Dangerous Beauty: Part One: Destiny (6 page)

Lucca frowned. “Nathan I’m serious, because Mickey…”

“What happened in the car was not what you think. I’m fine,” Nathan assured him.

Lucca looked at him with concern. “Nathan if you weren’t you would tell me, right? I know you’re still struggling with this.”

Nathan’s jaw ticked. He was not that broken, he could still function. He hated when his family looked at him like he was a pitiful fragile child.

“Yes, Lucca, but I’m fine, I’m not as fragile as I used to be. If I was I wouldn’t be who I am. Men wouldn’t fear me the way they do, I wouldn’t have the power that I have, and I wouldn’t be an underboss!” he argued.

“Then what the hell, Nathan? Mickey’s description of how you were acting on the way over sounded oddly familiar to the way you used to space out all those years after Aunt Anya passed. If you’re shutting down again we need to know.”

Nathan groaned.
Lucca and his damn interrogations
, he thought.

“One, she didn’t pass, she was murdered. Two, I didn’t
‘space’
and I’m not
‘shutting down’
. What happened to me a few years after the murder is never going to happen again. I’m different now. Now I have my work” Nathan said becoming frustrated with the conversation.

Lucca looked at Nathan and raised his brow. “Nathan, it wasn’t that long ago,” he said dryly, “and since then you have been disappearing every year around this time so I don’t really know how you’ve been handling anything. You don’t talk to me. I don’t know if you’ve truly healed. Don’t get upset with me for being concerned about you,
cugino.
You disappear, Nathan, you just leave!”

Nathan turned to look at his cousin. His concern was real and Nathan felt guilty. He didn’t know his running away every year had affected anyone, he didn’t think anyone would care. But it looked like he was wrong. Nathan stood staring into eyes identical to his own, and tried to figure out a way to ease his cousin’s worry.

He ran his fingers through his hair and walked over to the king sized bed in the middle of the room. Plopping down on it he let out an exasperated sigh. “It was a girl,” he muttered hoping Lucca would let it go now.

Lucca gave him an inquisitive look. “What?” he asked walking over to the side where Nathan laid.

Nathan put his arm over his eyes. Shit. “A girl, she was at the garden, and I…I don’t know I was, you know, I just didn’t see the light change, or hear Mickey bitch and moan.” Nathan shrugged his shoulders, hoping this would change the direction their conversation was going.

Lucca smiled and looked at him curiously. “You’re saying, you held up traffic, zoned out to the point where you couldn’t hear Mickey… staring at a girl?”

Nathan smirked at his cousin. “Yep.”

Lucca frowned, he wasn’t buying it. “Really?” he asked dryly.

Nathan nodded and chuckled. “Yes, really.”

Lucca nodded his head up and down. “Mmm hmm, must have been some girl.”

Nathan sat up in the bed slowly and frowned in thought. “Actually, yes. She was one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen in my life. It was so weird man. It was like, I couldn’t stop looking at her, and now…I sort of can’t stop thinking about her” Nathan said honestly. He couldn’t get that girl off his mind even if he tried. There were no words to describe how badly he wanted to see her again. Was it crazy that he was thinking this way about a woman he didn’t even know?

“I bet,” Lucca said, still not buying Nathan’s excuse. “You’re trying to change the direction of the conversation, and I’ll let you, this time, but we will talk about this again,” Lucca said using his big brother tone. He was only one year older than Nathan, but he always felt more like Nathan’s big brother growing up.

Nathan chuckled. He understood why Lucca didn’t believe him about the woman. Nathan didn’t even believe it himself. “Yeah, I know.” He was just glad they didn’t have to talk about it now.

Lucca let out a long sigh. “Well, get your ass up we’re about to go out. Kyle knows this bar. He says the food’s good and the waitresses are hot. Of course, knowing Kyle he’s probably already slept with half of them.”

Nathan nodded in agreement. “True, he has a serious problem. I’m surprised he still goes to the place then. Isn’t he afraid of what they’ll do to his food?” Nathan questioned, disgusted by the possibility.

Lucca laughed loud and made a disgusted face. “Good question, we should ask Kyle before we go.”

