Charlotte
When Luca had first asked me to paint for his club, I had severely estimated what this place was. The only place I could even equate it to was a Las Vegas resort. Lavish and over the top and like Disney World for adults.
The first two floors were were packed to the brim with clients that Luca referred to as the bottom tier--the ones who weren't wealthy or important enough to be invited elsewhere. The restaurant and club were on the first floor as was the only section that would be open to the public on a regular basis. The second floor was more of a lounge area with a wide sweeping outdoor patio, overlooking the crashing waves and expansive beach. There were big velvet couches and roaring fire pits and lights It reminded me of his restaurant in New York with a slightly different vibe, but every bit as magnificent. This area would be reserved for private parties or invitation only events.
Luca fit so well in this world. I guess I knew that for a while, but being here and seeing it in person only reinforced that. He relished in the attention of others, talking to everyone like they were his best friend and thanking them for coming out. He was the circus master and held the attention of everyone in the room without even trying. People looked at Luca like he walked on water, and as far as they were concerned, he did.
Luca pressed his thumb to the keypad at the front of the elevator and the doors slid open. It was the only elevator that accessed the third floor and roof, and apparently you needed a fingerprint or code to even get in. When we got in, the doors closed and Luca nodded to the attendant who pressed the third floor button for us.
"Do I get to know the code?" I asked.
"No need. You'll never be here without me." He didn't even make eye contact with me, scrolling through his phone as we went up.
"What if I want to come by myself sometime?"
"You can't. You're not allowed in here without me." His tone was flat, leaving no room for discussion.
"I'm not allowed?" I arched any eyebrow at him. For the most part, Luca was trying, but in little moments like this he reverted back to the controlling and sexist behavior , it really put me off.
Luca groaned and shoved his phone in his pocket, leaning towards me a little bit.
"Do you enjoy fighting me on everything, Charlotte?" He sighed. "This is no place for a woman like you. I'll take you anywhere in the world that you want to go, but after tonight, this place is off limits."
Off limits. I fought the urge to laugh. What was he, me father? This was ridiculous, and what was even more absurd was that he didn't see that. It wasn't even so much that I wanted to come here on my own, but the entire principle of it. The second Luca started ordering me around and trying to control me, my defiant side reared its head.
"Don't look at me like that." He warned. "This is a place I will conduct my business and I'm not compromising with your involvement in that."
"But you'll bring me here when you need a pretty little decoration on your arm?" I snapped, folding my arms over my chest. He was happy to parade me around here and show me off to his friends, but only on his terms.
Luca stiffened, his eyes widening in exasperation. "Charlotte..."
The ding of the elevator cut through the tension, announcing our arrival at the third floor. The doors opened to a room full of men and whatever Luca had to say was going to have to wait. His demeanor changed immediately as he gripped my hand and led me out of the elevator. We were back to putting on a show.
We were hardly off the elevator when we were bombarded by one of the guests.
"Good evening, Luca. I don't believe I've met your date."
"Cameron. Glad you could make it." Luca stuck his hand out grasping the man's politely. "This is Charlotte. Charlotte, this is Cameron, an associate of mine from LA."
"Hello," I smiled, offering my hand out as well.
"What a pleasure to meet you. I heard rumors about the woman who tamed the beast, but I have to say, the rumors don't do you justice." Cameron directed all of his attention to me now, which only infuriated Luca even more.
"I don't know how much of that is true, but I am sure giving it my best shot." I flashed him a smile. "Luca mentioned you're from LA; I lived there as well up until a few months ago."
"It's a beautiful city. Fucking crowded, but beautiful. What were you doin' out there?"
"I had my paintings in a gallery." I smiled.
"You're an artist? You wouldn't happen to be the owner of the pieces downstairs, would you?"
"She is." Luca butted in. "She's incredibly talented. You'll have to excuse us, Cameron. We'll catch up later."
Luca ushered me away to an empty seat at the bar.
"Your friend seems nice." I poked.
"You've got a lot to learn about this world, Charlotte." Luca was frustrated and loosened his tie just slightly. "He's not nice, he's sizing you up. You can be mad at me if you need to be, but you're little flirtatious tantrum only fed into it."
I opened my mouth to speak, realizing how this night was quickly spiraling out of control.
"Am I interrupting something?" Angelo said, appearing suddenly with Marco at his side.
"Just Charlotte thinking she knows everything. Nothing out of the ordinary." Luca pressed his lips together.
Angelo gave me a sympathetic smirk, and then turned back to Luca. "We have a situation."
Luca clenched is jaw. "What do you mean?"
Angelo held his hands up. "It's been taken care of. Marco will stay with Charlotte, and you and I can go discuss this further."
Luca nodded. "I'll be back soon. Stay here and wait with Marco." He leaned over and kissed my forehead. "And don't talk to anybody."
