Over the Line: A Second Chance Sports Romance

by Celia Ryan

  I had just promised Vienna that I wouldn't get involved in anything that would get me put away again. I was such a fucking liar. I knew the moment I said that, I wouldn’t be able to fully keep that promise. At least I'd been honest with her about how dangerous I was, and how I would always do anything to keep her safe. I was two sides of one dirty coin. I wondered if she really knew what she was getting involved in.

  I was a monster. But I had a duty to do.

  “Fine. I'll start watching him tomorrow. I've got other shit I have to do today.”

  “You want a weapon? In case he steps out of line?”

  “No, I’ve got my knife. And my fists. That's all I need.”

  “You can dump him off at the docks, son. Our clean up crew can take care of it from there.”

  “Pops, give the kid a chance, will ya?” But I knew he was right. I would find something on this kid. I’d end him in the end.

  He put his hand on my shoulder. “It's good to have you back, my son. We missed you.”

  Just then, my mother bustled toward us with a plate full of homemade spaghetti and meatballs. Exactly what I had expected. She sat down next to us at the table, and we didn't talk business anymore—it wasn’t allowed over family meals. It was as if our past conversation never happened. I just ate dinner and listened to my parents bicker like the old married couple they were.

  It was moments like this that I felt like we were a normal family.

  Sometimes, I even believed it.

  Chapter 9

  Vienna

  I turned my body to the side and reached for him. “Luka?” But as my hand felt the satiny sheets beneath my fingers, I didn't feel the warmness of his flesh. When he didn't reach out to touch me, I rolled over completely and found a handwritten note and a wad of cash. What the hell? I slammed my head back into the pillow and let out a frustrated groan. Jesus, he sure knew how to make a girl feel good. I wasn't some tramp he could just give money to. But then I read the note.

  I want to see you when I get home.

  I love you.

  Luka

  A love note? Maybe prison really had reformed him. The Luka I knew was the type to have sex and split, not really caring about the girl in his sheets. This note reminded me of what he said earlier. How he would protect me and keep me safe. About how this time was different, how we would be together. He promised not to make any decisions within the family that would hurt us. Nothing that would get him sent away again. And because I was stupid, I believed him.

  But shit. How the hell was I supposed to complete my job now? I wasn’t supposed to fall for him. Roberto would kill me. I looked around me, I was lying in Luka’s bed. The man who may have killed my father. I couldn’t fall in love.

  I shook my head in disgust. Did I really even want to do this job anymore? Given how I felt about Luka, how I always felt about him, I didn’t think that my heart would let me get the revenge I craved in the past. I knew I couldn’t pin all my anger on him anymore. Maybe I could stay and prove everyone wrong. Maybe Luka was innocent in all this.

  Maybe I had been wrong.

  I wanted to be.

  But I couldn’t be sure. And that terrified me. So I did the only thing I could.

  I ran.

  I put on the clothes that I'd worn at the diner the day before. Luckily, it wasn’t a real uniform, just a black skirt and white blouse. My boss, as obnoxious as he was, deserved a phone call. I had overslept and missed my shift. I needed to get my job back, mostly I needed time. I had to create a new plan. This one had obviously failed. I fished my cell phone out of my back pocket and called the diner number.

  “Jack? It's me, Vienna. Listen, I know I missed my shift today…”

  “You don't have a job now because of it.”

  “But I need this job. I’m really sorry. I mean it was only this once!”

  He didn't even respond, and when I looked down at my phone, I realized he had already hung up.

  Shit. That was the only real thing I had left. Everything else was a lie. My whole life here was fake. I lied to Luka when I told him that I was making something out of my life. The truth was, I was barely making it. I hardly had an apartment to go back to. Just some little studio spot that I found on Craigslist. But there were a few things there from my past. Things I needed, pieces of my life that I couldn’t just abandon.

  My brain was spinning. I had to leave. I had to get out of this apartment and figure out what I would do next. I needed to call Roberto.

  And there was Leah. I had to call her and explain what was going on, that I had lost my job. She had always been there for me.

  I grabbed the rest of my things, which wasn’t much, and was about to dial a cab company when I realized I had no idea where I actually was. I opened up the maps app on my phone and was luckily able to figure out the address fairly easily. I called a cab company next, and they told me that it would only be about fifteen minutes before they showed up.

  I sat down on the bed, and for the first time since we came in, I actually looked around and took in my surroundings. Luka had captivated all my thoughts from the moment I entered his car.

  Luka’s apartment was just one bedroom, but of course, it was lavishly decorated. Exposed brick walls gave it a harshness that fit Luka’s personality, but the oversized bedspread that matched the white curtains were definitely a touch of his mother's style. I wondered if she had redecorated while he was in prison. Everything seemed so clean and put together. I got up from the comfortable bed and headed into the large open area that was the living room and the kitchen.

  The kitchen had all stainless steel appliances and white quartz countertops. The floor was white tile to match. I opened up the refrigerator and was not surprised to find it stocked full of food. That was certainly his mother’s doing. I laughed slightly at all of the Tupperware containers filled with what I was sure was amazing, home cooked Italian meals. I grabbed a water bottle and an orange and walked down the steps to the street. I gently pulled at the label on the water bottle while I waited for the cab.

  I was leaving the man I potentially loved. But I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t want to break again. I wouldn’t let someone tear me apart. Not like I had been when my mother died. I could never love anyone like that again. I just wasn’t built that way.