“Ask me what?” Kyle asked walking into Nathan’s room with Mickey and Dante.

Mickey walked over to the window. “I knew you guys would give him this room, what is your obsession with water views, Nate?” he asked staring out the window inquisitively.

Nathan ignored him. Dante plopped down on the opposite side of Nathan’s bed, and Kyle walked over and stood in front of Nathan.

“Ask me what?” he asked again, eyeing Nathan curiously.

Lucca chuckled. “This bar you want to go to tonight.”

Dante sat up quickly and pointed at Lucca knowingly. “Yeah, I was wondering the same thing as you when he was talking about “Benny’s Bar with the sexy waitresses.”

Kyle looked at them bemused. “What’s wrong with going to a bar with sexy waitresses?”

Nathan shrugged. “Nothing, as long as it’s not a bar full of women scorned because you’re the cold-hearted asshole that fucked them, and didn’t call.”

Kyle arched an eyebrow. “Yeah, look who’s talking. Will one of you tell the giant Russian that he has no room to talk?”

Nathan smirked. “Correction, I’m Russian
and
Italian, jackass. Plus, I’m not as reckless as you are,” he said.

Kyle gave him a deadpan look. “One word Nathan, Julia.”

Nathan laughed. Of course Kyle would bring up Julia.
Asshole.
“Yeah, you got me there, but Julia isn’t a waitress at a restaurant where I dine you blue eyed son of a bitch. You are taking us to an eating establishment full of women who are most likely pissed at you.”

The other guys in the room nodded their heads and mumbled their agreement with Nathan.

Kyle feigned outrage. “I am shocked that you motherfuckers would think so low of me. You think I would take you to a restaurant where I would potentially get food that has been poisoned?” he said putting his hand on his chest.

They all laughed.

“We don’t know what your crazy ass would do Kyle. We just know you have probably slept with half the girls in Hope Beach by now, as often as you come here,” Dante said through a laugh.

Kyle rolled his eyes. It was probably true, but the bastards had no right to judge. “One, Dante you are promiscuous as hell, so shut the fuck up…”

Dante laughed.

“Two, I don’t sleep with them I fuck them. Three, all of the more ‘spirited’ ladies at the bar have already been fired,” Kyle said crossing his arms over his chest. “And four, there’s no need to fear gentlemen, I have Carter.”

Mickey turned from the window and looked at Kyle curiously. “Who’s he? The bouncer?”

Kyle chuckled. “No little brother of mine, Carter is my sexy little waitress.” he said smugly.

Nathan eyed him inquisitively. “So what, she’s a waitress you fucked that doesn’t hate you?”

Kyle shook his head. “No I haven’t, but she adores me and she is the one that gets my food. Sometimes we have lunch together,” Kyle said shrugging his shoulders.

Mickey frowned in confusion. “So she’s a waitress you have lunch with, that adores you, and you haven’t fucked her?”

Kyle nodded his head yes.

“Oh, I get it,” Mickey said raising his eyebrows and nodding his head. “She’s ugly,” he said with a shrug and the other guys broke out laughing.

Kyle frowned and shook his head vehemently. “Hell no, there is not an ugly bone in Carter’s perfect little body. Actually she’s one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen” Kyle said in a matter-of-fact tone. “She’s breathtaking, and funny as hell, you guys are going to love her as much as I do.”

Lucca frowned remembering that Nathan had described the girl in the garden with some of the same words.

Mickey chuckled. “So you have a platonic relationship with a breathtakingly beautiful woman that adores you?”

Kyle nodded and smiled. “Yes, she adores me and our relationship is not about sex. Carter’s different, it’s not like that with us. She’s…perfect and way too good for me.” Shrugging his shoulder he started to walk out of Nathan’s room.

Dante sat back up again looking at him with a knowing smile. “In other words gentlemen, Kyle tried to work his charm on her and she turned him down flat.”

The guys looked at Kyle and chuckled, waiting for him to say Dante was wrong, but all he did was turn around and say, “Yep, and she still does ‘til this day.” He continued to walk out of the room down the hall, hearing the guys’ loud laughter as he left.

