Page 19 of Checkmate

I don’t feel safe with anyone, especially someone I barely know, but Luca makes me feel like he would take a bullet for me. My nails lightly run up and down the back of his neck and I don’t miss the darkening of his eyes as I do it. Maybe that's why I continue the gesture, until the song is through and Luca steps back. He then reaches for the champagne bottle before taking a large swig of it. I take a step toward Luca and I watch as his eyes grow larger, almost as if he’s scared of me, which is kind of funny. “Why do you look scared?”

“Do I?” he asks. I nod my head. “I’m not. That’s silly.”

“Is it the whole meaningless sex thing that you mentioned last night?” I ask, his words coming back to me. The idea is old fashioned, but secretly I love it even though I still have a lot of doubts that he really does live his life like that. It’s probably just something he tells the girls to make them feel special. Luca shakes his head and looks away from me. After a few moments, I shrug and walk back over to the ledge before pulling myself back up to sit on it. The music continues to play and Luca continues to ignore me and the whole situation. My agitation grows. I pull my heels off and sit them beside me. I sigh heavily and I know that Luca hears me, because I see the way his shoulders tense at the sound, but he continues to look anywhere but at me. My emotions are becoming too much, and I need to regain control of the situation. At the moment, I don’t see any way of doing that. Antsy, I turn around and stand up on the ledge. The breeze pulls at my hair as I hold my arms out beside me. I look down at the strip below. If I slipped there’d be no saving me, but I can’t bring up any fear in my body.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Luca asks behind me.

Now he notices me. I cross my arms over my chest and spin around to face him. “I’m standing. What the hell does it look like I’m doing, flying?”

“Get down from there, right now,” he tells me, using his finger to point to the ground beneath his feet, like I’m a child and don’t understand what he’s saying.

I cross my arms and give him a pointed look. I’m getting under his skin, I can tell by the flush on his neck and the hard glare he gives me. “Why?”

“Damn it, Vivianna. I’m supposed to protect you. How the hell am I supposed to explain to your father that you fell off the roof of his damn hotel?” he rants.

His words are like a slap of cold water. Either I’ve misread this entire situation, or he’s lying through his teeth right now. “Funny, I didn’t realize that my father was paying you to distract me by making out with me. He’s sure upped his game since last I knew.”

Luca sighs heavily. “Vivianna, it’s not like that and you know it.”

“Do I?” I ask him, my eyebrows raised. I start to walk along the ledge. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that moving along the ledge, hundreds of feet above the ground, knowing that one wrong step could send me plummeting to my death, is terrifying.

“Vivianna, you know what happened in the office has nothing to do with your father or my job.”

“You know, Luca. There is one thing I learned growing up in the life that I did and it’s that actions always speak louder than words. You say one thing, yet you won’t even look at me, so your actions say another.” I shrug and continue to walk along the ledge. I’m about to turn around and start back the way I just came, when I feel something wrap around my ankles. I scream at the surprise, but the heat that races up my legs from the touch quiets me almost instantly. Before I can even look down, I’m pulled off the ledge and swung over Luca’s shoulder. “Oh my god! You’re like a freaking caveman,” I complain, while getting a view of toned ass. I’m definitely not complaining. He continues to walk until we’re in the middle of the roof. Luca just stands there with me thrown over his shoulder. The blood and champagne rushing to my head. “Luca, put me down.”

“I think I’ll pass. Apparently, I have things I need to prove to you in order for you to believe me. Which is laughable considering we just met and you don’t even know me, but okay,” he says, a harsh laugh following his rant.

“Yeah, well you don’t know me either.” Luca gives me emotional whiplash. I mean, seriously. This day has been insane when it comes to my feelings and most of them have been brought on by Luca. He may be hot, but he’s definitely a complication that I shouldn’t want in my life. The anger boils in my blood, until I take my hand and slap his ass as hard as I can. He yelps and my hand burns as if I placed it in a tub of steamy hot water.

Luca puts me down in front of him and glares at me. “What the hell was that, Vivianna?”

I shrug. “I wanted down and I figured spanking you would do one of two things -- either you’d put me down or spank me back. I was almost betting on a spank fest, but once again you disappoint, Luca.” I shrug and step around him, determined to go put my heels back on and leave this roof. Mentally, I’m cursing myself because this was a bad idea, and I should have known as much. There’s no way that someone on my father’s payroll could ever understand me. They don’t really care about me. I’m just a job to them. If my father told them to put a bullet in my head, they would without thinking twice. A hand wraps around my upper arms pulling me back into his chest. My breath hitches.

I feel Luca’s stubble graze softly against my cheek while he uses his chin to move my hair from my ear. Then the sound of the smack is heard loud and clear, followed by my startled yelp. “I’d hate to disappoint, Firecracker,” his husky whisper sends bolts of electricity through my body.

When I look up, Luca’s mouth is just inches from mine. My breath hitches as I stare into those sapphire eyes. “I doubt you hardly ever do.”

He smirks. “I aim to please,” he tells me, before he wraps his hand around the back of my neck and pulls my mouth to meet his. Everything becomes a mess of heat and passion. Luca’s mouth feels like a branding iron on my skin as he moves along my body. Nothing has ever been like this; it’s never felt like this and it scares the hell out of me. His eyes meet mine and I know I’ll never be the same again.

Twenty-One

Luca

My body has never felt like this. It’s something about Vivianna. I knew the moment I saw her that she was something different. I just never expected her to leave this kind of mark on me. I look over at her. She’s sound asleep in the passenger seat. Her face looks so relaxed and carefree in this moment, and I wish she could always look like this. Maybe this is how she looks in New York. That thought sends a swift kick to my gut, because it’s a reminder that she doesn’t call Las Vegas home anymore and that she’ll be leaving. Probably soon, sooner that I want, that’s for sure.

I take the drive from the casino/hotel to the estate as slow as possible. I’m delaying the inevitable because the idea of it makes my heart feel funny. How am I supposed to just let her go? I almost feel like I betrayed my rule of no meaningless sex, but then I look back over at her and know that’s not true. There’s no amount of time spent with Vivianna Giordano that could ever be meaningless.

I pull up to the gate of the estate and swipe my badge, then key in my code before laying my palm flat on the scanner to confirm my identity. I still remember how over the top this all seemed to me my first time here. The longer I stayed undercover in this lifestyle, surrounded by mafia families all out to gain power over the others, I realized this was a necessary precaution. I will never be able to imagine the life and precautions that Leo and Vivianna had to endure growing up. The gate finally opens, and I pull through. I stop just inside and wait to make sure the gate closes back, even though I know there are men that are well-equipped to handle any threat that might be able to get in just within the trees.

I slowly make my way up to the drive then around the side of the estate where I park. The place has cleared out since earlier, which I’m thankful for. I get out of the car and make my way over to Vivianna. Opening the door, I squat down and unfasten her seatbelt before caressing her cheek. “Hey, Firecracker,” I whisper. She graces me with a sleepy smile. “We’re back at the estate so time to get up.”

Her eyes finally open and she takes in her surroundings. “I feel like Cinderella.”

“What do you mean?” I ask. I mean, I know the story of Cinderella, but I can’t place Vivianna in the story.

She sighs. “I feel like the last few hours with you were like that ball with the prince, and now I’m going to turn back into a pumpkin.”

I chuckle. “You, Vivianna Giordano, could never be a pumpkin,” I tell her, as I stand up and hold my hand out to help her from the car.

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