"But..." Before I could even finish my protest, Luca and Angelo were stalking away. There was no use fighting him on it. Our conversation was far from over, but it looked like it was going to have to continue to wait. It was nights like this that made me second guess my decision to stay. I shouldn't have to constantly feel so inferior around him, and I hated that I did.
"You look beautiful tonight...Just don't tell Luca I said that." Marco smirked, sliding onto the barstool next to me.
"Thanks, Marco." I laughed. "You're not so bad yourself."
"How about a drink?" He flagged down the bartender.
"That sounds great."
Marco ordered whiskies for both of us.
"Here's to hoping this ends better than the last time you and I drank hard liquor together." He chuckled, grabbing the glass from the bartender and handing it to me.
I smiled, cringing at the thought of what he was talking about. Not only did I have a killer hangover the next day, but Luca was insufferable that night, making me rethink everything about our relationship.
Yes, I was sincerely hoping that tonight ended differently.
Even the air in here was intimidating, weighted down heavily with cigar smoke. Like downstairs, there was luxurious furniture scattered around, and a few poker tables set up. Frank Sinatra crooned through the speakers, and everyone seemed to be settled in their own conversations. It had the sense of anonymity that Cove did, and no one seemed to care who else was up here.
Guns and knives and wads of cash were strewn across tables, and somehow, it didn't seem odd.
"You seem a little tense, is everything okay?" Marco observed, frowning slightly.
"I'm okay." I sighed, leaning over the bar. I didn't really want to get into everything that was on my mind with him right now. "This is still just a lot to take."
"I know it's a little overwhelming. You'll get used to it though." Marco tried to soothe me.
"I don't know if I can." I sipped on the whiskey and ice, letting the sting sit on my lips. "I don't fit in here."
"You're right; you're much too good for all of this." Marco slid his glass across the wooden bar, ready for another. "That's why Luca tries to keep you so far away from it all."
I never really thought of it that way, but it made a little sense. Luca was always trying to keep me separate from this world, and it was me who insisted on being a part of it. I hated being left in the dark, but Luca knew more about all of this than I did. I needed to learn how to put my trust into him entirely, no questions asked, and that was something I wasn't sure I was capable of doing. Giving up control and trust that way was scary, but was it scarier than walking away from Luca?
Marco and I chatted for a little while, and it helped take the edge off a bit. There was a fine line between honoring the fact that Luca knew this world better than I did, and still not wanting to be so controlled and restricted. Why couldn't we meet each other halfway? There had to be some kind of middle ground we could meet in, without me having to mold my entire life to fit into his.
Luca returned a little while later, his face was expressionless and he offered no details to either Marco or I about how it went.
"Everything okay?" I asked, setting my glass down on the counter. I didn't mention the specs of blood I noticed on his wrist. My imagination ran wild with possibilities that made my chest tighten.
Luca pressed his lips to my cheek. "It is now."
"We've had quite a night." Marco handed Luca a glass of whiskey, and he threw it back instantly. "The lower levels are on track to bring in $500,000. We're almost double that up here."
"Great." Luca nodded, without much reaction. My eyes nearly bulged when I heard the amount of money they were bringing in. That was something I would never get used to. Those numbers weren't even comprehendible in my world.
Luca and Marco chatted for a while, and when they were done, Luca introduced me to a few more men. I settled down after a few drinks, and actually was starting to enjoy myself. Luca was like royalty around here and I was proud to be with him. No matter what tomorrow would bring, I loved him, and I was sure the finer details would fall into place eventually.
We danced and played roulette and had a wonderful time. By the time, the evening was winding down, I was exhausted.
"I'm sorry about earlier." Luca said, nuzzling my neck as we walked outside. "It's not that I want to control you. It's just that I know what those men are capable of, and I..."
I cut him off with a kiss. "I'm sorry, too. You're right, it comes across as controlling to me, but I have to accept that you know this world better than I do. And I promise to try to get better at that."
"I just can't stand the thought of anything happening to you." He said, before changing the subject. "Did you have fun tonight?"
"It was amazing. I can't believe how much work you did. You're incredible." I interlaced my fingers in his, confused as he started leading me in the opposite direction of where we had been dropped off.
"You look so fucking beautiful tonight. I can't wait to peel this dress off of you." He trailed his fingers up my thigh, disappearing under the satin fabric.
"Behave yourself." I rolled my eyes, playfully swatting his shoulder. "Where are we going?"
"I have one more surprise for you tonight. Think you can handle that?" He smirked, his arm snaked around my waist and holding me impossibly close to him. Every step we took we became more in sync.
"Only if it's not a long ways away." I laughed. "These heals are killing me."
"Say no more." He grinned, stopping abruptly and scooping me up in his arms before I knew what was happening.
"Put me down." I giggled, squirming in his grasp.
