Arranged love

LUCA

Nite: We’re at Crown. I read the message that Nite sends me.

Me: Stay with her.

I respond before placing my phone back in my pocket.

“Thanks,” Bones says into his cell and places it on his desk, leaning back in his chair. “My source says he’s not in Vegas.”

“Well, he was,” Titan says, sitting in the chair next to me. “And he’ll be back.” He looks over at me. “Your wedding”-he makes air quotes- “is days away. He will want to do the job himself.”

I rub my chin in thought. “Yeah, but we can’t let him get that close. I don’t want Haven anywhere near that situation. But I can’t call off the ceremony. That will be suspicious. Throw up too many red flags.”

“You need to publicly make the current venue unavailable,” Bones suggests.

Not a bad idea. “I’m listening.”

He sits up straighter. “Force him to go where you want him to. We will be ready for him. You could even have it here if you want. We can arrange for snipers on the roof of Kingdom. They’ll be able to see him and his men a mile away. Not to mention he won’t be able to turn the opportunity down since he wants us too.”

“He knows we’ll be at the wedding no matter where it’s held,” Titan argues.

“Yes, but this gives him an advantage,” Bones says.

“How?” Titan asks.

“By letting him think he can kill us on our own turf.” He shrugs. “Rossi is a cocky son of a bitch. And to take us all out on Kingdom property …? He’ll be drooling at the chance.”

“It could work,” I say. “But Haven …”

“Won’t even be here,” Bones adds.

“Where will she be?” Titan asks the same thing I’m thinking.

“She’ll be at our compound with our security.”

“I want Nite with her,” I say, thinking about my options.

“Whoever you want.” Bones nods.

“He’ll want to fight with you,” Titan adds. “He’s loyal to you.”

“Then he will do what I tell him to,” I growl, knowing he’s right. I want him with Haven. There are only five guys I trust with my life who are not blood related, and Nite is number fucking one. Two of the other four are currently in this room.

“I don’t know,” Titan speaks. “It could still tip him off. He pulls Haven away from you to speak to her. Then his men go missing. Now you want to make the one location he plans on killing us out of the game?” He shakes his head. “He could get spooked. Think she informed you of his plan. What are the odds that someone else besides her knows his plan?”

Bones smiles. “He’ll get nervous. And men who are nervous will fuck up.”

I stand, making up my mind. “I need to talk to Cross.”

HAVEN

I STUMBLE OUT of the elevator laughing. Jasmine has her arm hooked through mine and her free hand on the wall to help stabilize us.

We had a lot to drink at the club. Grave hooked us up. The shots just kept coming, and we kept swallowing them.

I see the two guys standing guard outside our hotel suite. They look at Nite, and he nods once. I’m sure it’s some code for we’re all right. Just two wasted women who can’t hold their liquor. Jasmine already puked twice in the bathroom, then she washed her mouth out with a shot of vodka. I threw up once in the bathroom sink.

Good times.

We come up to the door. She tries to push the door open, but it doesn’t budge. Leaning forward, she places her face to the door and cups her lips. “Please open up.”

“What the hell are you doing?” I ask with a laugh.

“Communication is key,” she slurs.

I shove her out of the way so hard she falls onto her ass. “You had way too many cocktails,” I say, but my laughter grows.

“I haven’t had any cock yet tonight.” She looks up at Nite. “How about-”

“Stop it,” I interrupt her. Poor Nite. He probably hates Luca for putting him on babysitting duty. I wanna ask why he isn’t with Mia anymore but stop myself before I do. This is not the place, and Jasmine may be my best friend, but no one is supposed to know that Mia exists. Plus, he wouldn’t answer me anyway.

“I’m gonna give up alcohol,” she states, sitting up to place her back against the black and gold wallpaper of the hallway.

I snort and dig through my purse for the hotel key. I hope I grabbed it.

“I’m going to do sober October.”

I look down to see Nite grab her arms and lift her drunken body up off the floor. “It’s May,” I inform her.

She shrugs awkwardly. “And no sex November.”

“Dear Lord …”

“No dick December. No fuck February.”

“You skipped over January.”

“Why is it so hard to find good dick?” she asks, ignoring me. “Like I don’t wanna be loved.” She laughs. “I just want someone who will lick my pussy and fuck my ass.” She spins around, her hands slapping Nite. She looks up at him with her heavy eyes. “I bet you know how to fuck a woman.” She reaches out to grab his crotch, but he moves quickly, capturing her wrists and holding them away from him. “The silent and brooding ones are always the dirtiest.”

The door yanks open, and I turn to see Luca. It’s three a. m., and he stands there dressed in a button-down and slacks. “Why are you standing out here?” he demands.

“I couldn’t find my key.” I hiccup, not sure why Nite didn’t use his. Maybe he was enjoying the show that Jasmine was giving him.

“Trying to get laid.” Jasmine smiles.

He steps to the side and gestures for us to enter. Jasmine trips into the room, and Nite reaches for her and keeps her standing. Her knees buckle, and he slides one hand behind her back and the other underneath her knees and picks her up. Her head falls back over his arm, and she closes her heavy eyes.

Luca sighs as Nite walks through the door and takes her over to the guest room off the side of the kitchen.

“I guess you had fun?” he asks me, closing the door.

I ignore him and head to our bedroom. I trip over my heels and silently cuss myself.

“Haven, I’m talking to you,” he growls.

I snort.

“Haven?” He grips my upper arm and pulls me to a stop. I spin around to yell at him, but words die on my tongue as I catch sight of the TV that hangs on the living room wall.

It’s the local news channel. A woman stands outside of a cathedral. The cathedral we plan on getting married at next week. It’s gone. “What …?” I stumble away from him, and he releases me. I fall onto the cream leather couch in the living room and watch as the reporter explains there had been a fire. St. Mary’s Cathedral is a complete loss, but thankfully, the place was empty. “At this time, some are throwing speculation out regarding arson, but nothing has been confirmed yet …” The reporter goes on. “The fire marshal …”Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

“We were going to get married there,” I say, turning to look over my shoulder at Luca.

He stands behind the couch with his arms crossed over his chest. His dark eyes are focused on mine. He doesn’t seem the least bit concerned. Or surprised.

My heart begins to pound as I stand on shaky legs. I turn my body fully so I can face him. “Did you do this?” I ask.

He just stares at me.

“Luca.” I lick my numb lips. “Why?” I ask. He doesn’t have to admit it out loud because I know he’s responsible.

“We needed to change the venue.”

“What?” I ask, cupping my forehead. The room is starting to spin, and my eyes are heavy. I’m either going to get sick or pass out very soon. “Why …?”

“We need to bring Rossi to us. And we needed to do it without tipping him off that we’re onto his plan. He can’t know that you are on our side.”

“So you burn down a place of worship?” I ask in horror. “Dear Lord, it’s like college all over again. When Cross …” I pause as my words sink into my foggy brain. I look to my right where he stands there next to Bones. “You had Cross do it,” I say breathlessly, falling back down onto the couch.

Cross got his name in grade school. He had marks all over his back that looked like crosses. We could only guess where he got them from. And we all came to the same conclusion. His father. But Cross got his revenge. He doesn’t carry around a Zippo for nothing. He likes fire. The heat of the flames. He’ll burn you with no remorse.