Chapter 1
In the Seventh Heaven – a luxurious restaurant that catered to the elite of Hasdale – there were simple rules for running the bar. The rules Luca Bowen studied with religious determination before sending his resume.
Firstly, learn and know the recipes of drinks served there by heart. With the annotation that any drinks invented – if they weren’t trademarked by another bar – had to be presented and accepted by a manager before being served to customers.
Secondly, part of the barman’s responsibility was to have an eye out for foul play by the bar. And inform security if they spotted anyone attempting to spike drinks or acting like they were under the influence of anything else than alcohol. Serving drinks to someone already wasted was also not allowed, and in case of arguments that could turn to violence, security was meant to be informed before the bar could get trashed.
A third was: that romantic or sexual relationships between staff and staff and customers weren’t allowed – that was underscored a few times in the rulebook. The staff – barmen, waitresses, security, and management were all required to keep their private lives out of the restaurant and act with the highest level of professionalism. That, however, had an added clause that quite confused Luca when he read it. He had no idea why someone who put those rules together felt the need to mark and heavily underscore the notion that the management reserved the right to terminate the contract of anyone who wouldn’t respect that rule, especially in the case of security. So, as far as he understood it, whoever worked on that position was marked as off limits – and he shrugged the notion away, easily signing the waiver.
The ‘no romance at work’ policy – heavily regulated as he heard over the grapevine – was one of the reasons he was hoping to get in that place. In his last workplace (which also claimed to have similar rules) in the end, management sucked and frankly didn’t give a fuck what staff did if said staff was their family or friends – which there were quite a few. And Luca was forced to resign and look for another gig precisely because his direct superior (who was also a niece of the owner) wouldn’t leave him the fuck alone, flirting incessantly during work hours. He rather quit while he was ahead, especially when HR shrugged off his complaint when that flirting turned into physical harassment, and before she could realize her threats of ruining his resume if he weren’t cooperative. Considering it was everyone’s secret that it wasn’t the first time she did the same sort of shit, he didn’t feel guilty that the place was shut down soon after he left – after an anonymous tip to respective institutions about various violations of safety, conduct, and hygiene.
The Seventh Heaven was recommended to him after he complained about the whole messy situation while they – and a few other people from college they kept contact with – gathered for annual drinks. Evan – a guy Luca once shared a room in a dorm – hearing his woes (because it was hardly the first time), currently worked there part-time as security and praised the place for its ‘no romance’ policy. And – apparently – even heavier regulations about harassment of any kind – sharing with them an anecdote about a waitress who liked to get too ‘touchy-feely’ at work and got a boot, despite being related to the owner.
Luca was iffy at first, but considering his not-very-high savings, and the fact that Evan gave him a number directly to the person in charge of HR – Alice Farrell – he decided giving it a shot couldn’t hurt. He was reassured quickly when he called Miss Farrell, and she turned out to be very blunt in stating that what he heard from Evan was very real and executed with prejudice. She sent him a rulebook, then during the interview in person, several times underscored that whatever he got up to in private was expected to stay out of the workplace and all attempts of intimidation or harassment were to be instantly related to HR.
On the side – once the interview was over and he was signing all necessary papers with her brother, Alex, who ran the bureaucratic side of things – they both assured him that their boss was very touchy about this type of thing – hence the whole ‘no romance policy.’ Alice, whom Luca quickly was beginning to like, perched on the edge of her brother’s desk, shared with him that Seventh Heaven was ’Mr. Price’s baby,’ and he overlooked it as such.
After that, a more careful read of the restaurant’s website taught Luca that despite belonging to a chain of very popular and highly reviewed restaurants owned by the Price family, this one, in particular, was run by their youngest son, everywhere he could find called only D. Price. He was a little surprised he couldn’t see anywhere – including wider online research – any pictures of the man or the family in general, but he figured that rich people had enough money to pay for keeping their lives off the web if they were determined enough. And he didn’t blame them, considering that the only Price you could find – every-fucking-where – was their eldest son, Dominic – of whom Luca knew far more than he was interested in knowing.