He slapped at my ass playfully. "Is that french for 'Thank you, Luca?'"
I rolled my eyes, giving in to him and quieting down. "Thank you, Luca."
"I'd do anything for you, Tesoro." If we hadn't had that conversation at the taco shop last night, I might have believed him. We both knew the one thing I wanted, he couldn't give me.
When we got to the end of the dock, Luca finally put me down. He positioned me in front of him, and wrapped his arms tightly around my shoulders.
"What is this?" I asked, staring at the boat in front of me. The enormous yacht towered above us. It was the biggest yacht I had ever seen, and just as luxurious as I could expect from Luca.
"My boat." He grinned, kissing my cheek.
My eyes locked on the beautiful scrawl at the back of it. The Tesoro.
"You named it after me?" My eyes widened.
Luca nodded with a silly grin on his face.
"Can I go on it?" I asked, unable to contain my excitement.
"Of course." He smiled, leading me on board. He toured me around the entire thing, stopping at the bow, and placing my hands on the steering wheel. "Where should we go?"
Normally, Luca wasn't much for imagining and indulging me in silly dreams and thoughts, so I took advantage of this small moment. "How about to Italy? You can show me around and then we can of explore the Mediterranean together?"
Luca nuzzled into my neck, the roughness of his stubble sprinting chills across my already goose-bumped arms.
"How about we start with a lap around the harbor?" He chuckled.
"Right now?"
My enthusiasm made him smile. "If you want to."
"This is my favorite part of tonight." I squealed, pressing my lips to his cheek.
Luca's hands found my hips, as he pushed the material of my dress up, exposing my bare skin to the chilly sea air.
"Mine, too." He whispered huskily against my ear.
All too soon, he broke away, starting the boat up and taking his spot at the helm. I watched him in awe as he navigated us out and away from all the other boats and into the open water. He maneuvered with such precision it was like he'd been a captain his entire life. Since when did he know how to drive a boat? I learned something new about him everyday.
The shore slowly got farther and farther away and the noise of the club was almost nonexistent.
If it hadn't been for the ping of Luca's phone, I would have thought we were utterly alone out here.
"Don't you ever get tired of being on call?" I whined, hiking my dress up even higher to tease him. I wanted his full attention on me right now, not whatever was happening back at the club.
"Danger never sleeps baby." He winked, leaving the boat to idle. He stalked toward me with one thing on his mind, pinning me against the side of the boat and gripping both straps of my dress. In one fluid motion, he ripped them to the side, causing it to fall from my shoulders.
"Hey!" I squealed, throwing my arms over my chest in a feeble attempt to cover myself up.
Luca shrugged, ripping the rest of it off and tossing it to the side. "I bought it."
"That dress cost more than an entire month of rent at my apartment. I was planning on selling it." I teased.
Our solace was interrupted by the ringing of his phone. This time, he took it, putting it on speaker.
"Hello?" Luca trailed his fingers down my stomach and between my legs as he spoke. Since my panties were still tucked safely inside his pocket, he had easy access. I sucked in a sharp breath, pressing my lips together and trying not to moan as he pressed against me.
"Hey man." It was Marco. "Do you know where the racing sheets are? I thought they were behind the bar, but can't seem to find them?"
Luca rubbed his fingers vigorously against my flesh as he spoke, a diabolical grin on his face. He loved the chance that we get caught That if I made a single sound, Marco would know what we were up to. And it was turning me on, too. The harder I fought to suppress myself, the more intense the pleasure became. A few more strokes of his gentle touch and I might explode.
"Did you check my office?"
"Yeah, not there either."
Luca groaned, pumping inside of me three times and then pulling away, leaving me breathless and completely hot and bothered.
"Don't move a muscle." His voice was as low as a growl as he turned and went inside the boat, out of hearing range.
I took a second to catch my breath, before grabbing a towel and draping it around my body. It was freezing, and I wasn't going to wait for him completely naked.
Standing at the railing, I gazed out into the black of night. It was almost eery to be out here like this. Everything was calm and quiet, the only sound being the lap of waves against the boat. It was so dark you couldn't even tell where the water ended and the sky began.
A few yards away from us, I noticed a big dark figure moving in the water. Was it some kind of animal? I squinted trying to get a better look.
"Hey Luca?" I called, frowning and still not able to determine what it was.
When Luca didn't respond, I called again, a little louder this time. "Luca?"
"Yeah, baby?" He peaked his head out. All of a sudden a roar came from behind us. The figure I had seen was a boat and suddenly it was headed right for us.
"What the fuck?" Luca growled, coming out.
"Luca!" I shrieked, watching the impending disaster unfold.
I wasn't prepared for the impact and it knocked me right off my feet. I hit the side of the boat so hard that it flipped me over and I was thrown right into the icy water.
"Charlotte!" I heard Luca shriek, just before I blacked out.
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