Carter was tired. The bar was packed, she hadn’t gotten five seconds of rest since she clocked in, and she was happy that her shift was over in an hour. The night was great when it came to tips though. She really made a lot of money.
Got to love those vacationers
, she thought to herself as she sat in the kitchen finally getting a moment to rest. She had been waiting her whole shift for Kyle to come in to eat today, but he hadn’t. Carter hoped that he wasn’t gone again, at least not without saying goodbye.

If she were completely honest with herself Kyle wasn’t really the man that she’d hoped would walk through the door. The man Carter was hoping to see was a complete stranger to her, but God help her, she couldn’t get him out of her head. He was the most beautifully handsome man she had ever seen in her life. His golden blond hair was perfectly groomed and brushed his face in the sexiest way, his strong squared jaw and full lips were enough to make her salivate, wishing he would have run to her and pressed his lips firmly against hers, and then there was his eyes. Don’t even get Carter started on those incredibly beautiful stormy gray eyes. His eyes were striking, intense, and revealed a familiar darkness that made Carter want to immerse herself in him.

She had looked up from the yellow roses when she heard the rowdy traffic in front of Hope Garden. She’d spotted the car holding up traffic and before she knew it she locked eyes with the driver. Carter didn’t understand what it was that kept her rooted to the spot, but she couldn’t take her eyes off of him. All she could do was blush and smile, which wasn’t like her. She felt as if they were the only two people in the world, like they were speaking to each other without uttering a damn word! Seriously, she was losing her mind sitting around thinking about a guy she may never see again. And even if she did see him again, what the hell would she do? She played at least a million scenarios in her mind since Jenna dragged her out of the garden. She dreamed that she would see him on the beach, shirtless, and he would pick her up in his strong arms and kiss her. Then she dreamed that she would see him while she walked to work, and he would pick her up in his big strong arms and kiss her with those sexy full lips of his. Pretty much every fantasy Carter had about seeing him again resulted in her and him kissing passionately in his arms. She really had a problem.

The truth was that seeing that guy and feeling the connection she felt with him reminded her of how lonely she’d been lately. She’d never felt that type of connection to another person before, and the only person that ever truly knew her or loved her was no longer alive. She was reminded today that she was alone, completely alone, and she may be that way forever. There was no one in her life now that knows her true identity. There weren’t any old friends of her family that she could go to for comfort, and Carter knew that there was no one trying to find her anyway. Her father was very good at keeping her away from his lifestyle and the world in general to protect her. Carter had always hated being so isolated, it was lonely, but her father told her that if anyone from his past ever saw her they would know exactly who she was and whose daughter she was, and it wasn’t safe. Carter never understood what he meant by that and she never asked, she didn’t discover that little mystery until she was older.

Living in Hope Beach had been refreshing but it hadn’t eased how lost and alone Carter felt sometimes. Jenna had been wonderful, and sometimes she helped ease Carter’s loneliness. But Carter knew that if Jenna knew who she really was she probably would make her leave, and never want to see her again. Jenna loved a version of Carter that was mostly a façade hiding the beaten, broken, and slightly terrifying person inside. Carter was broken, and the mask she’d been wearing to hide her true self was beginning to slip, and she didn’t know if she could hold on to the person she was pretending to be much longer without losing her sanity.

***

Nathan was tired, hungry and a little pissed. Turned out that the little slice of heaven, Hope Beach, quickly became hell when it came to finding a place to park his damn car. Kyle, Mickey, and Lucca all rode together in a different car, and they’d already found a space and went in the bar. Dante rode with Nathan and he was sick of finding a parking space too, so Nathan let him walk to Benny’s with the guys to get a table while he went and parked the car. What he didn’t know was it would take him an hour to find a damn parking space.

Once he found a place to park he was relieved, but still pissed. He had to walk a mile to get to the damn bar!

I’m too goddamn rich for this shit.

He was the fucking Underboss to the Salerno crime family for God’s sake! They should be bringing that damn bar to him! Nathan’s jaw clenched. It was safe to say that they better not expect him to be the life of the party tonight. Nathan just wanted to eat, try his best to stay awake, get back to the house and get some sleep for the next three or four days.

