Over the Line: A Second Chance Sports Romance

by Celia Ryan

  The door to the apartment swung open, and the thug moved to the side, allowing Ian and two other cronies to enter. Ian was dressed in a dark green suit with a silver tie, and there was something charming about him even though I knew I wanted to hit him. I shot him a nasty glare.

  “It's time to go, Vienna. We have a meeting with your boyfriend.”

  “And what are you going to do with me there?”

  “Use you as a bargaining chip, of course. They know I’m ratting on them to the Agnelli’s. So now we make sure they don’t do anything about it. They close up shop, move on. Let me run guns and their restaurants and strip clubs. Make all the money.”

  “You think that if you give me to them, they’ll let this all go? You’re insane. Luka will kill you for this.”

  He shrugged. “I don't doubt he’ll try. I just know he won’t succeed. Too many of the Agnelli’s stand with me. Oh, by the way, someone is here to see you.”

  “Who?”

  “Vienna,” Roberto said as he walked into the room. He had a limp, obviously from the altercation with Luka.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” I said with venom dripping from my voice. I thought Luka had disposed of him. But it was my call to make sure he lived. I was so stupid! If I had let him kill Roberto, then I wouldn’t be here.

  “Making a claim. You belong with us, Vienna. And Armani says he’ll take care of our problem for us.”

  “Our problem? You are the problem! Luka was trying to protect us. He didn’t go after my father for any other reason than to keep us safe!” As soon as I said it, I knew I believed it. He just wanted to protect me, always looking out for me.

  Luka loved me.

  Large knots formed in my stomach. They wanted war, the whole time that was their end game. And with me, they could have it. I was the catalyst, no matter what I did. Had I killed Luka, war, had we fallen in love and they killed me, war, they take all their business, war. There was no way around it.

  I wasn’t going down without a fight.

  I pushed myself up off the carpet and walked across the room. I forced my hands out in front of me like I was being handcuffed. “I assume you want to restrain me?”

  Armani raised an eyebrow, while my uncle just ignored me. “Doubt it. Your uncle tells me you’re pregnant. You won't try anything. Not unless you want Luka to get shot in the head and then your baby will be fatherless.”

  “Isn’t that the plan?” I said to Roberto.

  “It’s for your own good, you know. It’ll give you the closure you need.”

  “No, and it won’t give you the semblance of closure that you’re desperately clinging to. I know it won’t. Luka is a good man. But in the end, you’ll never see that side of him. Because you choose not to.”

  I thought to myself that when Luka killed both of these men, they would still think he was evil. He would just prove it to them. That was on them. Not me.

  This was their fault.

  “Why do you want him dead?” I said, turning to Armani. I needed to hear them say it.

  He smiled and it made my skin crawl. “Because I want blood and money. My needs are very simple.”

  “You want war.” I spat at them.

  “War is inevitable.” Roberto said before hobbling out of the door.

  Chapter 27

  Luka

  Adrenaline coursed through my body. My legs were bouncing by the time we arrived at the restaurant. My father put his hand on my knee. “Luka, be patient. We have to let him show his hand and be sure she's okay before we make any moves.”

  I nodded, but my knee continued to bounce. The driver came around and opened the door for me and I slid off of the leather seat. My trusty knife was strapped to my leg as usual, but I also hid a 9mm in my pants. While I hated to actually use a gun, I would use it if I needed to. It wasn’t as personal as I liked, not close enough to the kill. If I was going to end a person’s life, I needed to be intimately involved.

  We arrived at the restaurant first, which didn't surprise me. They closed down especially for meeting. We sat at a long table in the middle of the dimly lit room, waiting for the Irish to arrive. Marco was in the unmarked car parked across the street. It was just my father and I and two men of our security team inside. They stood behind each of us, protecting our backs. We waited anxiously for at most fifteen minutes before Armani walked in, alone.

  “Luka, good to see you again.” He extended a hand to me and I shook it. Clearly we were going to pretend that he didn't have Vienna. Pops and I decided to just play along.

