Fuck.
The woman who was lying in my bed right now could be a set up. And somehow all that I could think about was tasting her lips again.
I raced home for answers. I took every turn too fast, but I didn’t care. I had to know if what my father had said was true. If she was a traitor. And if she wasn’t, I would have my way with her again.
But when I pushed open my door, she was gone. The money I left for her was too. Shit. He had been right. She was after me. I sat down on the edge of my bed and ran my fingers through my hair. What the hell was I going to do?
I wanted her.
She wanted me dead.
I loved her and she left. Again I was here and she was gone, for the second time in my life Vienna had left me. And even though I shouldn’t care about some traitorous bitch, my chest hurt with the pain of her loss.
I wouldn’t look for her again. This time was it. We were done.
11
Vienna
Right before I left my apartment, I stood with my duffel bag in my hand and I dialed another number that I had memorized. It only took one ring before I heard his voice on the other end.
“Vienna? What's the matter?”
“He’s out.”
“Good. Anything else?”
I knew I had to lie about last night, I couldn’t tell Roberto I was running either. He would kill me if I failed him.
“No. I’m staying with a friend for a while, I’ll be touch when I know more.” Another lie.
“Good, good. We’ll talk soon.”
“Roberto,” I said with a tremble in my voice. “I don't think I can go through with this. I don't know what type of man my father was, but if Luka really did kill him, than it was for good reason. He's a good man.”
I knew he was, he had to be.
I needed him to be good.
Because he was good for me.
“No, he's not! He’s a Gioti, and you’re an Agnelli. There's no good men in that family. No one cared about your mother like we did. No one cared about you! Where the hell were they when Maria was killed? Pounding on your door and asking you to come live with them? I don't think so. We were there for you. We saved you. And don't you forget it.”
“I won't, ever. But I really think we have it wrong. If he did kill my father, there had to be some deeper reason.”
“You care about him, don’t you?”
I shook my head, “No.”
“Then do your fucking job Vienna. Call me when you have the information I want.”
It seemed simple to Roberto. But it wasn't to me. I was stuck between two lives. He wasn't there that night. He didn't hear my mother's screams. He didn’t see her blood stained face. He just saw her lifeless body in the casket. I remembered thinking it looked like she was sleeping. I remembered Roberto, my uncle, crying over her, while I knew that after that night, I would never be the same.
He also wasn’t falling in love with a killer. I wanted to trust Luka so much. It was why I ran, I couldn’t handle both.
“I'll be in touch,” I said. Roberto scared the hell out of me. I had to continue to play my part for him. Even though I didn’t want to live a double life anymore. I just wanted to start over. Even though I needed to know the truth.
I could hear him smiling on the other end of the line. “Of course you will.” Sick bastard.
I took one last look at my apartment and pulled the door shut behind me. I locked the door and took the keys down to the front office. No one was inside, so I put them in an envelope and tucked them in the mail slot. They could try to find me for the rent, but I doubt that they would. It wasn't that type of place. I clutched my duffel bag next to me and got into the cab.
“Where to next?”
I opened up my wallet and looked at the wad of hundreds I had in there from Luka. “Fourth and Pine, the apartment complex on the corner, and I’ll pay you an extra fifty to never tell anyone I was in this cab, that good?”
He sped off in the direction of Leah’s apartment and I looked out the window, rolling the locket between my fingers. I wished my mother was here. Maybe she could tell me what to do.
12
Vienna
Days passed, and as I was standing next to the window with my fingers curled around the curtain peering out I heard Leah come up behind me. That window had become my post, I spent most days standing there looking, waiting. Trying to breathe through my terror. I tried not to spin around as fast as I had been, she had already commented twice on how jumpy I was, but what she didn't know was that the mob was probably after me. Either Luka was looking for me, or my own uncle was seeking me out, either way at any moment someone would come take me away from this place. I slowly turned around cognizant of her eyes on me. She set two mugs of tea on the coffee table and beckoned me to sit down with her. I sat down on the worn brown leather sofa, she told me a friend had given it to her last year when they upgraded to new furniture. I could tell that she was hard up, I bought groceries a couple times since I'd been there and offered to pay a few bills with what I had left from Luka. Besides the groceries, she wouldn't hear of it. She knew I wasn't working, and I think part of her knew that I was on the run from something more sinister than an old flame.