The armed guards open the gold plated, double doors for me and as soon as they open, I'm hit with fresh, cool air. Stepping inside cautiously, I am stunned by my surroundings. The ballroom is stupendous as I gawk at the chandeliers, covered in diamonds, the extravagant murals that have ever so carefully been painted as every single detail jumps at you. I'm immediately approached by a waiter holding a tray of champagne on one hand as I politely decline.
"Hadley, honey!" A light smile flourishes on my lips as I'm met with the one and only, Vincenzo Bovino. He's one of dad's closest clients and friends. They've been friends since elementary school and I was glad that the party Sage mentioned was his. He understands the whole 'hiding me from the mafia world' and besides, this was just a regular masquerade party and wasn't related to the mafia world at all. It was actually considered rude to discuss 'work' at parties like this as there were separate parties specifically designed just for this. If you really wanted to talk business then you had to agree to assign a meeting for it on another day except for the party. I hugged him tight as he gave my head a kiss before holding me by my shoulders and looking at me.
"Look at you, you have certainly grown up." He pet my head before one of my favourite people walked up to us, his wife, Armani Bovino. As soon as she came up to me, she practically tackled me in a hug as she squeezed me peppering kisses on my head.
"My sweet girl is back to me." She was also mum's best friend and as soon as mum died, Armani stepped up and she took care of me a lot. Whenever dad needed to go for work, she would be the first to be there. No matter what she needed to do, she dropped everything just for me.
"Sei così magro, cazzo. Non stai mangiando abbastanza?" She asked me but as soon as I was going to answer, she stepped in and answered for me. (You're so fucking skinny. Are you not eating enough?)
Yes. This crazy woman is Italian and so is Vincenzo but they are with the American mafia. They always have been. Armani's parents were going to get her married to some old guy just for some partnership in their mafia causing her to run away with Vincenzo. There was a hunt for Vincenzo and whoever found him, dead or alive, they would be rewarded a hefty sum of money, hence why he had to run away from the Italian Mafia. "Non mangi abbastanza. Una ragazza pazza. Cameriere. CAMERIERE!" She screamed for a waiter and many rushed over to her. (You aren't eating enough. Crazy girl. Waiter. WAITER!)
"She's fine, Armani. Quit worrying about her." Vincenzo gave me an apologetic smile as he put a hand on my shoulder, reassuring me that she isn't this crazy and that she's just worrying about me. The way Armani turned her head towards him, causing him to stiffen. He quickly pulled me next to him, using me as a shield.
"Please smile for her, kid. She's terrifying." He whispered to me, causing me to laugh. She softened at my smile as she pulled me towards her, hugging me tightly.
"Baby, you're so skinny. Are you eating enough?" She asked, placing a hand on my cheek and staring deep into my eyes, making sure that I wasn't lying.
"I am, Armani. Quit stressing." I assure her, as she releases a sigh of relief before taking a few sort of dishes from the waiter before shooing them away. She shoves them towards me, giving me an innocent smile.
"Please eat them." I still don't budge, just stand there and stare at her.
"For me?" She raises a shoulder and gives me a grin as I take the dishes from her.
"So..." She drags on, trying to get my attention. I look up at her, in the process of shoving a whole skewer of chicken in my mouth. These are so fucking good.
Did you come here with a date?" She asks me, trying to be nonchalant but failing, miserably. The mischievous look in her eyes says everything as Vincenzo starts choking on his champagne.
"Absolutely not. She is way too young." He groans before Armani sends him a sinister look, ultimately shutting him.
"Uhm yeah. I was here with a date." I answer, searching their expressions for anything. Armani looks way too excited and Vincenzo looks very spectacle and mad.
"Who? Wait, did you say 'was'?" I nod at her, still very much enjoying my chicken skewer. She snatches it out of my hand before glaring at me.
"Hey! I was eating-" She cuts me off as a psychopathic expression takes over her face.