  I pulled my phone out and dialed Leah’s number, she would help me, I knew she would. “Leah?” I asked as she answered the call.

  “Yes? Vienna, what’s wrong?”

  “I need to stay with you for a while, is that okay? I gotta lay low.”

  “Of course sweetie, you okay? Did something happen?”

  “More like someone.”

  “Say no more.”

  I knew she would understand. I hung up as the cab arrived and I gave him instructions to my old apartment. It was about a twenty-minute drive from where we were. I gave him some extra cash to keep the tab running.

  “I won't be long. And then I need to move on.”

  He nodded to me as he lit up a cigarette, hanging his hand out the window. “Fine by me. You’re the one with the money, lady.”

  I was. That was a new feeling. The money Luka had left for me would pay my way until I figured out what to do. I remembered having everything as a child, wanting for nothing. My mother and I lived in some big, beautiful home downtown, and we had a driver. But now? I had the keys and the cell phone that were in my hands. My wallet was in my back pocket, and a few mementos of my childhood were sitting in my small studio apartment. Everything else was gone.

  As I used the key to unlock the three locks I had on my door, I realized that there would be certain things I would never have to be fearful of again. I would never spend the night alone, wondering if my electric would get turned off. Luka and the family would make sure of that. In that sense, I was finally protected.

  I grabbed an old duffel bag that I had in my closet and I collected a few things around my bedroom. I just needed the basics. Some deodorant and perfume that I h
ad gotten as a Christmas present from a friend, a picture from my 21st birthday, and then finally, my locket. I held the silver chain in my hands as I admired the engraving. I had seen it so many times before, but every time it felt new to me. I put the chain around my neck, clasped it, and let the delicate heart sit just above my own. It had been my mother's. I had taken it off of her lifeless body before the paramedics removed her. It was the only thing I had left of her. And I thought for the longest time that it would be the only thing I would have that would remind me of that past life, but apparently I was wrong. Now I had Luka too.

  I fought back tears as I looked in the decrepit mirror that hung across from my bed. A kitchenette sat right next to it, but there was nothing there that I needed to take with me. I'd only put a curtain up around the toilet in the sink and shower; there weren’t even walls in this place. As I looked around and chewed my lower lip, I realized that this would only buy me so much time. Luka would come looking for me, and I needed to figure out how to protect my heart before then. If I was going to complete this job for Roberto, I couldn’t love Luka. Those two things just didn’t work together.

  But there was a battle raging in my heart, and Luka was still winning.

  Chapter 10

  Luka

  My mother went back upstairs to clean up the dishes. Our family moment was over. A part of me hated to see it end. My father drummed his fingers on the wooden table, assessing me, and I could tell he was getting impatient with our family bonding. He hated getting emotional with me. Sometimes, I felt he only treated me like a son to appease my mother.

  “You know, we appreciate the time you spent serving the family.”

  I nodded at him, still wiping my face off with a cloth napkin. “I know. There was a job to do, and I did it. It's as simple as that. Pops, no need to thank me.”

  “You're right, I don't. But I should. I couldn't let them take her, you know that. She knew too much. She was a part of this family. I don't know why all of a sudden they took an interest in her.”

  “I didn’t get it either. It all seemed so immediate, so messy.”

  “It just didn't make any sense. After all that time? Why would he want her? Why would he want either of them? I mean, she didn't even know her father. And Maria? She left that drunken bastard years before.”

  “I thought he left her.”

  “Well, that's the way she told the story. Your mother and I knew her back then, and she left him. But it was because she needed to get out. She feared for her baby’s safety.”

  My fists balled at my sides. I attempted not to rip the napkin right in half, but I settled down and placed my hands back down in my lap. I wouldn't let anyone hurt her.

  “I bet Vienna wouldn't even remember him, not that she should. Poor child. Sometimes I think your mother worries about her. Wondering where she is. We never did find out what happened to her back then.”

  I held my breath for a moment. I was lying to my father, and I didn’t like it. “It's a shame, really. She was like family.”

  My father nodded knowingly. “To all of us. We would've done anything for the girl. But now? Good riddance!”

  I squinted at him. A slight fear gripped my stomach. Did he figure out where Vienna was? “Why? What changed about the way you feel about Vienna?”

  “No one told you?”

  “Told me what?”

  “She's with the Agnelli family now. They got her a job and everything, out-of-state somewhere. But you know them, they've got family in every major city on the East Coast. I'm sure she's lying on a beach somewhere.”

  Agnelli family? How was that even possible? I knew exactly where she was, right here in Baltimore, at my apartment. Pops obviously had his communication wrong. He didn't have the facts.

  “You sure about that, Pops? I mean, turning her back on us like that, going to the Agnellis? Why would she do that?”

  “Money. Besides, she probably knows about what you did. I don't know how she couldn't.”

  Blood rushed out of my face and a large knot formed inside my stomach. She couldn’t know, could she?

  “We were just kids back then, and she didn't even know her father. There's no way she could know that I was the one who killed him.”

  My father stood up, beginning to walk away, but he put his hand on my shoulder right before he did. “I wish I could tell you that you’re right, son, but people in this business talk. There's no way that Vienna doesn't know what you did. And whether you like it or not, one day she will come to you, for revenge.”

  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.

  Chapter 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 key
s 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.

  Chapter 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.