by Paula Cox
Liana took a step back. Cliff smiled.
“Grab your things. We’re going to see an old friend.” He grabbed the rolled up tea towel on the table and shoved it into a nearby plastic bag.
“What kinds of things do I need to go see an old friend?” Liana inquired. She wasn’t going to try to fight him on it. Mostly because she didn’t actually want to, but also because she knew it would be pointless.
“You don’t need anything for seeing an old friend,” Cliff replied. “But you’ll need clothes, I imagine, for staying at my house. Unless you’d rather just walk around naked.”
This time when Liana’s face heated up, it was from desire and anger. “I’m not staying at your house!” She took another few steps back as if she thought he’d chase after her and stuff her in the trunk of his car. He wouldn’t do that. Right?
Cliff’s expression was pure tiredness. “You are staying in my house. The killer knows where you live. It’s clearly not safe here.”
He had a point, but…
“Are there other people living there?” Liana asked.
He gave a sharp shake of his head. “Just me. I’ve got a spare room. You’ll survive.”
“I don’t even know you!” she protested. “You’re just some guy at a wedding I served!”
“And a potential business partner… if your act is any good.”
She shook her head, backing up another step. “You can’t just walk into somebody’s life and start imposing your will on them. I know nothing about you. You know nothing about me! We can’t just shack up together. It would be…” She trailed off in thought, cringing at the next word out of her mouth. “... Improper.”
Cliff let out a bark of laughter. It startled Liana so much that she jumped back yet another step. But her apartment was no spacious downtown loft, and she was out of room. She was in the hallway now, backed against the wall. And he was still so close she could practically feel the heat pouring off of him. And holy hell did he look good when he laughed. It stopped just as quickly as it had started, but a small smile played on Cliff’s lips as he approached her.
“Whether it’s improper or not,” he said. “It’s happening. I can’t force you to stay with me, true, but I think you’re forgetting a little something.”
He stopped a few feet from her, giving her room to breathe. She was grateful for it.
“What’s that?”
“You want my help, Liana,” he purred. “You called me, remember?”
***
Sonofabitch. Liana could not believe Cliff had actually been able to out-logic her and convince her to play house with him until they figured out who killed his friend. What if they never figured it out? What if this killer’s whole plan had been to force such a situation, just as a way to torture Liana? She could think of a couple ex-boyfriends’ who might just be messed up enough in the head to do such a thing. If it were one of them, they would rue the day they ever set eyes on Liana Caterina.
Liana cast an eye over to Cliff, who was driving them in silence to his mysterious “old friend.” In the back of the car, looking pathetic on the leather backseat, was the glittery pink backpack her mom had gotten her when she moved to New York. She never used it, but it seemed like the perfect situation for it. She hoped it shed glitter all over his car. That way if she did die, she’d have a way to haunt him still. Glitter was impossible to eradicate. Impossible.
Cliff kept his eyes on the road, though he clearly knew she was watching. He also said nothing. Fine. Liana reached for the radio, but Cliff batted her hand away.
“I don’t want to even think about what kind of music a girl with a sparkly backpack listens to.”
“You were all about my music not long ago,” Liana retorted. “That’s not something you can just take back. You haven’t even heard me sing.”
Cliff smiled. It was the most ominous thing Liana had ever seen. She shrank back closer to the door—not because she thought he would hurt her, but just because she wondered if she could sink into a crack and never be seen again.
“Why don’t you sing for me now, if you want music so badly?”
Liana’s mouth went dry. She had already been feeling nervous about singing in front of him when a crowd would have diluted his presence. But here? Now? With him sitting only a couple of feet away from her? No way, Jose.
“Can’t,” she replied. “I haven’t warmed up.”
He cast her a sidelong glance. “That’s bullshit, and you know it,” he said. “You’re just too much of a chicken.”
Liana sat straight in her seat again. She didn’t care if it was obvious how easy it was to manipulate her into doing things. Nobody called Liana a coward! To teach him a lesson, Liana began to belt out a Meatloaf power ballad. She didn’t care if her voice wasn’t quite right for a rock opera—Ellen Foley’s section in “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” was the most fun a person could have with their clothes on, in Liana’s opinion.
When she was finished, Liana crossed her arms over her chest and landed with a huff against the back of her seat. She looked at the window, making it clear she hadn’t done it for his approval but to prove a point.
Nevertheless, his approval she received.
“That was wonderful,” Cliff said. He didn’t sound even slightly sarcastic. “You have true talent.”
And that hadn’t even been the best song for her voice. Liana didn’t respond, but she did allow a secret smile out the window. His approval should not have felt so good, but it was the sweetest treat she’d ever received.
