Chapter 3

Luca sat at the table looking at his glass.

“I love Kay. But am I right for her? She doesn’t remember me. Should I leave her? Should I try and get her to remember? How does she feel about me? I don’t know.” He looked up at his friends waiting for answers.

“We know Kay was in love with you too Luca.” Moe said.

“Yes, but both of you were stubborn.” Paulie chuckled.

“And you did flip out on her when you thought she knew about the drugs. You should have known she wasn’t that type of person!” Peter said.

“Did you really trust her?” Sal questioned him.

“She wanted to know more about me, but I am not quite sure I am ready for all that. Will she understand? Will she trust me?” Luca put his hands to his face.

“You have to remember Luca, she was betrayed. Not only by Sonny, but by her sister. And she doesn’t even know about her sister’s betrayal yet.”

Luca looked at Sal funny. “How do you know about her sister? I never told you.”

“Well...” Sal cleared his throat. “We started our own investigation. Off the record of course.”

“I see. And what else did you find out?”

“We found out that when Connie turns twenty-five...”

“That she gets her inheritance.” Luca finished.

“We also know that she is hooked up with some guy names Virgil Sollozzo. He was Sonny’s best man at the wedding.”

“Hmm...” Luca started putting the pieces together.

“What are you thinking?”

“Connie was having an affair with Sonny. Now she is hooked up with his best friend? Does that seem odd?”

“Connie wasn’t at the wedding. She didn’t know Virgil was the best man or friends with Sonny.”

“Yes but, if she was sleeping with Sonny, I am sure she met Virgil. Tom told me that Kay probably knows who Barzin is but doesn’t realize it. Now with her amnesia problem that won’t be easy.”

“So, I take it you’re not going to let her go?”

“I will protect her until this is finished. I can’t see the future. She may not want anything to do with me. I can’t make her love or want me. I can’t force her memories to come back. All I can do is be there. I love her more than I knew. But I can’t let that get in the way of her happiness. She deserves to be happy.”

“With or without you?”

Luca cleared his throat. He refilled his glass and drank another shot.

“She has to make the choice. She doesn’t even know me.”

“Best friends can be complete strangers.” Moe and Paulie said at the same time.

They all refilled their glasses and took another drink.

“But the thing is, we are not strangers.” Luca looked at them.

“Yes, Luca you are. Kay doesn’t know you.” Sal looked at him.

Luca closed his eyes. “I know.” He let out a deep breath.

“One step at a time. She may get her memory back.” Peter said.

“And what if she wants nothing to do with me if she does?”

Everyone looked at each other. “Then it wasn’t meant to be.” Sal said.

They all refilled their glasses one last time and downed the shot together.

Luca was waiting for Tom outside his office at 3:00 pm. He was nervous. But he knew his friends were with him. Unseen but they were there. They discussed a lot of things last night and they came up with a game plan. Kay would be under watch 24/7 by one of them always. They also were trying to find out more about Virgil and Connie. Luca felt they were on the right track this time.

Sorry, I had some business to finish up. You’re early.” Tom looked at Luca.

Luca was stone faced like always, all business.

“I am anxious.”

“Remember she doesn’t know you.”

“Let’s get this done.”

“Follow me.”

Luca nodded and got into his truck. He followed Tom’s car. He thought Tom got lost a few times, but he knew exactly where he was going. After a two-hour drive, they stopped at a Chinese takeout for some dinner.

“It’s about ten minutes away.” Tom said.

Luca just nodded as he got into his truck. It was the longest ten minutes in Luca’s life before Tom turned into a subdivision. The homes were okay looking. Not trashy as he first thought a safe house would look. He wondered if he was being watched. He was nervous when he got out of his truck. He took a couple deep breaths to calm himself. He walked up behind Tom.

“Well this is it. Are you ready?” Tom could tell he was anxious.

Luca nodded. “Let’s get this over with. Does she know I am coming?”

“Yes.”

They both walked up to the door. Luca had butterflies in his stomach. He never felt more nervous before in his life. Tom knocked on the door. He was met by a deputy. He let them in.

“Deputy Fife, this is Luca Brasia.” Tom said.

The two shook hands.

“Where is Kay?” Tom asked

“In her room. I will go get her.” Said Deputy Fife.

“Here you take the food to the kitchen, while I talk with Kay.” Tom said

Luca nodded as he took the food.

“Tom.” Kay smiled.

Tom cleared his throat. “Remember I told you about your Body Guard?”

“Yes, did you find him?” she sounded worried.

“Yes, I did.”

“Can I meet him?”

“He is in the kitchen, follow me.” Tom replied as they entered the kitchen.

“Kay this is Luca Brasia.”

Kay felt slight goose bumps as she turned. She gasped as she stared into the eyes of a man that loved her. A man she couldn’t remember. She looked up at him. Her heart started pounding. She could feel something was between them. Her body was reacting to him. She felt slightly dizzy and fell back.

Luca caught her to steady her.

“Are you okay darlin’?” he said in a soft raspy voice.

He was trying to control his emotions. ‘She is alive! I am not dreaming. She is alive!’ he thought. His eyes couldn’t leave hers. She was so beautiful and alive. His heart started pounding. He felt heat run through his body. His breathing became elevated. He wanted to grab her and kiss her. He wanted to hold her in his arms and tell her he loved her. But he couldn’t. ‘Control Luca, control yourself.’

“I ah ... I ah ... am fine.”

His touch was soothing her. She wanted to go to him. She wanted him to hold her. She could feel it and see it in his eyes. Something was there. She knew he was more than a Body Guard.

The deputy left and they all sat down to eat the food that Tom and Luca brought with them. There was idle chatter while they enjoyed the food. Neither of them could take their eyes away from each other. Tom knew it was only a matter of time.

“How tall are you?” she questioned Luca.

He slightly smiled. He remembered the first time she asked.

“When we first met you asked me that question. I am Six feet, five inches tall.” he told her.

“Why did you call me Darlin’?”

Luca didn’t realize he did. He glanced at Tom, he shrugged his shoulders.

“I am sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.” he cleared his throat.

“Oh, I am not offended. It sounded familiar?” she squinted her eyes at him looking for answers.

Luca looked back at Tom and he was shaking his head. He had a small smile.

“It’s okay Luca. You can tell her, anything that may help.”

“Tell me what?”

“When we first met. I was checking out your home. Looking for escape routes, hiding places, windows and doors. You thought I was being too nosy.”

Kay laughed out loud and Luca’s heart melted. He had to keep it together.

“You stood in front of me to stop me. You reached out with your hands and slammed me in the chest trying to hold me back.”

“That should have been a sight.” she smiled.

Luca took a deep breath. “I told you what I was doing. You got a little snippy. I called you darlin’. You got mad at me and slammed the door in my face. Told me you weren’t my darlin’. So, I called you that all the time...”

“Just to aggravate me?”

“Yes.”

Kay was smiling and shaking her head. “I wish I could remember. Just you telling that makes me feel good.”

Luca needed to get out of there. He was finding it harder and harder to control himself.

“I need to check out the neighborhood.” he quickly turned and left.

That took Kay by surprise. She looked at Tom confused.

“Did I do something wrong?”

Tom let out a sigh. “No, he went through a lot when he thought you were dead. In one moment, you were standing on the porch behind Luca and then he was holding your lifeless body in his arms. He blamed himself.”

“But it wasn’t his fault.”

“I know. He has to realize that.”

“He was more than a Body Guard, wasn’t he?”