Reputation's Play (Book 1)

Ch.29 Stella

Chapter 29 Stella

Luca stood against the hospital walls looking down at the ground with his hands in his pocket and the weight of the night on his shoulders. He couldn't get the image of Gia out of his head as she had stumbled back onto the road. The fear in her eyes would keep him up for days if not years. If anything happened to her...

Luca couldn't even go there. His chest hurt from just the thought of it.

Beside him, Carla walked up to Daisy in the waiting room and handed her a cup of tea. She sat down beside the somber girl and gently ran her hand through her blonde locks to offer some comfort. Luca stared, wondering if he should send her home. All the stress of the night couldn't be good for her. He was about to ask Carla if she would be okay taking Daisy home when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

"What is it?" Luca asked as he picked up the call from one of his men downstairs.

"Daniel Dimaggio just entered the hospital," Aaron, Luca's most trusted man after Manny, informed. "What do you want me to do?"

"Don't cause a scene," Luca lowered his voice and pushed off the wall. "I'll be right down. Don't let him come up."

"You got it," Aaron said.

Carla looked up as Luca began to head for the elevator, "Where are you going?"

"I'll be right back," Luca said as he pressed the button for the lobby and gave Daisy a small nod. She stared back at him with round hazel eyes as if she knew everything. Oddly, it alleviated some of the pressure on Luca's shoulders.

Luca bit down on his molars as he waited for the elevator to land on the ground floor. He was exhausted from the day and the last thing he wanted was to see Daniel. His blood boiled and he was pretty sure if he didn't keep cool then he would end up committing murder. The feel of Gia's warm blood on his hands as he had held her fueled his rage as he walked out of the elevator and spotted Daniel and Aaron in the lobby.

"You need to leave," Luca said as he walked up to them and pinned Daniel with his heated gaze. "Get the fuck out of here."

"How did this happen?" Daniel ignored the fire in Luca's eyes. "How is she?"

Luca's eyes widened slightly, "Do you hear yourself right now?"

"Look," Daniel's jaw clenched. "I know I fucked up bu-"

"Fucked up?" Luca arched his brow. "That would imply this was a mistake."

Daniel closed his mouth. His shoulders were tense and his eyes desperate.

"This wasn't a mistake, was it, Daniel?" Luca asked. "This was thought out."

Daniel didn't say anything. He let Luca's words pierce his sink because he knew he deserved to hear all of it. But his silence only angered Luca.

"You want to play with her reputation because you think I fucked up Stella, right?" Luca said through his clenched teeth. "Well, guess what? Your sister did all that on her own."

Daniel's eyes narrowed. He could stand before Luca and hear about what a fucked up man he was all day but if Luca dared to say anything about Stella, Daniel wouldn't stand for it.

"She was the one to call off the engagement," Luca said, holding Daniel's heated gaze to make sure his words were heard.

"You're lying," Daniel said.

"No," Luca laughed.

"What about the baby?"

"It wasn't mine," Luca said bitterly. "Stella and I were never physical with each other because she was obsessed with portraying the good girl image and wanted to wait until we were married."