"What the fuck did he do?" She asks and knowing how terrible I am at lying to her, I just gulp and stare at Vincenzo for help to which he just shakes his head giving me a 'don't look here, I can't help you' look. Rolling my eyes at him, I look back at her before feeling a heavy hand on the small of my back. Turning around, I'm met with an easy grin and... grey eyes. Luca.
"Sorry, I was gone for so long, babe. I was just on a call." He mentions, easily lying to them to cover up the truth. I'm way too conscious of his thumb caressing my ass and drawing small circles on it to even respond.
"Hope you can forgive me, please?" He asks and I know that he's not just doing this for Armani and Vincenzo. He's actually asking for an apology. And then all too fast, he just leans down and seals my lips with his. At first, I don't react but once he squeezes my ass, I'm reacting back and kissing him. Why the fuck am I kissing him? Why are his lips so soft? Did I already forgive him? Why did he kiss me?
Pulling away, he lightly tugs on my bottom lips before placing a soft kiss on it.
"Nice to meet you..." He drags on, waiting for them to fill in but none of them do. Vincenzo looks bored and Armani looks way too excited to even begin talking. Clearing my throat, I answer for them.
"Vincenzo and Armani Bovino." Luca's hand still hasn't moved from my ass.
"Are you two dating?" Armani quickly asks and I groan out. God, this woman.
"We are not-" "Yes we are ma'am. Been dating for about a month now." What the fuck is this guy up to? I look up at him in shock before he just looks down and smirks at me, going to kiss my forehead before I stop him. He genuinely looks a bit hurt by this but before he can jump to conclusions, I lift my thumb up to wipe my lipstick off of his lips before I'm imprinted with my own lip mark. I am so focused on wiping the lipstick off of his lips that I don't even notice that they are all looking at me, especially Luca. His eyes have this dark, heavy look to them and I feel this stare 10 times more as I turn my head away from his, surprised by where this shyness is coming from. Clearing his throat, Luca pulls me right in front of him, his chest flush against my back.
"Bovino, as in the multi-millionaire real estate company?" Luca asks and a smile instantly takes over Vincenzo's face. He's so happy that somebody recognized who he was straight away.
"The one and only, and this is my beautiful wife, Armani." Armani just waves at him before winking at me and fanning herself. Vincenzo seems way more approving of Luca now.
"Well, we will let you two be as we have plenty more guests to attend to. And Hadley, dear, please do see us before you leave again. It's been years since I've seen you." Vincenzo kisses my head and Armani hugs me tightly before giving me multiple kisses on my head. God, I love them. Vincenzo nods at Luca and Armani smiles at him before leaving.
As soon as they're gone, I move away from Luca and head straight for the bar.
"Hadley, will you please wait?" He asks, running after me and soon enough sitting down next to me as soon as I sit on the bar stools.
"What can I get for a gorgeous girl like you?" Edward asks from behind the counter. I know Edward very well. He used to always accompany me whenever I came to the Bovino's house. He's in the mafia as well but he usually disguises himself as a waiter so he can always listen to everybody's conversations and inform Vincenzo of everything.
"She'll have a fucking bourbon on the rocks and I'll have a scotch whiskey." Luca bites back, irritated and extremely pissed off. I'm surprised he remembers my drink and something weird happens in my stomach at that thought. Giving him a weird look, I try to lean across the counter to properly greet Edward but fail. He gives me a small smile that says 'wait' before he starts to prepare our drinks.
"Listen, Hadley, I'm-" "Not here." I murmur quietly for him before shaking my head at him as he searches my facial expressions for something. Clenching his jaw, he sits there impatiently, waiting for Edward to finish making our drinks. As soon as Edward is finished, he walks out of the bar with both of our drinks in hand and comes over to us.
"For you sir-" He says, handing the drink to Luca before turning to me and grinning.
"Excuse me, can I get 4 shots here?" A leggy blonde and her ginger friend whine as they giggle together. He rolls his eyes before apologising to me and placing my drink on the counter. I just sit there and watch Edward make drinks way too quickly. As soon as he finishes with their shots, he's called over by a bald man in the corner, demanding for a cocktail which I found very funny. I slowly sipped on my drink as I saw him move back and forth and mix various ingredients together to make drinks. At this point, Luca was on his 5th glass of scotch whiskey. As soon as he was finished, he started to make another drink and before I knew it, he was walking around the bar to get to me.
