’t believe it's me, “This is Letty.”
Kade’s mouth drops open and he starts perusing me the same way I just did to him. His eyes lingering at my still unbuttoned pants before moving up to examine the tattoos that only partially cover my scars. His eyes stop at the bottom of my sweatshirt where just the end of my chest scar from open heart surgery is visible.
“Letty?” he whispers, shaking his head. “No, Letty disappeared after she left.”
I wince, “I go by Scar, now.”
He cracks up, “There is no way you are the Letty I know,” he says, continuing to shake his head. “There’s no fucking way.”
He looks at Luca who is shaking with silent laughter.
“Sorry for disappearing,” I say shrugging, not really knowing what else to say. I did disappear on him. He has every reason to hate me.
“No, no, no,” he says, still shaking his head at us, “There’s no fucking way. Letty was a goody two shoes who never drank, was soft spoken, liked pink and had light brown hair,”
“Dirty blonde,” I interrupt.
He cracks up and pulls me out of Luca’s arms spinning me in circles, “Holy fuck, it really is you!” he exclaims before putting me back down, “How are you the girl next door that I used to know? I can’t believe it. You used to wear your hair in pigtails.”
I finally laugh, realizing he doesn’t hate me, “Guilty.”
He presses his fingers tips at the base of my chest scar and moves his fingers up under my sweatshirt, “It’s really you, Letty?”
I laugh and nod, “It's really me. Just a little different, nowadays.”
“Oh yeah, just a little?” Luca laughs.
Kade gestures between the two of us, “Oh, this dynamic makes so much more sense now,” he laughs.
I roll my eyes but Luca just shrugs. We’ve always had a strange relationship, flirting between the line of friendship and something more. He came into my life at the very lowest point and I leaned too much on him during that time. And ever since, if I’m being honest. If I was capable of falling in love with anyone, it would probably be Luca. Which is exactly why we both push the other away when we get too close and we’ve always been like that. Running from the inferno that threatens to consume us both every time we get too close.
Kade runs his thumb absentmin
dedly along the scar on his face, the one he got defending me.
“So,” he starts, staring at me, “I have to say. Now that I know who you are, I feel like I’ve done enough to earn a spot on your roster,” he finishes with a click of his tongue.
I start laughing but before I can even respond to him Luca is asking, “What roster do you keep referring to, man?”
I look over at him wondering how he’s going to respond. Luca knows I sleep around, we talk about it every so often, but I don’t think he’s ever had to actually meet any of my flavors of the month. I decide to just stick with honesty, I’ve never lied to Luca and don’t want to start now.
“Kade has been referring to the guys I’m currently fucking as being on my roster,” I shrug but don’t look at either of them. I must be looking uncomfortable because Candy walks by and passes me a beer with a wink.
Bless her soul.
Luca laughs it off, but I don't miss how he slightly shifts towards me, Kade doesn’t miss it either. Kade raises an eyebrow at me but I just shrug and start sipping on my beer. The tension is almost unbearable, and I drink half my beer as the three of us just stand there staring at each other. Luca keeps scrunching his hands into fists like he’s holding himself back from reaching out to grab me again. Kade is just looking back and forth between us trying to figure us both out.
“Well,” I start as I lean towards Kade and run my finger down the path of his scar, “as partial as I am to this particular scar, you know too much about me for me to fuck you,” I shrug, “sorry about that.”
Luca starts laughing, “I know your rules, Scar,” he starts before hesitating looking back and forth between me and Kade, “but I would actually give him a shot.”
I think my jaw actually hits the floor. I have no response and I just stare at him waiting for the just kidding, but it never comes.
“What?” he asks, “He’s just as emotionally stunted as you are.”
Most people would probably take offense to that, but I can’t because it’s entirely true. I don't do complicated and I definitely don’t do feelings. I do fun and I do sex. I don’t really care about hurting other people’s feelings or using people for their bodies. I’m upfront about it. Luca is one of the only people I still feel anything other than lust for, and while I don’t want to jump into a relationship with him either, I don’t want to hurt him.
“You’re kidding, right?” I ask at the same time Kade asks, “Is this some kind of test?”
Luca shifts back and forth on his feet, clearly uncomfortable. He grabs the beer from my hand and finishes it off before taking a deep breath, “Look Scar, we both know you’re going to fuck someone tonight and that it isn’t going to be me,” he pauses, struggling with something. He lets out a huge sigh before grabbing me by the hips again to pull me towards him and burying his face in my neck.
“As much as I wish it was me taking you home tonight, hell, every night, we both know that’s not a good idea for either of us.” He hesitates before continuing, “I’m not… you’re not… look neither of us is capable of whatever this is, right now.” It would almost be cute how much he’s struggling to get this out if it weren’t for the block of ice weighing down my heart.
“We can only ever just be friends,” he continues, and I swallow thickly as I nod because I know this. I agree with him, but fuck if it doesn’t suck to hear it.
“God, you’re so fucking tempting but...but... We just both know we can’t,” he hesitates again.
“Fuck Scar,” he grabs my face with both hands and looks me in the eyes, “I’m going to kiss you now and then you’re going to go home and fuck Kade and we are never going to talk about this night again, okay?”
I just nod because I don’t know what else to say and honestly, I just can’t stop thinking about how his skin tasted on my lips.
