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    Luca's Return
    Luca's Return
    Luca's Return
    Ebook119 pages1 hour

    Luca's Return

    By Rye Hart

    ()

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    About this ebook

    I was forced to leave town.

    Gave up the only woman I'd ever love.

    Leaving a hole as big as a damn crater in my chest.

    Now, an unexpected call has stopped me in my tracks.

    A second chance after so many years.

    Through hell or high water, I'm going back to Chicago.

    To take what's mine.

    Reclaim the woman I lost.

    I'm coming back for you, Veronica.

    And, this time no one's going to stop me.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRye Hart
    Release dateSep 14, 2020
    ISBN9781393745044
    Luca's Return

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      Book preview

      Luca's Return - Rye Hart

      Luca’s Return

      A Second Chance Mafia Romance

      If you like this book, check out these others from Rye Hart

      BURLY MOUNTAIN MEN

      Damaged Goods | Stone Heart | Cabin Fever | Rugged Daddy|

      Mountain Man’s Second Chance | Saving Mel | Teach Me Daddy

      ROCK HARD HOTTIES

      Rock Hard Daddy | Rock Hard SEAL | Rock Hard Neighbor | Rock Hard Baby Daddy |

      Rock Hard Boss | Rock Hard Fake Groom | Rock Hard Prince Charming

      STEAMY REVERSE HAREMS

      Sin City Baby | 5 Bikers for Valentines | 6 Mountain Brothers for Christmas |

      Her Best Men | Christmas With the McCormick Brothers

      BILLIONAIRE BAD BOYS

      Single Dad’s Spring Break | Hustler | 69th Street Bad Boys | Filthy Daddy

      HOT SINGLE DADDIES

      Cuff Me Daddy | Accidental Daddy | Naughty but Nice | Going Deep

      SEXY SECOND CHANCES

      One More Time | Bad Seed | Family Night | Forbidden Touch |

      Hot Bastard Next Door | Heart on Fire | Luca’s Return |

      Top Dog | The Longest Rodeo

      ALL ABOUT THE BABIES

      Baby Contract | Baby Wanted | Dom’s Secret Baby

      STRICTLY TABOO

      Two Weeks of Sin | Taboo Lovers | Step Daddy Desires |

      The Better Brother | My Hot Stepbrother

      I was forced to leave town.

      Gave up the only woman I'd ever love.

      Leaving a hole as big as a damn crater in my chest.

      Now, an unexpected call has stopped me in my tracks.

      A second chance after so many years.

      Through hell or high water, I’m going back to Chicago.

      To take what’s mine.

      Reclaim the woman I lost.

      I’m coming back for you, Veronica.

      And, this time no one’s going to stop me.

      CHAPTER ONE

      LUCA

      FOUR YEARS AGO...

      I pulled my coat around me a little tighter as Veronica tightened her scarf and shivered. It was a cold, windy night in Chicago. Pretty typical at that time of year. Having grown up in it, I was used to it. Didn't mean I enjoyed it though. Personally, I would have preferred someplace a little warmer. Veronica gripped my hand a little tighter and gave me one of her heart-melting smiles. The girl was everything I ever wanted in another human being. She was my heart. My soul. She was my everything and I couldn't imagine my life without her. Penny for your thoughts? she asked.

      I gave her a smile and a shrug. Just thinking about how happy I am, I said. How lucky I am.

      Yeah, you are pretty lucky, she replied. It's not every day a man hooks onto a catch like me.

      She laughed, clearly intending her comment to be a joke, but she didn't realize just how right she was. She was a catch. She was everything a man could ever possibly want in a woman. There were still somehow days though, that I wondered how I'd been the lucky one to catch her. So, when do you start school again? I ask.

      Ummm... first class is in two weeks, I think.

      We walked along Navy Pier, hand-in-hand, enjoying the evening together. Veronica was studying to be a nurse. It was something she was passionate about, and with her warm, caring, nurturing nature, I knew she'd be great at it.

      I had hope for the future. For us. The only blemish on that outlook though, was what I did for a living. I was one of the foot soldiers in the Donini Crime Family – one of the most ruthless and violent organizations in all of Chicago.