Nathan finally made it to Benny’s and he walked into the bar. He liked it. It was a large sports bar and restaurant with various, non-team-specific, sports memorabilia. He looked around until he found the table where the guys were seated. When he spotted them he began to journey to the table, seeing them talking to a waitress who had her back toward him.

She must be Kyle’s Carter.

Nathan kept walking toward the table wanting to see this girl that had Kyle in his first platonic relationship with a woman. From what he could see she had beautiful hair, gorgeous legs, perfect voluptuous ass…wait a minute…Nathan knew that hair, those legs, that fantastic ass, he could never forget them or her even if he tried.

He didn’t know what he was going to say, but that didn’t stop him from quickening his steps. He had to meet her, hear her voice. As Nathan neared the table Lucca looked at him curiously, but he couldn’t talk to anyone right now, he couldn’t focus on anything but her. Nathan finally came close enough to touch her, to get her attention. He lifted his hand and placed it on the shoulder of his beautiful stranger.

***

Five minutes earlier.

Carter was still in the kitchen when McKenzie came and told her Kyle and his dangerously sexy friends were there, and he asked for her to be their waitress tonight. Carter was glad he made it, she really did want to meet his friends, and with the path her thoughts had taken, she was sure if she didn’t get up and do something, she would have a breakdown in the middle of Benny’s kitchen.

She walked out of the kitchen and made her way to Kyle’s table where he and three guys were laughing out loud about God knows what. In the process of her journey she stopped to check out Kyle’s friends.

This is just ridiculous
, she thought to herself shaking her head. Do all incredibly handsome men flock together? It made no sense for people to be that sexy.

How was she supposed to do this without acting like a smitten little school girl?

Sighing, she approached the table with what she hoped was her best smile.

“Hi, Kyle, I was starting to think you weren’t coming,” she said smiling brightly.

Kyle’s eyes lit up when he saw her. “Hey, baby!” He pulled her into his lap and kissed her on the cheek. “Of course I came, I told you I wouldn’t leave again without saying goodbye,” he smiled and winked at her. Carter giggled and kissed his cheek before standing up from his lap. “I want you to meet the guys. Lucca, Dante, and Mickey this is my sexy little waitress, Carter,” Kyle said.

Carter didn’t know what to say. She was a little nervous they were all so freaking handsome and looking at her, but she wanted to keep her cool. She would not let her nerves show. “Hey there,” she said with a bright smile, surprised she had found her voice.

“Nice to meet you, sweetheart. I’m Dante,” Dante offered his hand and Carter shook it. He looked like a really nice guy. He had shaggy brown hair that fell in his dark brown eyes a little and the thickest eyebrows Carter had ever seen. They were both attractive, and hilarious.

“Nice to meet you, Dante,” she replied sweetly.

Another one of the guys, she knew exactly who he was, knocked Dante’s hand from hers and grabbed her hand, bringing it to his lips for a kiss.

Carter chuckled. “You look like him. You act like you him. So you have to be his little brother Mickey.”

He grinned at her, still holding her hand. “The one and only, honey”

Carter laughed. He was like Kyle’s clone. They had the same black hair and sky blue eyes. The difference was that Mickey’s hair was much shorter than Kyle’s.

Once again Carter’s hand was captured by another man. A beautiful man. He was the biggest one of them at the table and he had an aura that roared
power
. He had perfectly groomed black hair, and striking stormy gray eyes.

“Let go of her hand you little tyrant, forgive him, love, he doesn’t know how to act in the presence of a beautiful woman. I’m Lucca. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said in a deep tone, while leaning forward to press his lips against her hand.

Carter fought back a shudder of delight. Damn, he looked…oddly familiar.

Shaking off her sudden confusion, Carter smiled at him. She had to, he was very sweet and he had those intensely beautiful gray eyes, so familiar, yet not the same. “It’s a pleasure to meet you too,” she replied. And it was.

