Mafia

The past isn't always in the past

Anyone with at least half-a-brain knows not to make deals with the mafia... It's stupid, reckless and down right idiotic, so unless you're really desperate and it is a life and death situation, you just don't do it. Especially not with a man like Luca Valente. 

Luca has never been considered either lenient or amicable, but I knew that he'd been both with my father, just like I knew that there was nothing coincidental about him showing up to my graduation celebration to collect the money that my father owed him. 

Back in the day, before Luca was the head of the Mafia and worked his way up through the ranks from a menial enforcer until lieutenant and then finally Don, a lot of people didn't seem to understand just how smart he was. The man is intimidation and dangerous personified, you see him coming towards you and you don't know him? You turn on your feet and run in the other direction, but one of my favorite things about Luca was always his incredible intelligence. 

"You're unusually quiet" his deep voice had the tiny hairs on my arms and neck standing up and I took a moment to quietly inhale before I angled my head and glanced at him over my shoulder. 

"What do you want me to say, Luca? This isn't exactly how I imagined my graduation day playing out" 

Lucas eyes were so dark, they had always been that way and it was close to impossible to even attempt at reading any emotion in them, but they were still so beautiful and expressional in their own way. Framed with thick dark lashes in a face that is pure male perfection, on a body that is even more toned now than it was three years ago, Luca could be a fallen angel with his dark beauty and heavy presence. 

"I'm sorry for cutting into your day, but business is business" I snorted and turned my gaze to the buildings passing by outside the carwindow. 

"Cut the bullshit Luca and tell me what you want" I knew him, down to every last cell in my body I knew him, and he wasn't an easy man to deal with but he was direct and that was one of the things I'd always liked about him. He didn't fuck around, he got straight to the point and right now that was exactly what I needed from him. No bullshit, no pretense, just the cold hard facts. 

"Look at me Ana" my hands clenched in my lap and I fought the urge to defy him just for the hell of it, this wasn't about the past and what had once been between the two of us, this was about getting myself out of a jam I'd been stupid enough to take on as my own. Turning my body towards him I swallowed and angled my head so I was looking straight at him, my eyes locking with his and I fought the visceral response of my body to a man I'd thought I was over a long time ago. 

"You're even more beautiful than I remember you" I blinked at him, not sure I'd heard him right, but with the smoldering look he was giving me I was pretty certain my ears hadn't been playing tricks on me. 

"Look, can we just get this over with already? I really shouldn't be gone too long" I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, I was nervous but I was trying damn hard not to show it. 

"Not here" he said and leaned forward to tap on the glass window separating us from his drivers and as the black glass rolled down, Luca leaned forward and murmured something to the driver before sitting back as the window slid back up. 

"Where are we going?" I couldn't help but ask, it didn't really matter where we went, being alone with Luca was a bad idea in general. 

"The park" he said simply and I nodded, wrapping my arms around myself as my thoughts went every which way, and all I wanted to do was open the door and jump out and get the hell out because already this was getting too complicated. Five minutes in a car with him and old memories and unwanted feelings were bubbling to the surface and I wasn't sure I was ready to deal with it all, not now, not so abruptly. 

Three more minutes of driving in silence and then the car came to a halt, Luca buttoned up his jacket and stepped out of the car just as one of his men held open the door for me and offered his hand in assistance. 

"Thank you" I murmured and blinked at the sunlight, it wasn't cold out, but still I felt shivers run through my body and it was all because of the dangerously attractive man that rounded the car to join me. He looked the predator he was, his movements were graceful and deadly, like a hunting cat of sorts, a leopard or a jaguar maybe, and he was so confident in his stride and so beautiful it was impossible to keep my eyes off him. 

"Let's take a walk" he said and held out his hand, swallowing I tucked my arm through his and let him lead me into the east side of Central Park, his guards trailing behind us inconspicuously, keeping without hearing range and I knew he must have ordered them to stay close but not too close. 

"I've always loved the park" I said when the utter silence got the best of me and I just wanted to stop feeling so awkward and out of my depth around him, he'd always made me feel like that. He was so intimidating, a force of nature that was impossible to ignore and he always, always got what he wanted.

"I remember" his voice wrapped around me and it was deep and husky and sex and I felt my body heating up to my complete embarassment.

"What is it you want from me, Luca? You have to have something in mind, or you wouldn't have brought me here, so what is it?" He stopped and turned to face me, and I sucked in a breath at the look in his eyes, those dark eyes so expressive that I struggled to catch my breath for a second. I didn't know how it happened, how I didn't see it coming, but one second he was looking at me and the next we were kissing. One of his hands was on my waist, the other on my nape as he angled my head just the way he liked and my hands rested against his chest of their own volition. The sensible part of my brain was screaming for me to pull back, use my hands to push him away, but another part of me, the primal part that always seemed to take over whenever Luca was concerned was urging to me to press in closer, demand more. My fingers twitched on his chest and then all of a sudden I realized exactly what I was doing and who I was doing it with and I tore myself away, stumbling back a few steps in the process. 

"You can't just -" I spluttered, working to regain my breath as I glared at him, "you can't just walk back into my life after three years of nothing and then kiss me! You can't do that!" It wasn't fair, it was cruel and it was manipulation because he damn well knew how much he still affected me and he was using it to get his own way.

"Ana" his voice was a warning but I shook my head and took another step back, gripping my hair with both hands I turned around and headed back towards the car. I'd only made it about five feet when hands gripped my waist from behind and I froze, my spine going rigid and then Lucas voice was right next to my ear.

"This conversation isn't over"