Mainly, because his twin brother, Tristan, was obsessed with Dominic Price for a few years already with the man being a very popular actor. His brother, despite otherwise being a very fucking smart person – and now highly respected professor of the university he graduated from at unprecedented age – in private had a hilarious tendency to ‘fanboy’ over Dominic and watch movies he starred in on repeat. And considering his eidetic memory, Tristan could fucking quote every line even if woken up in the middle of the night. Plus he loved to terrorize the younger twin with utterly shameless – as he tended to be overall – descriptions of all the depraved fantasies he had about his favorite actor. Though they called each other at least once a week, Luca learned to disconnect the call instantly whenever Dominic’s name came up in conversation for that reason.
And no, not because – as his twin accused him constantly – he was a prude. While both quite quickly figured out they were bisexual, he didn’t have a problem with the fact that his twin brother was simping for a guy. At twenty-six, Luca dated and slept with a few partners of both sexes throughout since he figured he found both men and women attractive. And sure, he could see – he wasn’t blind after all! – what had his brother so hot and bothered where Dominic was concerned. He would have to be dead and buried not to – considering the actor was rightfully well-known for the title of sexiest man alive! He was so fucking beautiful, that even without the fact that he was excelling in any given role, his appearance in any movie or series alone made it an instant hit. But even seeing the appeal, Luca considered himself a realist for one, and more importantly, he had far more interesting things to do than daydream about the unreachable.
While he found his twin’s obsession absurd at times, Luca – most importantly – wasn’t interested in Tristan’s fantasies and sex life overall! Especially considering he knew that his twin brother was as twisted as his sense of humor and thrived on embarrassing bejesus out of him.
Luca considered his libido normal for a man his age. Perhaps it was – as Tristan sometimes teased him – low, but he was committed rather to his goals than dating. He didn’t like casual flings, and perhaps he was a little burned after his last girlfriend attempted to seduce his twin... but he firmly believed that he had every right to stay single whenever he felt like it. Sure, he had plenty of complexes, but he liked to think otherwise, he was a mature and well-adjusted adult. Currently, he lived alone in a small apartment, and in all the free time he had, he worked on his novel, while saving like crazy to one day own a house far away from people. He loved his friends and family – duh – and he liked to work as a barman – most of the time – but overall, he wasn’t a very ’people person.’ He far more preferred solitude, and to relax he either read or played video games. He liked to think that he was already doing quite a bit better now than he did as a teenager when constant comparisons to his brilliant twin brother – in the small town they came from – gave him an honest aversion to people in general. He did turn to work as a barman initially precisely to deal with it, all the while mentally treating the surface of the bar between him and customers as a shield.
Luca’s first week in Seventh Heaven – while he was mostly focused on learning the ropes – was uneventful. He liked the uniform provided by the restaurant and the overall exclusive vibe of the place. The woman in charge of his training, Sienna Kelly, very quickly proved to be an excellent teacher, and other than basics, she gave him a rich rundown of the more ‘intimate’ in-company politics.
„Most people who come here,” she told him the first day. „Are used to being treated like royalty, Luca. But Mr. Price makes it a point to establish boundaries. So, we always smile and act polite, but if someone gives you shit or tries to belittle you, you’re required to stand your ground and call security.”
„And what does that do?” He asked, frowning over the coffee they shared during his first break.
„Guys are great,” she beamed in reply. „Mr. Price picked and trained them himself, you know? They’re always going to be on your side and if something happens, they’ll kick and blacklist any problematic customers, okay?”
„Mmm,” he hesitated and then admitted. „I know Evan Turner, and I pretty much got here through him. We are buddies and we used to share a room in college.”
„Ah, Evan’s cool, but he works only weekends,” she nodded toward him, smiling. „Most days it’s either Eric or Dante – or both when it’s a bigger crowd. Anyway, you got the bracelet from HR, right?”
„Yeah,” he raised his hand between them, revealing the silver device made to look like a bracelet. „Ali... I mean, Miss Farrel instructed me that in case of trouble, I press this button here and it’ll alert the security.”
„Yeah, and they always react very quickly,” she beamed, showing him the same thing wrapped around her wrist. „You know, I like it here because it’s always a safety-first kind of place. New people we get here often bring horror stories from their previous places about shitty customers and management, but here it’s different, Luca.”