  He wrapped his arms around my father. “What can I do for the both of you?” He asked as he stepped back.

  Pops sat down while the rest of us stood. His body language made it very clear that he was in charge of this meeting, no matter what Armani had to say.

  “Sit.” My father extended a hand to the seat next to his. Armani sat down looking smug. I just wanted to pummel him. Wipe that fake fucking smile off of his face.

  “What has brought us here?” Armani asked us.

  My father put his hands in steeple. “You tell me.”

  “What does that mean?” He questioned.

  “Tell me about Roberto. Tell me about how you’ve been watching out family. Watching me.” I said to him barely maintaining restraint. I just wanted to kill him but then we may never get Vienna back.

  He looked surprised. “What are you talking about?”

  “You’ve been watching us and reporting back to the Agnellis, and now you’re trying to run guns, taking business from your own men.”

  “My men? I’ve been selling here for a decade.”

  “We know that’s a lie.” I watched him wince. He knew he was caught. But that was dangerous too, a wild animal backed into a corner had the tendency to act out. “You’re trying to start a war, we know it.”

  He shook his head. “It’s not just me.”

  My body tensed. I could easily fly over this table and have my hands on his throat in a second. It would only take a few seconds for me to crush his windpipe. But even though he was putting on this facade of being alone during this meeting, I knew it wasn't true. He had to have more men on us, or worse, he would kill Vienna. I wasn’t willing to take that risk.

  Movement near the door caught my eye. I turned to see a man in a suit walk in. He looked different—cleaned up, but broken. I had broken him. I had made him that way.

  Because he deserved it. He tried to hurt her.

  “I thought I handled you.” I said to Roberto as he stood near the door.

  “You clearly thought wrong.”

  “We have her, Luka, you know we do. But I'm not an idiot. I know you already knew that. Gossip in this town runs pretty quickly.”

  Fucking Roberto.

  “You’re supposed to be in Jersey.”

  “I am, my family thinks I am as well. But I had to finish what I started. I had to end this once and for all.”

  “I will fucking kill you,” I said, pulling the gun from my pants. The chair dropped to the floor and I stood, releasing the safety. “Give her back to me.”

  Armani stood from the table, looking afraid. Somehow, he hadn’t planned for this. My father just sat at the head of the table, looking calm.

  Pops spoke up. “Roberto, stop all of this. My son did what I asked of him, and you have no issue with him. Your pain is from my choice, from me allowing him to kill Maria’s husband. And you,” he said, turning toward Armani. “You’ve gotten yourself into more than you can handle. And we’ll kill you for it.”

  “I won’t stop. Not until you’re all dead. You took her from me. She turned her back on us because of you!” Roberto looked insane. He pulled his own gun and another man came up behind him, protecting his six. We were outnumbered. I wondered where Luis was, if he was watching maybe he would back us up.

  Armani spoke. “We needed a change. This city needs a change. We want a new family in power. We want all of you gone.”

  Roberto fired a shot in my fa
ther’s direction, narrowly missing him on purpose. “You can’t get out of this. You caused it. You let her die.”

  Jesus, they were serious. They really wanted a war.

  Roberto looked over his shoulder. “Now go get the girl.”

  One of the thugs walked out of the restaurant and came back only a minute later with Vienna clutching her by the upper arm.

  She looked terrified. They had gagged her, a piece of white fabric wrapped around her head and mouth. She spotted me and her eyes grew wide. She didn’t want me to get hurt. But she didn’t need to worry. The thug pushed her in front of him and Roberto grabbed her, pushing his gun to her temple. “No one moves. Armani, get the hell out of here. No one can know we were working together.”

  “No!” I yelled. I made Luis a promise, I would end Armani. And I was going to make good on it.

  I pointed my gun at him, and pulled the trigger, it only took a second and he was gone. Blood spatter colored the walls. And I turned my gun on Roberto as I watched the dark substance pool around Armani’s body.

