“Vienna, you have to tell me what's going on. You can't live like this! It's just not healthy.” I looked into her trusting brown eyes and I knew that she was trying to be honest with me. She didn't want to see me get hurt. How could I tell her that I had done this myself? That I knowingly put myself into danger in the form of attempting to set up a mob boss’s son? I no idea what I was going to do.
“I was involved with someone. But I shouldn't have been, he’s dangerous. He doesn’t come from a good family. But then again neither do I.” I took a sip of my tea and I heard a car door slam. Immediately I felt like my skin set on fire as I lifted my eyes to peek out the window again.
“A family? Like the mob?”
I chewed on my lower lip while I nodded slowly. I set the mug back down on the coffee table. “Yes. I come from a mob family, and so does the guy that I was involved with. And I shouldn't have been. It was dangerous. But I couldn't help myself.”
“You never can with the bad boys. Part of the attraction. But you’re away from him now, so what's holding you back from moving on? Maybe even go back to Jersey?”
I shook my head. “The only reason I'm here is because my uncle sent me. If I come back empty-handed, I don't know what he'll do to me.” Far worse than what would've happened to me had I stayed with Luka, that was for sure.
“Okay, so what's the plan? I mean you can stay here as long as you like, don't think is this is about you leaving. I just hate to see you like this, so nervous all the time. You used to be so full of life Vienna, I just don't want to see you hurt.”
“I know, I know. Your heart is in the right place. I just need a little bit more time to figure all of this out. Maybe a couple weeks? I promise things will get better the longer I'm away.”
That was a lie. I knew it as soon as it escaped my lips. But she smiled in a comforting way and for a moment I tried to believe it.
A couple weeks later Leah was standing in the kitchen dictating a grocery list to me. I hadn't been out of the house since I moved in here. Anytime she needed anything I just gave her money, but I hadn't actually done any shopping myself. But today I was going to break out of this invisible prison I had built for myself. I was going to the grocery store, and that was a big step. I was going to go out and mingle with society. And I hoped to nothing happened to me because of it.
Luka hadn't tried to make any contact. It wasn't like he had my phone number, but he had found that where I worked pretty easily. I'd given a physical description of him to Leah so she could be on the lookout, but she said he hadn't shown up to the diner. So I guess the he understood me running was us being over. Every time I thought about it my heart broke a little bit. Why did things have to be this way?
Roberto had called twice, last time the message was clear. He knew I wasn’t following Luka closely, and he was pissed. I had to figure out some way to find out where Luka was hiding out. Maybe his family still owned that club downtown, I could watch from there and maybe not get caught.
But a part of me wanted to be.
Jesus my feelings for Luka made me a wreck.
“Vienna? Did you get that?”
I lifted my eyes up to meet hers, “Yeah. Milk, wheat bread, tampons, and you want me to get brownies or something? I mean I get the whole PMS thing.…”
She laughed as my face froze in its position. The pencil slipped from my fingers and fell to floor with a light sound that could only be heard by the mice that probably lived in the walls. Leah's face quickly showed her concern.
“Vienna? Vienna what's wrong?”
I couldn't be. I ran to the living room and grabbed my phone paging through to the calendar. There was no way. I couldn't be… pregnant? Could I? It was there in black and white shouting in my face as I scrolled through weeks and counted, I was two weeks late. I should've gotten my period right after moving in here, but instead I'd been period free for nearly seven weeks. Shit.
There was only one guy I had been left in the past year, Luka. Leah followed me and put her hand on my shoulder spinning me around. “Vienna what is going on?”
I showed her the calendar as if she would understand. “I think I'm pregnant.”
She raised an eyebrow at me as her mouth dropped open a little. “Pregnant? The mob guy?”
I nodded slowly. “I'm going to the grocery store. I'm getting a pregnancy test.”
I snatched my purse off the couch and grabbed her keys. I was on the road in a matter of moments. Every part of me wanted to drive back to Luka’s apartment right then and confront him. Tell him I was having his baby, that he needed to reform and change his ways. He would have to tell me the truth about my parents. But I couldn’t do that. I'd run away. I separated us for what could've been forever, but the baby that was potentially growing inside of me could link us for the rest of our lives.