„And the no romance policy?” He asked wryly. „Because I’m hoping what I’ve heard about it is true.”
„I mean...” she shrugged, then leaned over the table between them and lowered her voice. „If you want a clue, I’ll tell you that Eric, one for security guys, is my boyfriend outside this place, and that’s considered okay. As long as we act professionally at work, Mr. Price doesn’t get in our private lives. That means we don’t give each other special treatment in anything work-related, or cause drama between staff with anything not work-related. On the other hand, if you have an issue with anyone acting inappropriately, it doesn’t matter who they are, okay? We had this waitress recently who bragged to anyone who would listen that she’s a cousin of the owner, but the moment she started flirting with customers, she was out. And look at this place, right? Many of the clients who come here are really big fish, Luca, and often they pick it for the atmosphere. Sure, it’s luxurious and exclusive, but mostly because it’s a great spot to impress a potential date, right? Or unwind after a rough day in an office and such. Since I started to work here five years ago, I learned that most of the steady crowd appreciate the strict no-flirt code because they get that shit daily everywhere else, you know? He’s not at work this week, but I think next when you meet Dante, you’re going to understand,” she sighed, then shook her head toward his confused frown. „Trust me.”
...and he did. Very much, even, because when next Monday he arrived at the place for the afternoon shift, he stopped at the front door and his jaw nearly hit the ground.
Because right by his new workplace, chatting animatedly with Sienna over the counter, sat fucking carbon copy of Dominic Price. He was nearly about to ask the man for an autograph – because that shit would buy him Tristan’s eternal gratitude and maybe even get his twin to shut the fuck up about his fantasies – until Sienna noticed his stupefied ass and called him over to introduce Luca to his new co-worker. And only up close, he realized that it couldn’t be Dominic, if only because the eye color was off, and this guy looked like a distinctively younger version of the actor.
„This is Luca Bowen,” Sienna introduced, poorly hiding her amusement at his reaction. „He started last week. Luca, this is Dante Price, our boss who likes to play security,” and she laughed when the gorgeous man sent her a killer deadpan stare before stretching his arm toward him.
„Hey,” he said softly but in that deep, raspy voice that nearly made Luca’s knees turn to water. „I hope you like the place so far, Mr. Bowen.”
„Ah... Luca is fine,” he smiled in answer shakily, covering the way a brief handshake sent a spark of awareness through his body. And in thought, he begged for the dimmed lights to mask how his whole face heated under the unreadable stare of these dark blue eyes. It felt almost like a test of his professionalism – especially in the face of that raw example of male sex appeal Dante looked like a quintessence of – and he didn’t want to get fired... but it was fucking impossible not to stare. „Sorry, but...”
„I know, I get shit over our similarity all the time,” the male seated on one of the tall barstools beside the bar turned fully toward him, smirking. Luca gingerly passed the corner of the bar and tried to focus on checking and setting up his workplace instead of ogling the beautiful face and killer body wrapped in a suit that likely cost more than Luca earned in a year. „So, do you like it here, Luca?”
He froze momentarily at how his name sounded like in that voice, then shook himself up and focused on the speaker – feeling a bit more confident behind his mental shield.
„It’s been only a week, but so far, yes, very much,” he replied calmly, only in thought freaking out while holding the man’s intent gaze. „I’m yet to get a nasty customer but Sienna told me those are rare in general, and while I’m still learning everything... Again, so far, I very much appreciate working here, sir.”
„Please, call me Dante,” the guy shifted from a seat opposite Sienna to one right in front of him and blinded Luca with a cheerful grin. „I like to be friends with everyone who works here.”
„Ah, um,” he raced in thought at what to say, picking up a random glass and focusing on cleaning it to keep his hands occupied and stop them from trembling. „Okay, Dante.”
„Awesome,” the power behind that grin went straight to his knees again, turning them to jelly. Luca sent a prayer of gratitude for how the edge of the counter was well above his waist. This meant that only Sienna standing beside him would know – and hopefully understand considering her warnings – why he had to consciously lean against it to stay upright. Because he felt downright weak and shaky at every freaking sound from Dante’s painfully beautiful face. „If you do need anything, remember that I’m a call away,” the male touched his wrist meaningfully and Luca nodded, hoping that his smile was easy-going enough.
