Ava had grown up craving something more—craving the kind of family where love wasn’t conditional on how you looked or who you were dating, craving arms that would hold her without judgment or agenda.She’d never had that.She hadn’t even known what it felt like to be truly, unconditionally loved by a parent, someone steady who would always be there.Her mother’s obsessions had eventually killed her, leaving behind a teenage girl who’d had to figure out life with only Franco and Leone to lean on.
So no, she wasn’t going to rely on Luca to fill that gap.But a baby?The idea of having a child—someone she could love without fear, someone she could pour all of her locked-away affection into—was undeniably tempting.
Chapter 5
RikuTanakasatathis desk in the dimly lit back office of a quiet Vegas restaurant, the faint hum of refrigeration units bleeding in from the kitchen beyond.His fingers scrolled lazily over the messages on his phone, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth as he read update after update.Word had spread quickly.Ava Santos was now under Luca Bernardi’s protection.
Perfect.
The rush of satisfaction that surged through him was sharp, electric.He leaned back in his chair, savoring it like a man savoring a fine whiskey.His plan was working flawlessly—every careful calculation, every move on the board driving Luca exactly where he wanted him.Luca Bernardi, the arrogant bastard, had stepped into the trap with both feet, blinded by his pride and that inconvenient fascination with the little seamstress.
Luca’s protection of Ava wasn’t just predictable—it was pathetic.A strategic blunder, a glowing confirmation of her value in the game.Tanaka had wanted to force Luca into a position where he would be shackled by his ego, bound by his own sense of power and possession.Now he was.The more Luca thought he was protecting Ava, the deeper he was burying himself.
Ava—the key pawn in this little powerplay—was already tangled in Tanaka’s web.She might think herself stubborn, clever, untouchable, but in truth she was leverage, a string to be pulled at the right time.And when that string snapped, the chaos that followed would tear at Luca’s empire from within.Tanaka pictured the moment vividly: Luca watching helplessly as his grip on the city slipped, his empire corroded from the inside out.
He chuckled softly to himself, though the sound was more predatory than amused.
The sharp ring of his phone shattered the silence, pulling him from his pleasant visions.He glanced at the screen—a call from Japan.His boss.Immediately, Tanaka straightened in his chair, erasing the smirk from his features, pulling respect like a mask over his face.He cleared his throat, dropped his tone to something low and controlled, and answered.
“Tanaka.”
“Progress report.”The voice on the other end was cold, demanding, laced with steel.“Is everything under control?”
Tanaka’s lips curved again, the smirk slipping back into place despite himself.“Everything is on schedule, sir,” he said smoothly.“Ava Santos is now under Luca Bernardi’s protection.Exactly as intended.It’s only a matter of time before he’s forced to act.He’s already reacting to our pressure.”
A long silence followed.Tanaka could hear it—the faint tap-tap-tap of fingers drumming impatiently on a desk.His boss’s trademark warning.
“I trust,” the man said at last, his voice slicing through the pause, “you have everything handled.”The unspoken threat of failure hung in the air, thick as smoke.
Tanaka’s grin widened, his voice steady, unyielding.“Absolutely.Luca’s involvement is precisely what we wanted.Every move he makes will drag him further into the hole I’ve dug.The situation will unfold according to plan.”
Another pause.Then, curt and final: “Good.You know what needs to happen next.Proceed.”
“Understood.”
The line went dead.Tanaka lowered the phone slowly, staring at it as though it were a trophy.The tension in his shoulders bled away, replaced by a dark thrill.He leaned back in his chair, savoring the moment.The pieces were moving exactly as he had set them.Luca might strut about, thinking himself the lion of Las Vegas, but Tanaka was the hunter in the shadows—the one pulling the strings, waiting for the kill.
And when the time came, Luca wouldn’t just lose.He’d kneel.
Chapter 6
Lucawalkedintohisoffice, his mind racing as he thought through the various possibilities.Ava had texted him last night, asking to meet to discuss “terms.”What that meant, he had no idea, but if Ava was involved, it was bound to be interesting.The woman fascinated him—her energy, that fire in her eyes, and, above all, that stubborn streak of hers.
Damn, how he loved it..
He didn’t want to subdue her—no, that wasn’t the right word.He didn’t want to break her, but he sure as hell wanted to channel all of that fiery stubbornness, all of thatdefiance, toward himself.He wanted to feel her body tremble under his, wanted her to demand everything from him, everything she wanted.He wanted to be the one she turned to, the one she craved, her will bending but only in the way she allowed him to shape it.
The thought of her demanding things from him—her voice sharp, her eyes intense—made his body tighten.He could almost picture it: the way she would look at him, fiery and fierce, as she demanded that he serve her, pleasure her in ways she’d never considered before.
Ava Santos was going to become his wife, and she would have every inch of him, in every way.
He hadn’t expected the surprise of walking into his office and finding her already in his chair.The big, leather chair dwarfed her small frame.She looked almost...vulnerable, like a little girl, and he couldn’t help but wonder if she was kicking her feet under the desk, her legs unable to reach the thick carpeting.
But as adorable as she looked, glaring at him with all the defiance she could muster, Luca wasn’t going to put up with that stubborn chin sticking out, like she was daring him to do something about it.No, he wasn’t going to entertain her little act of defiance.Instead, he walked over to his chair, reached down, and scooped her up, sitting down with her on his lap as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“You wanted to talk?”he prompted, as he settled back, one hand resting lightly on her back while the other casually found its way to her knee, her wool skirt soft under his fingertips.“So talk.Let’s negotiate.”
Ava sputtered with indignation, trying to stand up, but Luca remembered all too well how she’d sputtered in frustration yesterday.He’d stopped that with a kiss—a simple press of his mouth against hers that had silenced her arguments and had left him burning for the rest of the afternoon.It had been reckless, dangerous, and unforgettable.
