Page 22 of Checkmate

Twenty-Four

Vivianna

Landing back in New York City was supposed to bring me some kind of sense of home. It was supposed to give me a dose of reality that apparently, I needed. It was supposed to help me get back to my life, but it does nothing. I walk off the plane and through the airport, collect my luggage, and then climb into the back of a cab. I’m distracted enough that I don’t even scrunch my nose up at the stench coming from the backseat. I’m on autopilot. The fact that I did nothing to get justice for Leo is running through my mind and of course, Luca. I can’t escape him even with all the miles between us.

The cab inches toward my apartment. Normally, I’m impatient when it comes to cab rides, always asking the driver to move faster or switch lanes, but today I just don’t have the energy to care. We inch along the crowded streets of New York City. I stare up trying to find the sky, but it’s lost in the mass of buildings towering over us. Luca’s scent of soap still clings to me, and for a moment I feel like I might cry, and Vivianna Giordano does not cry.

What was it about Luca that got to me? I think maybe it’s because when he looked at me he really saw me. He didn’t see the front that I tried to put up in front of people. He saw past my tough girl attitude I use to keep everyone at a distance. He wove himself into the fibers of my being in just a day and it’s terrifying me. Now that I’m back in New York City, I don’t know if running was the best idea.

Finally, we pull up along the sidewalk of my apartment building. I pay the taxi driver as a bellhop runs over to collect my bags from the trunk of the taxi. Mr. Franklin, the bellhop, holds my door open for me as I get out. “Welcome back, Miss Bilotti.”

Mr. Franklin is an older, plump man that is barely taller than me with big round brown eyes hidden behind large 70’s style glasses and a warm smile. I give him the best smile I can muster. “Thank you, Mr. Franklin. Did I miss anything exciting in my absence?”

He shakes his head. “Oh, you know how New York is... the city never sleeps, so I’m sure you missed something, but I just don’tkeep upwith all that.”

“I don’t blame you. Well, you have a good day, Mr. Franklin,” I tell him, as we reach the elevators.

He smiles and pats me on the shoulder. “You too, Miss Bilotti.”

I’m the only one in the elevator and for that I’m thankful, as I ride up the spacious metal contraption with the dreary elevator music playing softly overhead. The elevator dings and the doors open. I grab my suitcase and move toward my front door. Once I’m inside, I turn on the lights and just stare around my open concept apartment decorated in grays, blacks, and whites. It’s my home and it used to bring me so much happiness, but now I can’t help but feel like something is missing from here. I sigh and move around opening the blinds, turning on the ceiling fans and opening the patio doors.

I order takeout from my favorite Japanese restaurant and stand in my bedroom. I contemplate taking a shower for what feels like forever. I probably need a shower, but I’ll lose this last piece of Luca and I’m not ready to give that up just yet. I can at least have the rest of today and tonight before I have to let go of his scent clinging to my skin. Eventually, I grab some shorts and a tank top, pulling my hair up in a messy bun and opening my laptop before I get comfortable at the dining room table. I’m sure I have work to catch up on, so I fire up my laptop and get lost on all the work that Beth has been up to in my short absence. It’s a great thing she’s so organized, because she has lined up six new events for the company. I may need to consider giving her a raise.

The doorbell rings and I jump up as my stomach growls in hunger. I definitely need to eat something; however, I get the shock of my life when I open the door to not only find my takeout order, but a ghost from my past that I didn’t expect to see again.

Twenty-Five

Luca

Two months later

I sneak down the back roads, taking every possible detour known to man’s kind to get to the abandoned warehouse where I meet Ratliff to give up any new information when I have any, which isn’t often. I keep looking over my shoulder and checking the mirrors for any kind of suspicious activity, but so far it seems quiet. I’m paranoid as hell. I’ve been undercover for over a year now. My two-month job has literally become my life and it’s got me on edge all of the time. If I was worried I had lost myself, Luca Healey, in the midst of my undercover obligations before, then I have most certainly lost myself in the role of Luca Lombardi now.

I’m sitting at a red light when I see a fancy sports car that is aneyesoreamong the rest on the street. I bang the steering wheel and curse out loud. It’s probably nothing, but what if it’s not? I mean, I’mnottrying to die today or any time soon for that fact, but if Lorenzo Giordano finds out my true identity, I won’t just be a missing person. It’ll be like I never existed.

This was supposed to be easy; get in and get out. It was supposed to be my introduction to this field of work. It was never supposed to go on this long. I was never supposed to get this deep. I was never supposed to be around long enough to actually form friendships with these guys.

Ratliff tells me to learn my boundaries, but it’s damn hard to figure them out when you have to eat, breathe, live, and take a bullet for these guys to just lay down lines and not cross them. My whole life is just one big mind fuck where I don’t know who I am, who I can trust, or where I’m going. Ratliff doesn’t seem to understand where I’m coming from anymore.

It doesn’t help that it’s been almost two and a half months since Leo’s murder and not a damn thing has been done about it. It’s like it’s been swept under the rug and forgotten about. The cops are ignoring it, then again Ratliff is on the case, and he’s more concerned with taking down the Lorenzo “Gio” Giordano then finding out who killed his son. The really odd thing, though, is it seems like the Giordano mafia itself is fine with just going about as if Leo just never existed or he’s on some freaking vacation. You would think that as one of the most powerful mafia bosses in the city that Gio would want justice for his only son, but he seems fine just letting it go. Something doesn’t add up.

The fancy sports car finally turns off and I let out the breath I was holding. If I don’t blow my cover and get killed by a member of the Giordano mafia then the stress is bound to do it. Another freaking red light that I have to stop at. Really? It’s like I can’t escape these damn things today. I glance at the sidewalk and see a girl in sky high heels with long hair and I have to do a double take while my heart slams around in my chest erratically. It’s ridiculous because I know it can’t be Vivianna. There’s been no sign of her since she left, not even a phone call, email, or text. I had totally misread that whole situation and it makes me feel like a dumbass. My ego is bruised, but I think the fact that she wasn’t who I thought she was, is the thing that eats at me the most.

I sigh and take off from the red light like a bat out of hell, trying to put distance between myself and the haunting memories of Vivianna that I can never escape. Finally, I reach the outskirts of town and take the lone dirt road that leads out to the warehouse. Once I park around back, I pull my gun, always ready and loaded nowadays, and make my way to the door. I scan the area constantly expecting the worst and praying for the best. Once I’m inside, Ratliff appears. “Took you long enough.”

“Traffic was a bitch. What do you want me to do about it?” I ask, my tone annoyed.

Ratliff shakes his head. “You need to keep your head on straight, Luca. This job is huge.”

“I’m aware of that, but at this point I’m just trying to keep my head, period!”

“You’ll be okay. I told you, we’ve got your back,” Ratliff tells me, with a pat on the shoulder.

I step away and glare at him. “That’s easy for you to say when you’re sitting behind a big cozy desk, away from the action. If something goes down, I’ll be dead before you can even blink.”

“Luca…”

I shake my head. “No, Ratliff. This isn’t the job you sold me on. This is bullshit and you know it. I want out, but I can’t get out because you let me get in too deep.”

---