"A bourbon on the rocks for the prettiest lady I've ever seen." He hands me the drink but I quickly place it on the counter before jumping off of the stool and hugging him tightly. He picks me up and spins me around as I giggle into his shoulder.
"You look stunning, Hade." He uses his nickname for me before leaning down to kiss my cheek.
"And you don't look too bad-" Just as I'm about to finish, we both hear the crack of a glass and turn our heads to look. There Luca is, his glass of whiskey in his hands but this time it's in pieces as he clenches around one of the pieces still remaining in his hand.
"How the fuck-" I cut Edward off and hurry to Luca, prying his hand open and inspecting the wound.
"Fuck off, Hadley. I don't need you to care now." He murmurs, yanking his hand from my hand. "Watch the way you speak to her." Edwards warns and glares at Luca which just results in Luca immediately standing up.
"Edward, I've got this, ok. I just need a first-aid kit." I smile at him, reassuring that everything is fine. I genuinely do not want a fight here. He just gives me a curt nod before returning to his place behind the bar and lifting the first-aid kit to hand it to me.
"If you need me to come-" I cut him off before he makes some assumptions. "It's ok. I know how to handle myself." Winking at him, he lets go of the first-aid kit and smiles at me. Turning around, I'm met with a brooding Luca a few feet away. Returning to him, I try to look at his hand again but he just moves it behind his back before snatching the first-aid kit out of my hands.
"I can clean it up myself." He grumbles, but I refuse to let him walk away. Snatching it back, I glare at him.
"Stop acting like a dick and let me clean it up." He huffs before walking off into a hallway. I try my best to keep up with him but he's too fast and this dress is slowing me down. I just feel like throwing this first-aid kit at his head and walking off.
As soon as we've made it to a room in the hallway, I tell him to sit on the bed.
"Hadley, just hand the first-aid box to me and I'll clean it up-" Too frustrated by him, I push him onto the bed behind him before going off on him.
"You do not get to show me fucking attitude after what you said! You may not like me but that doesn't mean that I don't like you. You're still a part of my friend group and you can avoid me all you want after this but right now let me clean this fucking hand of yours." I whisper the last part, exhausted by all this drama. He doesn't say anything but just hands his hand to me. Realising that I won't be able to properly wrap his hand while standing up, I sit down next to him and place his hand onto my lap. Some of his blood drips onto the fabric but as it's black, you can't see it.
"Sorry." He mumbles. "Don't worry, the dress is black so nobody can see it." Assuming he was talking about his blood on my dress, I whisper back, cherishing the silence between us. "I'm not talking about the dress." This causes me to look up from his wound.
"I'm sorry, Hadley. I was just- I don't know- I guess-" He stutters, trying to explain his hurtful words. "It doesn't matter. I'll stay out of your way if you stop saying stuff about me. I know that-"
"Don't." he cuts me off, looking straight into my eyes and not cowering away.
"Don't stay away." That's all he says. Nothing more. Nothing less.
"Luca, you do not like me. You've made it clear-"
"I do." And once again, he cuts me off with his short replies. I continue to clean his wound and bandage it up, almost nearing the end.
"I really do, Hadley. I really like you to the point where it's terrifying." His voice is soft, as if he's scared to speak up, scared that if he says it loud enough that it will become the truth. "I-" He raises his other hand to stop me.
"Please. I'm not finished yet." Gulping, I sit there and wait for him to finish. Just as he's about to start again, I realise that I've finished bandaging his hand up so I remove both of my hands from his massive one. He frowns at this and uses his other hand to place one of my hands into his injured one before taking a hold of the other one and squeezing.
"I've been trying to push you away but seeing you with other guys-" He pauses, looking off into the distance at something and nothing at the same time. He's looking at something but not acknowledging it. Almost as if he's in his own world.