***
Julian was waiting for Cliff at his dilapidated old manor outside the city. He’d bought it in horrible condition—the abandoned mansion of a long dead millionaire—and had been working on it ever since. Now five years into the project, Julian was still nowhere near done. He liked to do most of the work himself, he claimed. Cliff just thought he liked the distraction. When he put his hands to work building something, it was easier to forget how much his hands had torn down.
Julian was the only man in the history of the Corelli crime family who had ever been allowed to retire. Retiring was something one just did not do with Julian and Cliff’s people, but he’d served the family since he was a young boy. In fact, he’d given more years than the current Don. So he was allowed his peace and rest, though Cliff had never considered Julian to have much of either.
“This place is super creepy,” Liana commented as they rolled up the long, gravel drive. “Just how old is your old friend? A few centuries?”
Cliff allowed a snort of amusement to get through his mask. Normally he found it easy to remain as stoic as he did. Liana made it difficult. For some reason, she was more amusing to him than most people. She had a way of looking at the world and reacting to it that never failed to surprise him.
“He’s renovating,” Cliff replied.
“Not fast enough.”
Julian only kept a couple of staff to run his house—a cook and a maid. Everything else, he saw to himself. This included greeting guests.
“Cliff Aurello,” the older man said, hobbling down the front steps. Cliff stepped out of the car and looked over at Liana’s door. She hadn’t gotten out yet. He rolled his eyes but smiled at Julian.
“It’s nice to see you,” he said. “I brought someone for you to meet.”
Julian peered into the passenger window. Cliff stepped in front of him so he wouldn’t see Liana’s grumpy face and crossed arms. He opened the door and poked his head in. She met him with a glare.
“You have to get out of the car,” Cliff said lowly.
Liana shook her head. “I do not like the look of this. I should never have come.”
“Because the house is a little old?”
Liana jerked her head toward the second story where an old shutter was hanging at a precarious angle, ready to drop at the slightest touch of wind. “That’s messed up. This is every horror movie ever. I’m not going in.”
Cliff gritted his teeth and leaned across
her, unbuckling her seatbelt. She latched onto it with her hands, pulling it back across her chest like a safety blanket. This started a game of tug-of-war between the two of them.
“Don’t be a child, Liana.” Cliff tugged, but she had the advantage of a good angle and her body weight.
“If he wants to talk to me, he can talk to me from the car.” She held firm, eyes blazing at him.
They were so close he could feel the heat coming off her face. She was scared of the creepy old house, but not in the least fazed by the much larger man intruding in her space. She was flat against the seat and fixed in place. Cliff was going to have to try something else. Her disobeying him like this was frustrating but also downright humiliating. Julian, his mentor, was watching him struggle with her—and who knew what the old man thought?
“I had one like that once,” Julian mused in a crackling voice.
Both Cliff and Liana sharply turned their heads to face him, nearly smacking their faces against each other in the process.
“One like what?” Cliff asked.
Julian had shoveled up beside Cliff and had a look of pure amusement on his face. “A feisty lover,” he explained. “Her name was Angela. We had—”
`“We’re not lovers!”
“We're not lovers.”
Julian was silent, but his eyes glinted with mischief.
Cliff couldn’t tell what frustrated him more—that he had felt the need to correct Julian mid sentence or how vehemently Liana’s denial was. He had merely stated the facts. She had practically screamed in Cliff’s ear.
Cliff wasn’t playing the game anymore. And he certainly wasn’t thinking about what it might be like to taste Liana’s sweet lips. Or other parts of her…
He backed up, giving Liana space. “Get out of the car right now,” he instructed, “or I’ll make sure living with me is your own personal hell.”
“Living with you is already going to be my own personal hell.” She re-buckled the seatbelt with a sour flourish. “I’ll stay here.”
Julian laughed. “I like this one. Why’d you bring her to me, though?” He clicked his tongue. “I certainly can’t help tame her.”
“I’m not trying to tame her,” Cliff said. “I’m trying to find out who’s trying to kill her so I can get her out of my life for good.”
Liana looked ready to spout some more angry words at him but wisely held her tongue. Julian might have looked like a doddering old man, but his hands were covered in more blood than anybody. Even in his retirement, he wouldn’t suffer any insults.
“Interesting.” Julian smiled. “Let’s go make a cup of tea, then. Shall we?”
Liana resolutely shook her head. “Can’t.”
“Yes you can,” Cliff snapped.
“Won’t, then!” she replied. “Can you just give me the Cliff’s Notes later?”
Julian stepped toward the door and squatted down next to it, getting just below Liana’s eye level. “A big girl like you isn’t afraid of ghosts, surely?”
