Apparently, Arie hasn’t caught on to the fact that the entire apartment is equipped with a state-of-the-art security system. Security is my job, and my life, and I wouldn’t allow for Chloe to be protected by anything less than the absolute best. That means every room has a motion-activated camera, a sound system, and the ability for me to monitor it all from the computer in my bedroom. It’s not so much about spying on anyone, as it is about making sure Chloe is safe and secure at all times.

The fact that I am able to listen to Arie’s phone call is a just a perk.

I hadn’t intended to listen, but I’d forgotten to turn off the computer earlier, and the camera in the living room had been activated when I walked out. The right thing to do would have been to close the computer and walk away, but it wasn’t just her safety in question now. Or mine. It was Chloe’s.

Now I am looking up the name “Cannizzo” on the web and I am not happy with what I find. The first thing that comes up is an article from the Times, and I feel my face going red with anger just at the headline.

Sonny Cannizzo Convicted of Bankruptcy Fraud! 48 Murders Remain Unsolved

I almost walk away from the computer; afraid I might flip out if I read anything that makes me believe this Sonny Cannizzo character is connected to Arie in anyway. But I know I have to keep reading. I have to know what is going on, especially if Arie isn’t going to tell me.

The trial of notorious mob boss and career criminal Salvatore ‘Sonny’ Cannizzo was concluded on Friday afternoon, and while Cannizzo went before a jury facing charges including murder, securities fraud, racketeering, extortion, money laundering, illegal gambling, obstruction of justice, and attempted bribery of a federal official, he was convicted of the lone charge of bankruptcy fraud.

Among the initial charges were three accusations of murder: Cannizzo was accused of ordering the killings of police officer Janice Trumbull from the borough of Brooklyn, FBI agent Martin Morrison, and FBI agent Leslie Brookwood, both of Washington D.C. Prior to the trial, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Penny Elliot believed they had a slam-dunk case against Cannizzo.

“The evidence on all of the charges is overwhelming. The grand jury saw fit to file all of these charges against Salvatore Cannizzo and I trust that his reign of terror over the good people of Manhattan will finally be coming to an end,” she said outside the courthouse on the first day of her case-in-chief.

But something went wrong along the way. Accusations of jury tampering ran wild, and despite numerous requests from Elliot that the jury be replaced, Judge David Monaghan refused. When the verdict was returned after just two hours of jury deliberation, Cannizzo was convicted of one count of bankruptcy fraud due to misfiled paperwork, and sentenced by Judge Monaghan to six months in a white-collar prison.

As she stood on the courthouse steps, a visibly shaken Elliot seemed baffled and frustrated. “We had ample evidence that Sonny Cannizzo ordered the murders of three innocent civil servants. We can connect him to forty-five more murders across several decades, in multiple states. There was no justice in that courtroom today.”

Cannizzo’s only son, Sebastian ‘Angel’ Cannizzo, had a very different take on the trial’s outcome.

“My pop fought the good fight. He showed those assholes that you can’t fight the Cannizzos and win. In six months, we’ll see who is back on top.”

The FBI Director and Brooklyn Chief of Police could not be reached for comment.

I feel my blood pressure rising. What possible connection could Arie have to people like the Cannizzo crime family? Was she on the jury? Did she accept a bribe? My mind is racing with a thousand different possibilities, when I see another link, further down the page, and it makes me even more nervous.

Sebastian ‘Angel’ Cannizzo Arrested in Connection with OTB Attack

It hasn’t been a good year for the notorious Cannizzo family. Mere months after Sonny Cannizzo found himself sentenced to time in a federal, white collar prison, Sonny’s oldest child, Sebastian “Angel” Cannizzo, was arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm. The alleged  attack took place at the off-track betting parlor owned by his family.

Ardin McManus, 24, of Newark, was stabbed repeatedly in what at first appeared to be a random attack at Barney O’Toole’s Pub and Grille, an OTB. McManus survived, and directed police to Angel Cannizzo, claiming that he had been stabbed as the result of a disagreement over missing funds. It was later revealed that McManus worked for Cannizzo at Barney O’Toole’s as an enforcer, and authorities believed that Cannizzo had accused McManus of stealing money from the pub.

However, according to reports, when police arrived at the pub to question suspects, despite the fact the pub was full at the time of the attack, no one saw anything. All of the security footage from the day of McManus’ stabbing had disappeared, and the bartender who had directly witnessed the event, one Juliette Stratford, had suddenly moved to an unknown country.

Detective Jonathan Holtz has stated that the police have no intention of dropping the case, but for the time being, they are at a stalemate with the Cannizzo family.

“These guys think they have the city by the balls. But we are going to take them down. One-by-one if we have to. But I swear on my mother’s grave, we’re going to get them.”

When reached for comment, Angel Cannizzo said, “Go f*&k yourself.”

Nothing about what I just read is surprising. A lot of mafia kids in the city get their start by taking over gambling empires, and it seems like this Angel guy is no different. But there is no way Arie would ever get involved with gambling. Her Uncle Sal was in Gamblers Anonymous thanks to years spent squandering what little money they had at the OTB on horse racing. Arie loathes gambling. I can’t even process the possibility that she would have lost money betting on anything. No; it has to be something else.

I’m just about to look up Angel Cannizzo specifically when there is a knock on my door. I close the laptop quickly and try to wipe any trace of guilt off of my face.