They were all so nice. She loved the sweet endearments; love, sweetheart, honey, and the regular baby from Kyle. A girl could get spoiled off of so much attention from gorgeous guys. But she wouldn’t let it go to her head. Nope, that’s a lie Carter was sure she was going to let it go to her head.

“So how do you guys like Hope Beach so far? It’s a little piece of heaven isn’t it?” she asked them while handing out their menus.

“I absolutely love it,” Dante said while looking over the menu.

“I agree,” Mickey said giving her the same smirk Kyle did when he flirted with her. “This place is definitely heaven ‘cause I’m staring at an angel.”

Carter couldn’t hold back, she had to laugh, and she laughed loud. The other three guys joined in her laughter.

Mickey frowned. “That bad huh?”

“Yes, honey, that bad,” she said through a laugh. “But don’t worry about it, guys as handsome as you all don’t have to have pick-up lines, the girls will be throwing themselves all over you. All you have to do is go to the beach, or look around here at all the women that haven’t taken their eyes off you since you walk through the door,” she said matter-of-factly.

It was true. These guys walked through the door and practically every girl in the room started drooling. The other waitresses were jealous that Carter was requested to serve
“
the table full of hotties
”
as they called it, but Carter was used to the jealousy from them, since she got it whenever Kyle was around.

Mickey chuckled. “But what about you? What do I have to do to get your attention?” Mickey asked flirtatiously.

Carter giggled and looked at Kyle who was chuckling and shaking his head, while watching his little brother flirt.

Kyle’s gaze came back to her. “I’m sorry,” he said smiling apologetically.

Carter laughed. “Why are you sorry? He acts just like you.” She looked back at Mickey with a sensual smile. “Why don’t I get you guys something to drink and then you and me can discuss how you can get, and keep, my attention.”

Mickey’s eyes went wide and he raised his brows. “Really?”

Carter shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. “Nope, probably not, but I had you going there didn’t I? You got so excited,” she said with a smile on her face.

Kyle, Dante, and Lucca burst out in laughter.

“Okay, I really like you,” Dante said through a chuckle.

Carter did a small curtsey. “Thank you, sir.”

Mickey on the other hand didn’t think it was so funny from the glare he was sending her. Carter knew she had upset him, but she wasn’t worried. She knew how to get back on his good side, he was just like Kyle after all.

She sauntered over to him and leaned over his shoulder, giving him a soft kiss on the cheek. She wrapped her arms around his neck hugging him tight, her long hair falling over his shoulder and cascading down his chest. He looked surprised by her closeness, but Carter always surprised people like that, it never really took her long to become comfortable with people she liked. “I was just kidding. Please don’t be mad,” she said with a fake pout. She saw a smile pull at his lips. “Come on, Mickey” she purred his name. She knew it may be bad of her, but she couldn’t resist teasing him. Something about Kyle’s brother made her want to release her inner bad girl. This surprised Carter, she was usually really good at keeping her locked up.

She gazed into Mickey’s eyes, stunned by what she saw. It was that same familiar darkness that she saw in Kyle’s eyes and in the eyes of the gorgeous blond man earlier today. It was the same darkness she used to see in her father’s eyes. Subconsciously, she wrapped her arms around Mickey tighter, wanting to be as close as possible to the familiar darkness. “You’re dangerous” she whispered. “I’m trying my best to be a good girl, but you make me want to be bad.”

He smirked.

A wicked smile appeared on Carter’s face. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“Alright, alright, enough of that,” Kyle said grabbing her arm bringing her back around the table. “I might get jealous if you give my little brother more attention then you give me,” He said giving her a possessive pat on her behind.

Carter frowned and lightly smacked his head. He chuckled. Kyle had a way of getting jealous if Carter even talked to another guy while he’s around. She constantly had to remind him they weren’t dating.

After pulling herself together she began to take their orders. “Alright guys what can I get you to drink, and do you all know what you want to eat yet, or do you need more time?” she asked getting her pen and note pad out to take their order.

“Actually we can order our drinks, but we should wait to get our food. My cousin, Nathan, should be in soon. He was finding a parking space,” Lucca said with a drop dead gorgeous smile.