Even Cliff could see the color slip from Liana’s cheeks. She tried to cover it up by looking away, but it was too late. Cliff broke down into laughter. He wasn’t the type to have rolling laughter, normally, but he couldn’t help himself.
“You’re afraid of ghosts?” Cliff asked.
Liana’s eyes could have melted steel. “Everyone has something they’re afraid of, okay? There’s no need to be an asshole about it.”
Even Julian gave Cliff a stern look. Cliff ceased laughing.
“I’ve got mice and spiders and even a snake or two,” Julian said. “But I can assure you I’ve got no ghosts.”
Liana exhaled, studying Julian’s face. For what, Cliff wasn’t sure, but she must have found what she wanted.
“Fine.” Liana reached over and unbuckled her seatbelt, stepping out of the car and kicking at the gravel at her feet. “Let’s go into the super creepy old mansion. Sounds like a blast.”
Cliff felt the sudden urge to pull her under his arm but wrote it off as stupid. He only felt like that because he needed to protect her so he could find out who killed Michael. And somehow he was getting protecting her and making her feel safe confused.
***
“Whoever they are,” Julian said, inspecting the champagne bottle Cliff had delivered into the house. “They’ve got some serious balls.”
Cliff nodded. “Not for long. Does it ring any bells?”
“Not that I can think of. And I definitely don’t know a Lando.”
Liana watched on with special interest, especially since her life was on the line. But also because she was trying to distract herself from how creepy and old the house was. The fact that Cliff had all but dragged her in after laughing at her made her want to punch him in the face. Most things he did made her want to punch him in the face, but this especially.
So she was a little afraid of ghosts—everybody was. She was just a little extra afraid. And she had her reasons. Who the hell was he to tell her it was ridiculous to fear ghosts?
The inside of the house looked much better than the outside did. If she had to guess, she would say that Julian got a kick out of owning a creepy looking manor home. Sure, he was renovating, but he was doing it pretty damn slow, it seemed. And he could have at least hired a landscaper outside for all the overgrown shrubbery and tangling underbrush.
“What do you suggest I do?” Cliff asked.
Julian placed the bottle back on the table and took off his rubber gloves. “I think the only thing you really can do at this point is check in with the police. Much as we don’t get along with them, their resources are going to help.”
Cliff sighed. “I was worried about that,” he said. “But as soon as I hand this over, it’ll be the last I hear of it unless I somehow get a crooked cop I can buy the information back from.”
Who the hell were these people? Crooked cops? Buying information? Why not just let the police handle it? Were the vigilantes? Liana knew, at the back of her mind, that they were something a little more sinister, but she refused to think it. She refused to even acknowledge that she was currently under the protection of someone in the mob.
Oh God. There she went.
“You look troubled.”
Liana’s face snapped up toward Julian’s. He was watching her with a kind, if a bit amused, expression.
“Somebody possibly tried to kill me,” she said. “It’s been a troubling week.”
Julian chuckled. “Fair enough.” He turned back to Cliff. “I’ll put you in touch with an old friend of mine in the department. I’m sure he’d be happy to work with you.”
Liana studied the look that passed between them. She had a feeling that Julian’s friendship with this police officer was based on a little more than just shared interests.
“Thank you.” Cliff rose, rolling the bottle of champagne back up in the tea towel and gesturing for Liana to stand. She did so without hesitation. She had been ready to leave the old house since she first stepped in it.
“It was lovely to meet you, Liana,” Julian said. “Perhaps our paths will cross again soon.”
“She’s a singer,” Cliff told him. “She’s playing a show on Friday at Rick’s.”
Liana sent Cliff a skeptical look. Was he her manager now or something? She couldn’t exactly be ungrateful for more people coming to watch her perform, but she was suspicious of it nonetheless.
“Splendid!” Julian exclaimed. He smiled at Liana, exposing a missing tooth on the left side of his top row. “I love live music. I’ll come see you perform.”
“Thanks,” Liana mumbled.
After Julian had seen them out, Liana fell into a quick pace back to the car. She knew she couldn't avoid being alone with Cliff, especially since she was staying in his house. But she at least wanted to spend as little time with him as she possibly could.
Otherwise, she’d be forced to admit to herself how she hadn’t been so stubborn in the car entirely because of the prospect of ghosts.
Chapte
r 6
Cliff was heading back in the direction of the city. Liana was relieved. Wide, open spaces, like there were in the country, made her nervous. She liked the hustle and bustle of the city. She liked the noise, and the lights, and how there was always someone awake somewhere. Nothing could be worse to her than a town where everybody knew everybody or a place where she could scream as loud as she was able and yet never be heard.
