Page 7 of Lucky Boys
I wantedto punch Luca in his fucking perfect face. Seriously, no one should look that good. Was it petty that I’d secretly hoped he’d somehow aged seventy years since I’d last seen him and he now looked like Darth Vadar without his mask? Though, the fucker would probably still manage to pull that off.
It really wasn’t fair. I wasn’t awful to look at, but at most, I was cute. No matter how many tattoos or piercings I got, I still had a baby face that made me look younger than I was and had guys calling me things like pretty.
No one would call Luca pretty. But the sexiest motherfucker who ever walked on Earth? Yeah, that would track. The salt to pepper ratio of his beard was chef’s kiss, and it lined his rugged jaw perfectly. No bald patches or baby hairs could be seen, they wouldn’t dare, and it complimented his olive complexion perfectly. His dark hair was thick and soft with just a hint of gray at the temples, and his brown eyes were panty melting chocolate. I told myself I wouldn’t fall for those fucking eyes again, but as they stared into my soul . . .
No! The jackass had just suggested that I murdered someone. I would not be seduced by his fuck me eyes and that single dimple in his chin.
I looked at the flash drive I was still holding. Who knew what was on there? What if I was wrong? What if it was unrelated, and the murder had been a coincidence, and I’d overreacted for nothing? What if I wasn’t reacting enough and there was some world-changing, apocalyptic shit on there? Didn’t Lewis Covington work in pharmaceuticals? Maybe he’d found a way to make zombies and had been about to start the zombie apocalypse and Marshall had found out and had been trying to stop him and . . .
“Brooks.” My eyes snapped up immediately at Luca’s voice, which pissed me off. “Let me have the flash drive.”
His Dommy fucking tone set my nerve endings on fire and made me want to stab him at the same time.
I strode right into Luca’s face, my finger in his chest. “Don’t. Don’t use that tone on me.”
Luca frowned like he had no idea what I was talking about. “What tone?”
I rolled my eyes and sighed heavily. We didn’t have time for this.
“Your whole, ‘I’m a sexy Dom and you will do as I say’ tone. I’m not your sub, and it’s not fair to use it on me.”
Luca was still frowning really fucking hard. “I wasn’t—”
“Yeah, you kinda were, boss,” Skye helpfully shared. “I don’t think you even notice it half the time.”
I knew Skye a little, but not much. He was closer to my age than the two of them and played in a lot of the same scenes I did. He’d also helped me out of a bind about a couple years ago when some fucker had ignored my safeword. Normally, I could get myself out of any bondage with no issue, but I had been on edge and jittery all fucking day, so I’d been off my game and hadn’t noticed when the guy had slipped something in my water, dulling my senses.
Thank fuck Skye had been there, and now I only drank from sealed bottles of water and had never let a stranger completely bind me again. I had a brief spark of terror that he’d told Luca about the incident but squashed it down. He’d promised me he wouldn’t and I trusted that.
“Thank you.” Just to prove that Iwould notrespond to Luca when he did that, I handed the flash drive to Skye, which pissed Luca the fuck off. Both Maverick and Skye thought it was funny though.
Maverick came up to me and squeezed my shoulder. “Nice to see you again, kid.”
I tilted my head up, and I mean all the way up so I was looking right in Maverick’s face. Luca was well over 6 feet, but Maverick even had a few inches on him. There was no reason for them to be that big. It was unnecessary. I wasn’t even that short, just about 5’10”. Above average, thank you very much. Yet these assholes just had to be giants to make me feel small, and that got personified because Luca and Mav were dominant as fuck.
“I’m not a kid,” I mumbled. Which made me seem more like a kid, but I was all kinds of on edge, had gotten no sleep, and was getting more nervous about Diego being alone by the second. He’d assured me he would be fine. He had been digging around on the dark web and all his channels, and so far there hadn’t seemed to be any connection to us. Besides, our house had more security than Fort Knox. Still didn’t like leaving him alone.
Maverick’s mouth tilted up in a half smile that made me all fluttery inside. I didn’t know Maverick well, really only of him, and had just met him a handful of times before Luca had fucked me up and ghosted me. I did know that he was exactly my type and if he’d just been some random stranger at a club, I’d have happily been on my knees already for him.
Instead, I crossed my arms and glared. “Can we all act like grown-ups and see what we’re dealing with please?” Skyesnorted at my snarky tone, though Luca and Mav looked like they wanted to bend me over and spank me. Which . . . yeah, could not get that image in my head. “Diego said he’d walk you through the decryption process.”
“Thank you, Brooks,” Luca said in a very obvious effort not to sound as dominant. It was a losing battle, and he should probably give up. I wish I could keep things professional. Three years was a long time. I wasn’t that naïve 21-year-old still figuring out their sexuality and needs anymore. Unfortunately, that battle seemed as lost as the one Luca was fighting. I was such a fucking mess. “Let’s see what we’re dealing with.”
I sucked in a breath, trying to keep some semblance of outward control, even though I was internally spiraling. I was pleasantly surprised at how serious they were taking this. Not that I thought they’d laugh me off, but Il Fortunato was the best of the best, and D and I hadn’t even branched away from our parents last time I had anything to do with Luca. I loved that they weren’t treating me like a child or like I lacked common sense, despite my jitters. While our reputation was building now, it was something I struggled with when I first started taking jobs on my own, since I looked young and ADHD meds only help so much. If it wasn’t for Diego’s quickly building reputation as a hacker, I doubt I’d have gotten hired at all our first year without Mom and Pops besides me.
Immediately, all three men were in work mode, going to the computer while Skye inserted the drive. I took my time following them. I really had no idea what was on there and wasn’t sure I wanted to know. Part of me still thought maybe it was some sick joke or just a way to set me up to take the fall for Marshall’s murder.
So instead, I wandered the room, taking it in.
The last time I was at Luca’s mansion was when I was sixteen for some big holiday charity party. I had snuck into one of themany rooms after cocktail hour and sucked some politician’s son’s dick. I didn’t know his name, but he’d been fucking huge for a 16-year-old and sure knew how to fuck my face. That was probably the day I’d realized I liked it rough, though I wouldn’t understand exactly what that meant for a few more years.
If this room existed back then, I had never seen it. A large table filled the middle of the space, and there was a SMART Board on the wall. The guys hovered over a desk in the back that held several monitors.
I went over to the kitchenette where Skye was earlier, eyeing the coffee machine. I’d never been much into coffee, hated the taste and it didn’t give me more energy than I already had. Still, all the options had me tempted to try something.
Then Luca cursed under his breath and brought my attention back to them. “Fuck.” He looked up at me, all business. “Brooks, can you call Diego? We can’t get in.”
Right, I was supposed to do that. “Sure.”