      People seemed to think the mob had all died out. They thought the old Dons had gone the way of the dinosaur. Which only showed that most people lived with their heads up their asses and didn't know shit.

      No, the mob was very much alive and well in the year 2018, to the chagrin of many. They just did business a lot differently in some regards. The modern-day mob had little in common with the mob back in the day. They were smarter. More efficient. Technically savvier. As technology improved, the modern-day mob evolved with it.

      Most of the various mob families – the ones who held real power and sway – were like cockroaches. They were resilient and were never really stamped out of existence. They'd scurry underneath the refrigerator when the FBI threw on the lights and hide. They'd find a way to survive underground, until it was safe for them to creep back out into the shadows again.

      The modern-day mob was way more organized, way more ruthless, and a hell of a lot smarter about how they conducted their business. They knew how to better keep themselves off the law's radar and operated, more or less, with impunity as a result.

      As a kid who grew up on the South Side of Chicago, a kid who never had much, who wanted for even the basics at times, the allure of working for these mobsters was appealing. They gave me a place to go, a family to lean on. The Donini Family gave me somewhere and something to belong. A sense of being. A sense of purpose.

      They also gave me a hell of a lot of money. It was profitable work, being one of the Family's most valued foot soldiers.

      Two weeks, I said. Well, I guess we better cram as much fun into the next two weeks as we can then.

      She laughed. Not that I object to that, but it's not like I'm never going to see you once classes start.

      No, but you need to focus on your studies, I said. And I don't want to interfere with that. You've got dreams and goals. I want to see you achieve them.

      She stood on her tiptoes and planted a soft kiss on my lips. I appreciate that, she said. And I appreciate you. You're an amazing man, Luca. I'm lucky to have you.

      I gave her a sly grin. Yeah, I guess you are, aren't you?

      She looked into my eyes and bit her bottom lip, a sultry little flash in her eye.

      Well, since we only have two weeks of free and unfettered fun, we should probably take advantage of all the time we have, she said. Shouldn't we?

      I felt the familiar stirring in my groin as a wry grin touched my lips.

      I think we should do exactly that, I said. I like the way you think.

      That's good, she replied. Because I like the way you screw.

      ~ooo000ooo~

      We stood in the living room her apartment, slow dancing to some music she'd put on the stereo. Her place is small, cramped. The living room we were in was also her dining room. There was a bedroom off to the side that was barely big enough for her bed and a dresser. I couldn't count the number of times I'd gotten out of bed in the middle of the night and had banged my shin on that damn dresser.

      The view from the windows of both her living room and bedroom were of the grimy, dirty alley below – which smelled real nice in the summertime. It was also filled with junkies and bums who usually screamed and ranted all night.

      But, it was her home. I'd tried to get her to move in with me. I had a much larger place, but she wouldn't hear of it. She'd lived with her father and brother until she was nineteen and had only been on her own for a year, so she wanted to enjoy it for a while.

      I couldn't really blame her. There was something about being free, about being on your own, in your own, private space that was good. Liberating. I understood it.

      Veronica looked up at me with a warm smile that made her eyes sparkle in the candlelight – the only source of illumination in her place.

      Penny for your thoughts, this time, I said.

      I was just thinking about how incredible this all is.

      What's that?

      You. Us. Our life together.

      I leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips. And it's only going to get better.

      I know, she said.

      But then a dark shadow passed through her eyes, and she looked down at the floor, an expression of foreboding etched on her lovely features.

      Why do you say it like that? I asked softly.

      She shrugged but didn't look up. I guess I'm just kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop.

      I stopped moving and put my fingers beneath her chin, lifting her head so she was looking into my eyes. What I saw there broke my heart. There was a look of loss. Of emptiness. Things I never, ever wanted to see in Veronica's eyes. There is no other shoe to drop, I said.

      A rueful smile touched her lips. You don't know my luck, she said, her voice almost mournful. There is always another shoe to drop. It's a matter of when, not if.

      I gave her a smile. Well, it's a good thing you're with me then, I say. I have the exact opposite luck, so we'll balance each other out.

      I hope so, she said.

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