"It really hurts and I know that I have no right to say who you can and cannot hang out with but please." His eyes turn back to mine and I can almost feel his pain.
"Please give me a chance." I try to remove one of my hands from his grasp but he only tightens it. Smiling at him, I nod at him to let go and he reluctantly lets go. Placing a hand on his cheek, he leans into it, his stubble softly prickly the smooth skin of my palm.
"You're only saying this stuff because you're drunk-" He doesn't let me finish before cutting me off. "Drunk?" He repeats back as a question as if what I've just said is insulting.
"You think I got drunk off of those 5 glasses of whiskey?" Shrugging my shoulders at him, I wait for him to carry on.
"Sure, I may have a little buzz but that's nothing. I'm here telling you all this shit and you just blame it on alcohol." Shaking my head at him, I try to reason. "That's not what I meant-" He cuts me off yet again.
"No, Hadley. That is exactly what you fucking meant." I try to speak again only to be cut off by him once more.
"You're not listening to-" "Sorry, I can't focus right now. I'm drunk." He mocks which only fuels my anger more.
"STOP CUTTING ME OFF." I scream at him, annoyed and feeling very disrespected.
"Why shouldn't I?" Forcing myself to breathe so I don't slap him, I focus on anything buy him before I'm calm again.
"I don't know, maybe for the same reason that I shouldn't give you a chance. Or maybe because of all the hurtful words that you spread about me behind my back. Or, or, hear this, I don't trust you. Because you're nice one second and mean another." He tries to speak up. "But Hadley-" I cut him off this time.
"No. Don't you dare make excuses for your behaviour. And you do not get to speak to me in such a way when it's you who fucked up."
We just sit there in complete and utter silence as we cherish these few moments of peace we have between us. The soft chatter of the people talking outside plus the music just sets a calming aura in the room. I wonder what is going on in their lives? Are they having problems like this? Am I just making a huge deal out of some small words?
No. No I am not. I was truly hurt by his words and I have every right to call him out on it.
"I'm sorry, Hadley." He whispers, his voice raw and filled with emotions to the point where a lump forms in my throat.
"I know." I whisper back, wanting to bathe in the silence between us. This charged silence that is so quiet yet so strikingly beautiful and loud.
"I didn't mean it." He still looks down at his hands in shame, what for? I don't know.
"I know." I feel as though he truly didn't mean it. He just said those words because he doesn't like me and the others are hell-bent on trying to ship us together so he spewed those unkind words about me just to convince them. Yes. That is exactly what happened here.
"I am sorry, Hadley." He murmurs after a few minutes. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I try to speak up but nothing comes out. I feel as though my heart is breaking.
"You already said that, Luca." And with this, he finally looks up and his eyes are glossy. Again, I have no clue what for. We settle in the silence, just studying and observing one another.
"Do you really think I'm a slut?" I ask as curiosity takes the best of me. He shakes his head as he tries to reach up and wipe the tear on my cheek but I stop him, gripping onto his hand.
"Do you really think I'm disgusting?" I ask once again and Luca has this pained expression which just screams that I'm hurting him. Why would he be hurt? I cock my head to the side in confusion.
"Do you really find me rude, or humiliating, or just somebody to have a good time with?" I repeat back every single word he said about me. He just shakes his head as I squeeze his hand. He finally realises that I'm gripping onto his hand and for a second, I feel as though he's going to yank his hand out of mine, but he doesn't. He instead pulls me towards him and holds me in his arms. His hands snaked around my waist as I nestled into his shoulder.
"Hadley, I'm fucking stupid. Don't listen to me. I'm just one jealous bastard, ok?" He asks, pulling back to stare at my face. "I was jealous of Aidan or Ricardo. Heck, even Rico because you always give him a kiss." His eyes drop down to my lips for a brief second before they're back to my eyes.
"I felt as though I should be the only one deserving of kissing your lips. I just- I-" He stutters and eventually gets so frustrated, he drops his head on my shoulder, his hot breath fanning my neck.
"I just want a chance."