Page 40 of Ruthless Passion

"Did you yell at her? She doesn't like it when people yell at her. I don't like it either," Jett tells him, and it breaks my heart for the perception he must have of me. My strong boy shouldn't have to be seeing me behave like this.

"No." Luca lowers himself onto one knee in front of Jett. "I'm not going to yell at you or your Mom, but I'm going to tell you the truth, Jett. Sometimes I yell when I'm angry or scared. Your Mom needed a minute alone because she was scared and upset. I wanted to let her know I'm going to do everything I can to keep you both safe."

Jett eyes Luca with a questioning glare in his eyes, as if he’s trying to decide if Luca's telling the truth. A part of me is still wondering about that myself. The kissing is great, but he still hasn't explained why he's being so nice.

Jett's voice barges into my thoughts with the reason he's standing in front of us. "Um, one of the ladies in there said something about crafty. It's food and snacks and she said I can have some. Can I go get snacks, Mom?"

"Where is it?" I ask him.

"Down the hall, the room next to the one you auditioned," Luca tells me, and I nod to give Jett the answer he's looking for. Once he sets off down the hall, we follow as Luca signals to the security guards it's okay to return to their posts.

As Jett enters the room full of free food and snacks, Luca slows his pace until we stop in front of room 103. The room where our paths crossed and my life changed. For better? For worse? It's been like fighting three fires with one hose.

Duke removes himself from our lives one minute, then wants to reinsert himself the next. I land the supporting role for my audition but get roped into a lead role that's being monitored by federal agents. I finally get kissed and deliciously fucked by the man of my dreams, but he's hiding something.

Of course he is. Why should I know everything about Luca a few hours after meeting him?

"Can you please tell me why?" I whisper the words.

"Because you put yourself on the line for me. Why did you go along with my story that you're the lead actress of Starlight?"

"That kiss, our chemistry during the audition. I didn't think the role would go beyond this room." I run my hand over the placard bearing the room's engraved number. "Giving me the chance to chase my dreams, to change the way I've been living my life, this all seems too good to be true, Luca."

"It's not," he states firmly. "What we're about to do is no small task. It's not going to be easy. It's going to be a passion project. Even if only you and I are in the film, there's still sets that need to be built, costume and wardrobe, hair and makeup, grips, crew, and a horde of other people that have to come together to bring this film to life. We still have to rewrite the script and that's only the beginning."

"We can't stay in a hotel," I tell him, addressing his suggestion from moments ago. "Every hotel is a nightmare trying to get Jett to school in the morning. And I am truly grateful for everything you're doing for us, Luca. But I won't feel right knowing we're running up a bill in some unbelievably expensive hotel."

"How do you know it's going to be unbelievably expensive?" He grins.

"My little blue hatchback is in the Ferrari service center."

"Fine. I won't spend an obnoxious amount of money putting you and Jett up in a hotel. I don't think your home is safe and that's going to be a distraction for you and Jett."

"On top of Duke showing up and sending more influencers to my doorstep? I'm going viral according to Vito."

Luca grunts out a breath of frustration. "I don't want you guys in danger. What about my place? There's room for you, Jett, and anyone I hire to do security. We can work on the script and Jett can get driven to school."

"I want to, but this is crazy."

"So, let's do it for a few days, you guys can stay at my place and I'll stay at the hotel."

16

LUCA

Idon't want Josephine and Jett going back home where danger can show up at any time. From Duke to Vito, her home isn't safe. I don't want to say that to her, but Jo needs to understand the threats.

"I don't want you to stay in a hotel," she mutters.

"I think you and my sister, Gina, would get along great. You and she are so much alike. You'll refuse help until it's forced on you."

"That's a great idea for Cadence the Siren. Instead of having her assault her victim, why don't we change the narrative to her forcing her help on him? Maybe he can sing his own death song but has no idea he's a siren. They have to have sex as the pheromones unlock his inner merman?"

"That's actually not a bad idea. It can still work to kill him at the end and raise him from the dead in the Dark at Dusk movie."

Her eyes widen. "He can be the villain. A zombie guy siren?"

I get the vision immediately. "Yes, that's a great spin. And he's controlling all of the other men who've been killed by other sirens. He'd be the king of the zombies, and because of the heavy makeup, we can easily swap someone else into my role for the longer feature film."

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