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Zander got out seconds later, walking around the car to get to me.
I looked at him. “Don’t stick by my side all night. I want to have a private conversation with Luca about… you know.” I couldn’t even force myself to say it.
He sighed, but he didn’t argue with me. He probably knew if he was in earshot of that conversation, he’d go nuts and beat the shit out of Luca. And that, clearly, was something we had to avoid.
We were not the first ones to arrive at the club. The parking lot held quite a lot of other cars, all sleek and black and shiny. Zander was by my side while we walked, but once we got past the bouncers at the front of the club, we pushed inside and found the party was in full swing. The DJ was playing some fast, loud beat, and I immediately saw Jett at the bar, grabbing a drink.
The moment he saw me, he beamed. “Giselle! There you are!” He wandered over to me, set an arm around my shoulders, and drew me to the bar, seemingly unaware that I’d stiffened at his touch. “Have anything you want, on me.” He then burst out laughing. “I’m kidding, all drinks are free for us tonight. They’re on the Black Hand.” He pulled his arm off me—thank God—and grabbed the glass the bartender had set down, giving me a wink and wandering off to the dance floor, where Shay and his brother were, along with Slade, Nixon, and Piper.
I saw some of the other would-be heirs, and though they looked at me and nodded, all acknowledging my presence, I didn’t move from the bar, mostly because I didn’t know where to go.
Where was Luca?
“I guess I’ll hang out here,” Zander muttered, eyes on me. “If you need me—” The look I gave him stopped him from finishing that sentence. He knew me well enough by now that I would never admit to needing him for anything.
Except, you know, getting dressed on occasion.
I pushed away from the bar, away from Zander, moving around the outskirts of the dance floor. I was quickly approached by a few of the other younger boys, asked to dance—of which I turned them down. A few of them said they were glad I was okay, which I then thanked them for. The truth was, well-wishes did me nothing. Half of them had sent flowers for me in the hospital, although that had probably been due to their parents.
They could be guilty. One of them could be the one who shot me. I doubted it, but the possibility was still there. My guess was on the Greenback Serpents and Atlas.
I stalked the dance floor, searching for Luca. He might be up on the balcony that overlooked the entire club, in which case I’d have to go up there and ream into him. I wasn’t going to hold it in; I’d let Luca know that marrying him was not on the table for me. I wouldn’t agree to it. I fucking wouldn’t.
It was as I was about to give up looking for him on the ground floor that I saw him.
Luca stood near the DJ, talking to him about something. His hands were in his pockets, his dark hair styled with some hair putty. He wore all black, a long-sleeved button-up shirt whose sleeves were currently rolled up past his elbows.
Don’t ask me why, but my heart did a little flip at the sight of him.
Yeah, yeah, I was obviously attracted to him on a physical level. There was something about rolled-up sleeves that was sexy, too. Don’t ask me what that was, because I wouldn’t have an answer.
Luca’s dark gaze glanced up, and we locked eyes. I motioned for him, and he was all too happy to ditch the DJ and come rushing over to me. He was grinning ear to ear by the time he reached my side, and he had to speak loudly to talk over the music, “I’ve been waiting for you. For a while, I thought you weren’t going to come, like you were avoiding me or something.”
I didn’t say anything to that, mostly because he was right. I had been avoiding him until now. Hardly answering his text messages, pretending I was not feeling well when he came over with a vase for the roses. As much as I knew not to judge someone by the sins of their father, I also couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that rose up within me when I thought about marrying into his family, having Rocco as a father-in-law.
“You look beautiful,” he said, giving me much the same look Zander had when he’d seen me in the dress. The desire was blatant; if Luca could, I didn’t doubt that he’d sweep me off my feet, take me somewhere private, and show me whatever sexual skills he’d picked up the past few years. “Just… wow.”
“We need to talk,” I said.
“Oh, uh, sure. We can go to the balcony.” He offered me his hand, as if he wanted to walk through this club hand-in-hand. I didn’t take it, mostly because if I did, it might cause me to weaken my resolve.
I might start to think having his hand in mine wasn’t so bad, that feeling his warmth wasn’t as awful as it should be.
His hand dropped to his side, and he didn’t bother to hide the disappointment on his face—which made me hold in a sigh. I followed him around the dance floor, and together we headed to metal stairwell that led to the upstairs portion of the club, where round tables sat, along with a balcony that overlooked the entire club. We passed Zander on the way, and I shot him a look that I hoped told him to stay put.
There was only one person up there, and he’d taken the furthest table in the corner, sipping from a drink, seemingly zoning out. Though, when we came up, those eyes of his found us immediately. Even though shadows danced across his features, I was still able to discern who it was: someone else who hadn’t visited me in the hospital.
Cade Cunningham.
Luca and I stopped at the first table, and he sat down, watching as I did so. I had to hold in a groan, but I managed just fine. “So,” he said, now not having to shout to be heard over the music, “what do you want to talk about?”
I stared at him. I said nothing for a moment. A foot of space between us on the rounded booth that surrounded the right half of the table, I probably should’ve put more distance between us. A foot really wasn’t that much. It’d be so easy for him to reach over and touch me, for me to do the same.
“You really don’t know what this is about?” I asked.
“No. Do you want me to grab us some drinks, or—”
“Cut the shit, Luca.”