  Vienna screamed against the restraint. I just killed a man in front of her. If she had any question remaining in her mind about how she felt about my work, now she knew.

  I was a killer.

  Pops stood from the table. “Roberto, this is a fool’s mistake. What do you think you’re doing? Killing my son? The girl? None of that makes sense. You’re here for revenge, but against the wrong man. Go after her father’s friend, the real murderer. We’ve already looked in it, and we can get someone on the inside if you need. We can take care of him.”

  The only thing that made sense to me was to put a bullet through Roberto’s head just as I had with Armani. They were traitors. How could he hold his own niece hostage like this? Vienna stood next to him, wincing as he tightened his grip on her arm like a vice.

  “What about your family? I thought they wanted you back?” I asked him.

  “I left them again. Gave them the slip. It was a little harder this time, thanks to your babysitter and the broken rib.”

  Babysitter? Marco. Where the hell was Marco? And what about Luis?

  Vienna began to tremble, I could tell because the gun swayed ever so slightly next to her head.

  “Don’t kill her, Roberto,” I pleaded. It was the first time in my life I ever begged for anything. I couldn’t live if she didn’t. If our baby never had a chance at life.

  Pops pulled his gun from the back of his pants; he heard the desperation in my voice. He knew it was time for action. Knowingly, he looked toward me and pointed his gun at Roberto’s head.

  “Let the girl go, Roberto,” he said, removing the safety.

  Vienna starting yelling against her restraint, and it sounded like a high-pitched scream. It killed me watching her like this. Like she thought she was going to die.

  “Don’t kill her,” I said again. “You can get out of this. You can walk away. We’ll never come for you.”

  “We all know that isn’t true. I know I have to die for this, but I’m taking you with me.” Quickly, Roberto pulled the gun away from Vienna and pushed her to the side. She fell onto the floor with a thud. He turned the gun on me and took aim. He shot one bullet and I dove to the ground. I looked at Vienna from under the table. She was crawling away, toward the door.

  Good girl. Stay away from the violence, from the guns, from what I was about to do.

  I heard another shot as I pushed myself up on the table and took aim. I didn’t know who had taken the latest shot, but no one looked injured. My father stood unwavering, and Roberto looked confused, lost even. He was beginning to break. He looked at my father again and I took the opportunity to take my shot.

  One bullet to the head. It was quick, and his body fell into a crumpled heap on the ground close to Armani’s lifeless corpse. I stood and looked at my father while the blood began to pool around Roberto’s head.

  Luis came from the back of the restaurant, near the kitchen door with his own gun out in front of him. He took one look around and a smile played on his face. “You ended them?”

  I nodded. “Where the hell were you?”

  “Just got here when I heard the shots. You did good by us man. We won’t forget that.” He kicked the toe of Armani’s shoe and spit on his body. “Fucking traitors.” He looked back at me, “You both okay? And the girl?”

  I looked at Pops, he was still standing, but I realized he was holding himself up by leaning on the table.

  “Pops?” I said, moving toward him. “Pops, what’s wrong?”

  He sighed heavily and sat back down, grabbing his leg. I saw the blood on the floor.

  “You’re hurt!”

  “I’m fine. Go get the girl. I’m fine, my son, fine,” he said, his head hanging back against the chair.

  Luis nodded, “I’ll stay with him.”

  I squeezed his shoulder and ran to the door, stepping over Roberto’s body as I made my way there. Marco was standing with Vienna, and he had a cut near his eye.

  “What happened?” I yelled to him as I ran down the block toward them.

  Vienna rushed toward me and fell into my arms, sobbing. “I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I understand why you did what you did. You were just trying to save me.”

  I ran my fingers through her hair and held her close. “None of that matters now. All that matters is that you're back with me.”

  Holding Vienna’s body close to mine with a strong arm, I turned and looked at Marco. “Where were you?”

  “They knocked me out, sent some thugs to grab me. I’m sorry, man. I failed you.” I could hear the remorse in his voice. I couldn’t even look at him. I knew it wasn’t his fault, but the only person I needed to focus on right now was Vienna. She sobbed against my chest and I tried to keep her calm.