After that, the man said his goodbyes and sauntered off toward the front of the restaurant – unknowingly nearly giving Luca a stroke with the way that perfectly fitting suit hugged his figure in all the right places – if the blonde exhaled deeply only when Dante was well out of sight.
„Holy fuck,” he breathed and smiled ruefully when Sienna snorted, busying herself with sorting clean glasses. „You could’ve warned me.”
„I love watching people react to Dante,” she grinned meanly, then winked. „But you did good, buddy. We had anything from hysterics to proposals, no joke. And people constantly ask for his brother’s number of autographs. Plenty gets fired because confronted with him, they can’t act like you just did. I daresay you probably even scored higher than most.”
„I hope so,” he sighed, then smiled sheepishly tossing a glance toward the corner Dante disappeared behind. „If I can’t say I wasn’t tempted to ask for Dominic’s autograph. My brother would freak.”
„He’s a fan?” Sienna snorted, as they set to prepare drinks to serve as a display of assortment behind them during the evening.
„Mhmm, a massive one,” Luca chuckled fondly.
„And you?” she asked.
„I appreciate male beauty,” he admitted with a shrug. "And I genuinely love a few movies Dominic starred in, plus I think he’s talented. But I like to think I’m a rational man. Can you imagine dating a celebrity?” He flinched theatrically, grinning when she snorted and nodded. „Or someone who looks like one?” He subtly motioned toward the front and shrugged again before setting another prepared drink behind them. „I think for me that’s the definition of hell.”
„Pff, preach,” she agreed. „You know how busy we were last week? With Dante back, that’s going to be like three times that or more. Half of the customers come here to ogle him. I think that it’s part of the reason behind the rules of conduct here because he hates people who can’t keep their hands to themselves. So long they only look, he’s cool, but anything more than that is a very sure and quick ticket out the door.”
„Noted,” Luca nodded, then sent another glance, and carved that lesson in his brain.
And not like even for a moment he believed that what he thought flickered in those navy-blue eyes could have been an interest. Plus, he didn’t lie to Sienna, considering that in his worldview dating someone as attractive as Dante would be hell, considering his own insecurities. After Miya – his last girlfriend that he almost proposed to – tried to bang his twin brother, Luca’s complexes only spiked through the roof. Adding to that her parting remarks of the creepiness of his natural eye color and her rating of his bedroom skills, even after two years since, he didn’t feel like dating anyone.
That night, at the end of his shift and after saying his goodbye to Sienna in front of the restaurant, watching her and Eric – he met last week and who picked her up on a very cool motorcycle – Luca flinched when someone called his name as he turned to head home. And his eyebrows shot nearly to his hairline at the sight of Dante – the last to leave the building, after apparently changing.
Not that he looked any less gorgeous in a pair of worn-down jeans, a red t-shirt stretched over his muscular chest peaking from under a pretty awesome leather jacket, and heavy combat boots. No, if anything, that combo gave his beauty a delinquent vibe that made it difficult for Luca not to salivate – no matter how much he tried to convince his stupid dick that this fantasy-made-flesh was off limits for more than risk of losing work he was beginning to like.
„Want a ride?” Dante asked and Luca nearly slapped himself out of principle when his brain instantly took that for permission to drop straight in a gutter – supplying him with an image that had nothing to do with the motorcycle the tall man pointed to with the question.
„I’m fine, thanks,” he replied with a polite smile, fixing his backpack on his shoulder. „I don’t live far, anyway,” which was a blatant lie, but he could only hope Dante wouldn’t remember his address.
„Yes, you do,” the ink-haired male scowled toward him, towering over the blonde as he stopped in front of him and leaned in. He was at least a head taller than Luca and downright packed with muscle, but he smelled surprisingly sweet. Like fresh-cut peach, and he could do nothing but how fucking furiously his body reacted to that aroma. He stared – or tried to – at the taller male’s collarbone, helplessly swallowing a mouthful of saliva as he grew lightheaded. The dark material of his trousers grew painfully tight as his dumbass dick decided to swell to the fluttering rhythm of his heartbeat. „Look at me, Luca,” Dante said on a lower, raspier note and he closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to clear it as he stepped back.
