Page 29 of Checkmate

I nod my head. “In the bathroom.”

She points to my bedroom door. “Go. I’m going to secure the alarm and double check the locks and put something in front of your doors as an extra precaution. I’ll be there in a minute. Run some cold water over it.”

I salute her and she rolls her eyes. I head for the bathroom, but not before I look back at her. She’s checking the locks and arming the system. I have no clue what she’ll put in front of the doors to block, but it doesn’t matter. Vivianna won’t be able to save me from the inevitable for forever.

In the bathroom, I grab the first aid kit under the sink and turn on the cold water. When Vivianna finally appears, I remove it. My hand numb from the coldness. She opens the kit as I sit on the toilet. She holds my hand over the sink while she doctors and bandages it. “Thank you,” I tell her.

“Yeah, well this wasn’t a smart idea, you know that right?”

I chuckle. “I never said I was smart.”

“Well, you aren’t dumb,” she counters, with her hands on her hips.

My hands itch to touch her, but I manage to keep them on my thighs. I look up and meet her serious gray eyes. “Look, I need to say this now. I am sorry for what I said earlier. I was angry even though I shouldn’t have been. I appreciate you taking the time to come here and warn me about my cover being blown and my impending death.”

“Luca…” she sighs. “You don’t get it do you?” She steps forward, causing me to lean back against the toilet, so she’s standing in between my legs. Her hands reach out and caress my face. Maybe I’m already dead and I just don’t know it yet. Vivianna would be my heaven and hell, that’s for sure. “I understand why you were mad. I’ve been mad at myself enough for the both of us. I ran like a coward. I’ve missed you every day since I left, but I just didn’t know how to fix it. You scare me, Luca. The things you make me feel… scare me. I am sorry, though.” I close my eyes and lean my forehead against her. She’s so short that I hit the middle of her chest. Her nails scratch at my scalp. “Leaving you has been my biggest regret so far.”

“Vivianna,” I whisper.

“I had to come back. I can’t lose you, Luca. We need a plan, one that ends with you being alive,” she whispers.

I pull back and look up at her. My hands instantly find her cheeks. “I’m not sure there’s an option for that. In my line of work death happens. Covers get blown and that usually doesn’t end well. I knew what to expect when I took that job, at least I thought I did. Then you showed up and blew my world to hell. I’ve missed you too.” I pull her into my lap and capture her lips with mine. My hands trail up from the waistband of her leggings, under her shirt to her bare back. Our kiss becomes fevered. If I’m going to die, then it’s going to be with the knowledge that Vivianna Giordano might just love me.

Vivianna pulls away, breathless and flushed. “We need to come up with a plan. This isn’t a plan.”

I smirk. “You’re right. It’s better,” I tell her, as I pick her up and carry her to the bedroom.

Thirty

Luca

I wake up and stretch out, reaching to the other side of my bed. My arm hits cold sheets and instantly I’m wide awake. It’s been a few days since I walked in and found Vivianna sitting on my couch and I have to admit that I’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop. In this moment, I fear if I open my eyes my worst fear will become a reality. Slowly, I pull my eyelids open and find the other side of the bed empty, but messy. I sit up and scrub my hands over my face as the smell of breakfast makes its way to my nose. I smile to myself.

Getting out of bed, I pull on my sweats and head out to the kitchen where I find Vivianna standing with her back to me at the stove, in my discarded dress shirt from last night. Her long hair is in a messy bun and the early morning sun bathes her in light. I wish I could freeze this moment right here. I would love to stay right here. Eventually, she feels my eyes on her because she looks over her shoulder and gives me a smirk. “Well, good morning, Boyfriend,” she tells me.

“Good morning, Firecracker. Something smells amazing,” I tell her, as my stomach growls with hunger.

Vivianna gives a short, airy laugh. “Oh good, you’re hungry then.”

I laugh. “Well, someone worked me out last night.”

Vivianna’s head falls back in laughter before she looks at me and winks. “It’s not my fault you can’t keep up with the big girls.”

My mouth falls open in shock. “I think I more than proved I can keep up.”

“Oh, did you? I must have missed that,” she teases me with a shrug.

I rush around and wrap my arms around her waist before I pick her up and spin her, sitting her on the kitchen island. I capture her face between my hands. “Maybe someone needs a reminder.”

“Hmmm…” she hums in appreciation, as my mouth finds that spot on her neck that drives her wild. Her nails dig into my back as mine run up her thighs before my phone starts ringing. We both groan loudly before I step away from her. When I step back, I notice the flush on her cheeks which makes me smile. My phone continues to ring. “I guess you should get that,” she tells me.

I nod and move to find my phone in the bedroom. These past few days have been amazing, but I knew this bubble was eventually going to pop. It had to. Vivianna has literally stayed in my apartment since she arrived in Las Vegas. I offered to take her out, even to another town, but she didn’t want to take any chances. She doesn’t want any of the mafias knowing she’s in town, until she knows who placed the hit on her brother. She spoke with Foster yesterday, and he told her that he believed he’d have answers sometime today or tomorrow.

I find my phone and answer it to find Luz on the other end of the line. “Meet me at the casino in an hour,” he tells me, before disconnecting the call. I wonder what has come up now. I wasn’t supposed to meet with Gio or any of the guys for another two days when Humberto Villarreal arrived. I had already given Ratliff the information when I was picking him up and where I was supposed to be taking him. This entire nightmare will be done in just two days, then Vivianna and I will be free to do as we please.

Vivianna appears in the doorway. “They want you for something?”

“Yeah, I have to be at the casino in an hour,” I tell her, as I stand up and make my way to the closet to grab a suit before I shower. “I’m sorry you cooked breakfast, and I won’t get to actually sit down and eat it.”

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