Before I even have a chance to have any doubts, Luca’s lips are crashing against mine and my entire body becomes an inferno. The winds constantly tearing me apart from the inside rise higher and fan the flames Luca’s body is feeding into me until I’m a hot mess of desire and need.
I push my body against him and drag my arms across his hard stomach, caressing the ridges of his abs with my fingertips. His tongue sweeps through my mouth, tasting and taking everything I have to give. He smells like leather and cloves and tastes like whiskey and smoke. It’s a heady combination that shoots heat straight to my core, I clench my thighs tighter together trying to relieve some of the pressure building there. I lose myself in his kiss.
He pulls away suddenly and much too soon and I involuntarily let out a whimper, missing his heat as he pulls out of my arms.
I see my own desire reflected in his eyes and for just a second I think he’s going to pull me back into his body. Instead, he shuts his eyes and squeezes his hands into fists, when he opens them back up, the heat has been smothered. He’s back to being just my boss.
I take a deep breath of my own, trying to tamper down my own need. Luca is right, we can’t be doing shit like this ever again. He gets under my skin in the worst way possible, worming his way through my defenses and lighting me up from the inside out, making me lose control.
Together, we are a recipe for disaster and one I can’t risk. I already survived my own personal apocalypse, I wouldn’t survive another natural disaster of such epic proportions.
I call out to the chaos in my soul and wrap it around myself like a security blanket, dampening my affection and desire for the man in front of me. I find comfort in the raging storm underneath my skin and lose myself in all the ugliest parts of myself as I run my fingers along the scars all over my abdomen. When I look at Luca again, I’m back to being an ice queen who only cares about having a good time.
Chapter Two
8 Months Ago
I watch the interaction between Luca and Letty, or I guess Scar now, and can’t help but feel like I’m still missing a huge amount of information. The way they both so clearly want each other reminds me so much of our time in foster care. Back then Letty, I mean Scar, was just a naïve and traumatized little girl that neither one of us felt like we could take advantage of.
When we came into her life, she was all of the good things in the world, softness and sunshine. A gentle, loving soul but she was hurting, broken and fragile. I don’t know all of the details, but I know enough to know that you don’t go through something like that without some major consequences to your soul. I was always amazed by how she was still so sweet. I wonder what else happened to push her into becoming this woman in front of me.
I understood why Luca fought his feelings for her when we were kids, he wanted better for her. Neither one of us wanted to drag such a pure soul into the dark futures we both knew we were headed for. That was why I never tried to find her after she disappeared. There have been so many times I have thought about her over the years, but I always pictured her as happy, maybe with a family, married to her college sweetheart, with a few kids and a white picket fence.
I watch as they both shut down all of their emotions and I have to say, it’s pretty impressive the way they both just turn it all off, especially after such a passionate kiss. I can’t even lie, watching their bodies practically melt into each other was kind of hot. I think I might be more turned on than either of them after they both step back and take a deep breath.
Scar is running her fingers across her midriff and it takes me a moment to realize that she’s actually tracing her scars, as if that’s what’s grounding her back into reality. It’s kind of fascinating to watch them both throw up their shields.
I wonder why they don’t give into their attraction. If Letty looked at me the way she was just looking at Luca, I wouldn’t be able to walk away. I need to get him alone and figure out what is going on. I know my friend and I know me finally running into Letty after running in the same circles for so long is not a coincidence. Luca wanted me here for a reason, he wanted me to remember her for a reason. So why now? What’s changed?
&nbs
p; Scar looks between the two of us and I swear you can’t see any evidence that she is anything other than bored. Only a few moments ago her desire was palpable in the air, heat coming off her body in waves and now she just seems...cold. Cold and bored and indifferent.
I raise a brow at her and she just shrugs, “I’m betting I broke a personal record for tips tonight,” she smirks.
Okay well, talk about the least subtle way to change the subject. I start chuckling to myself looking between these two fuckers.
“I wouldn’t be surprised, Candy should have all your tips,” Luca nods towards the waitress with the bubblegum pink roses on her shorts. “You can go find her and then come back so I can give you the information for your next job.”
She just nods, winks at me and struts away.
Luca and I both watch her leave before I turn back to him, “Bro? What the actual fuck was all of that?”
He just sighs and grabs the bottle of Jack that’s sitting on the bar top behind him and starts drinking from it.
“Someone tried to kill her.”
“What?” I stutter. Of all the things I thought he was going to say, that was not at all what I thought would be coming out of his mouth.
He just sighs and nods to his office behind the bar before taking another swig from the bottle. His office is one I’m familiar with, it's pretty much what you would expect of a guy who has as many ties to the criminal underworld as Luca does. His office reflects him as a man very well, sparse and functional, nothing frivolous but still manages to ooze wealth and power.
When you walk into this room, you know that you are dealing with a powerful and merciless man. I respect the fuck out of Luca and everything he has built but I have no idea what he’s thinking right now.
“So, please explain what you mean, someone tried to kill Letty?” I demand, starting to let my frustration show. I can’t believe he has known where she’s been this whole time, or that he let her get tied up in his business. We both agreed that the last thing we wanted was to warp her innocence.
She disappeared and I really thought she’d have a chance to start over but nope. This fucker has most definitely gotten her involved in some shady shit. There’s no innocence left in the woman who I just met, only curves and jaded edges.