He yelped when half of his boot didn’t find purchase and he would likely topple backward right on the street if a sudden, tight grip around his neck wouldn’t pull him forward. His eyes snapped wide open and right into the inferno of dark eyes a second before his front collided with a much taller frame.
„Careful,” Dante purred right into his ear, while Luca’s heart decided to do a fucking full somersault. All the while that still present grip over his neck did something weird to his brain as his neck arched by itself, his body went plaint, and his muscles turned into water. Blaring noise filled his ears, sounding suspiciously like a faraway and very submissive moan. An almost violent shudder ran down his spine at the little raspy growl against his ear. „Knew it.”
„H-Huh?” He muttered, trying to focus but he felt dizzy as fuck, especially when every rapid breath tasted of peach and something muskier. His body felt far too hot, and he hazily blamed the heat bathing his front from Dante’s body. A body that felt wonderfully hard while he doubted he could stand straight without the support it offered. And, God, but it smelled divine, like nothing ever before...
„Knew you would fit me like a glove, babe,” raspier, harder note made him feel drunk while Dante’s other hand slid down his side and unceremoniously curved over his ass, pulling him harder into that bigger body. With his jacket open, he moaned weakly at the hard evidence of other male’s arousal – that matched the thickening of those muskier notes in his sweet scent.
„Ah,” he braced his hands against Dante’s chest, trying to gather his bearings, and pushed, shaking his head to clear it. „I don’t... I... m-my work...”
„Not at work now, babe,” the dark-haired man growled in his ear and nipped its sensitive shell, making him moan brokenly at the sensation. „And I spent the whole evening wondering how that wonderful voice of yours would sound, Luca, while I take you.”
„N-No...” he pushed harder, and shook his head again, before looking up and tightening his jaw with determination. „I don’t... I’m not interested,” he managed the fucking biggest lie of his life and choked down a bit on the whine of disappointment when Dante narrowed his dark eyes but pulled his arms back. Luca made two big steps back but this time watching where, before he exhaled slowly and again looked into Dante’s painfully beautiful face. „Th-thank you, and...” he hesitated, swallowing thickly as he looked for words.
„Again, nothing to do with work,” Dante articulated carefully if Luca still flushed up to his hairline and bit his lower lip when those navy eyes swept over his body with very obvious desire. „But if you change your mind...”
„I... won’t,” he shook his head again, convincing himself that the sight of disappointment on his boss’s face wasn’t filling his stomach with something like butterflies of steroids. „Sorry... You’re a very... ah, attractive man and I’m very... flattered, but...”
„’It’s not you, but me’?” right corner of Dante’s lips quirked up as he shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
„Yeah, something like that,” Luca sighed and smiled wryly. „I don’t... Um, I don’t do casual, and I’m not interested in dating anyone, right now.”
„...especially someone who looks like a celebrity?” Dante’s deep voice dripped with sarcasm and Luca flinched, looking away and wondering if he overheard his remark to Sienna. „And for your information, I never do anything casual, babe.”
Luca colored deeper at the sound of endearment – because, fuck, that voice! – then exhaled slowly and shook his head.
„I... Um, I will see you tomorrow... I guess?” He muttered, then turned around, determined to get home as fast as possible and take a long cold shower. Probably while having a very serious talking to with his dumb dick about priorities.
„Goodnight, Luca,” he heard behind him but despite a strange note in Dante’s voice, he refused to look back – only waving over his shoulder – or else his resolve could crumble.
Mostly, because he knew that he was too weak and needy to be with someone who looked like Dante. He was far too insecure to believe that someone this gorgeous could really be interested in dating someone as boring as him.
And he didn’t need his twin’s brilliance to know – logically – that mostly he was fucking terrified. Miya’s betrayal cut deep, but something even deeper than that told him he wouldn’t survive when Dante would inevitably get bored and toss him aside for the next person who spiked his interest.