  “You’re okay now, baby. You’re okay. I promise. I took care of it. Nobody will hurt you anymore.”

  She looked up at me. “Roberto?”

  I couldn’t tell her. I couldn’t tell her about the body in the doorway. It belonged to her uncle. The man who had single handedly created all of this madness. His behavior had almost taken her from me. I had seen the way her eyes looked at me while I was hurting Roberto in my apartment. She couldn't handle more blood on her hands. I had to respect that.

  I remained silent and she knew. She cried harder than before. “I hate everything about this. I hate it!”

  “I know, I know. But it’s over now.”

  Pops staggered out of the restaurant with Luis and Marco helped him. Together, they hobbled toward us. “She’s okay then?” he asked me.

  “Yeah, she’s okay.”

  “Good.” He nodded.

  Luis spoke up, “I’ll tell the family this matter is taken care of. We can continue to do business at the docks I assume?”

  Pops nodded. “Yes, as long as your family stays the hell out of our way. And doesn’t try to keep these two apart anymore.”

  Luis set his lips in a thin line. “I’ll make sure of it myself sir.” He shook my hand and quickly made his exit. Vienna didn’t even realize that was her cousin. And I didn’t tell her.

  “You need a doctor. Marco, take him to our regular guy.”

  He nodded. “I’ve got you, boss. Let’s get you stitched up.”

  “You call me as soon as he’s done. I’ll come to the house.”

  “It’s just a flesh wound, son…”

  “Don’t argue.”

  Vienna wiped her tears and moved away from me for a moment. “Sir, I’m so sorry I got everyone in this mess. I’m sorry you’re hurt.”

  He reached out and grabbed her hand. “That’s okay, honey. You’re safe now. His mother will want to see you, though. She’s missed you.”

  She let a soft smile play on her lips, even though her eyes were still wet.

  “Come on, baby, let me take you home.”

  “I guess this means your family knows about us.” She looked over her shoulder at Marco, who was leading my father
away.

  I looked back at Pops and smiled. “I guess it does,” I whispered to her.

  Chapter 28

  Vienna

  After we got back to Luka's apartment, I took a shower. I had to get all the disgusting feelings off of my skin. The hot water rinsed away my fear and pain. My uncle was dead. I hadn’t seen the body, but Luka made a call on the way home for someone to clean up the mess and he said two bodies, so Armani wasn’t alone. And I didn’t know who killed him. But I didn’t need to. Whoever had taken the shot was trying to protect me.

  Somewhere deep down, I knew that Roberto had just tried to do the same thing. But he got lost along the way. Luka never would. He had promised me a thousand times on the ride home that nothing would ever happened to me again, and I believed him. As long as I was by Luka’s side, I would be safe. I didn't know how I could have been so stupid to get myself into that situation.

  I had almost died. And for what? The truth?

  The truth wasn’t what I needed. Luka was the only thing I needed now.

  I could never walk away from the Gioti family.

  And I could never walk away from him.

  My heart could hardly take being away from him. Luka Gioti was bad for me; he had killed my father, but I had made my choice.

  Just as I was about to leave the bathroom, Luka walked in. He was naked.

  Chiseled muscles were just visible through the haze I had created with the steam from the shower. I reached out and touched them. My fingers chased a tattoo on his arm.

  “You're so Goddamned beautiful. How did I ever let you go?”

  “I don't know.”

  I moved closer to him, and as I dropped the towel, he wrapped his arms around my naked body. “I will never make that mistake again. You are mine now.”

  I nodded against his chest as he tightened his arms around me. He slowly lifted my face to his and gently placed his lips on my own. I felt my whole body melt into his. The kiss grew deeper and I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck. He playfully bit my bottom lip, causing a shiver to rush through my body. His arms tightened around me and he reached down and squeezed my ass in his hands. He gave it a light smack, then quickly picked me up and placed me on the bathroom countertop.