“Come in,” I whisper shout, in case Chloe is asleep. Arie pokes her head through a crack in the door.

“Can I come in for a second?”

I nod, and she tiptoes into my room, just far enough so that we technically occupying the same space. “My passport is on its way. A bike messenger should have it here in an hour or so. So, we can leave whenever you want.”

“How did you get your passport that quickly?”

She shrugs. “A friend was getting it together for me anyway and apparently, it arrived today. The timing just worked out. I’ll give it to you when it gets here, so you can book flights.”

I cross my arms and turn toward Arie. “You have a friend who can get you a passport on short notice? And then bike messenger it over to you in the middle of the night? But you have to work as a nanny for your ex-boyfriend to make ends meet?”

Her mouth opens and closes like a fish, and then she scowls. “He owed me a favor, and we’d ordered the passport a while ago. It’s not like I called up the US government, asked them to send me a passport, and they did it.”

I get up from the chair and cross over to her. Arie starts to inch away, but I put my arm up, blocking her exit. She shrinks a little at the closeness between us, but I don’t give her an inch. “Arie, we have a lot of history. I screwed things up, I was an asshole to you. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t know you like the back of my hand. That doesn’t mean I don’t know you now.”

I don’t know what comes over me, but I find myself leaning in even closer to her, until our faces are barely a breath away from each other. The tension is so thick I can practically reach out and touch it, and all I want to do is throw her down on my bed and fuck her the way she deserves, the way I should have that night all those years ago. Like she’s a queen, a goddess. But right before our lips can touch, before the tension can be released in any sort of meaningful way, she ducks under my arm and out into the hallway.

“You don’t know me now, Pierce. You think you know everything, everyone, just because you can read people now. But you don’t know anything.”

She heads down the hallway toward the guest room I’ve designated hers, but she turns right before she walks through the door. I think maybe she will change her mind, that she’ll come back and kiss me, admit she still feels the passion that exists between us.

“Let me know when the messenger gets here,” she says before going in the room and shutting the door.

My shoulders slump, and I’m left standing in the hallway, feeling like a complete ass.

Some things never change.

It took a few days for me to sort out our travel plans, but now the three of us are sitting in JFK waiting for the first leg of our flight to Auckland. It’s going to be a long day, especially because I didn’t have time to stretch out our travel and linger on the way. We’re going from New York, to Los Angeles, to Sydney, to Auckland, and I have a feeling Chloe is going to be a cranky mess by the time we finally get to New Zealand.

However, crankiness can’t begin to compare to Arie, who is sitting next to me in the first-class lounge, shaking like a leaf and downing way too much herbal anti-anxiety medication.

“I can’t believe you’ve never been on an airplane before. You’re how old now?” I ask as I sip from a frosty mug of beer and help Chloe with a wooden puzzle. Arie frowns at me.

“What does my age have to do with it? I’ve never had a reason to go anywhere. Or the time. Or the money. So, I’ve never been on a plane. And instead of being a snob and judging me about it, maybe you could offer some advice on how not to freak out for the next twenty-four hours?” She leans over and puts her head between her legs, which makes Chloe giggle.

“You’re right. I’m sorry. Okay, well. This one time, my unit and I were flying into a firefight in the middle east, and the helicopter we were on got shot down, so we had to bail out over the desert. We only have enough parachutes for three people and there were six of us, so…”

Arie looks up from where she was leaning between her knees, and her eyes are wide with panic. “Are you kidding me right now? I’m freaking out about getting on a massive commercial airliner, in first class no less, and your way of making me feel better is to tell me a story about your plane crashing?”

“I mean, it wasn’t a plane. It was a helicopter. So, not the same thing.”

Arie groans and puts her head back between her legs, and I shrug. Chloe keeps playing with her puzzle, and I answer some emails until priority boarding for the first-class cabin is called. Arie finally looks back up, and her face is practically green.

“This was a bad idea. I’ll just stay here. You can pick me up in the airport when you get back. I’ll make do, live in the terminal, like that Tom Hanks movie. What was it called?”

I snort laugh. “The Terminal?”

“Yeah, that one. Pick me up at Cinnabon in three weeks. I may be a hundred pounds heavier, but you’ll spot me pretty easily.”

I hoist Chloe onto my hip, then grab Arie’s arm and pull her to her feet. “Come on. I don’t pay for priority boarding just so I can get jammed through the line like cattle. Besides, we need to get Chloe settled. This is her first flight too, so you can figure out how to toughen up together.”

Chloe just grins and looks at Arie like she’s the silliest person in the world, which I find endlessly amusing. I have to practically drag Arie to the gate, and when we get there, it’s up to me to hand the ticket agent all of our information.

“Welcome, Mr. Cochran? And do you have your wife and daughter’s tickets as well?”

That snaps Arie back to reality. “I’m not his wife. Not. His. Wife. Arie Blanchard. Do you need my passport? I have my passport. But if there is any kind of problem with the ticket, I’m sure it’s not too late for me to go home.”

I roll my eyes, but the agent just grins, as if she’s seen this a million times before. “No problem, Miss Blanchard. When you get into your seat, let your flight attendant know that Angela said to give you the ‘knuckler special.’ You’ll thank me later.”

Arie looks suspicious, but it distracts her enough that I can push her down the jet way and into her seat. As I watch her grab hold of the armrests, her fingers turning white from a death grip, I can’t help but chuckle.

It’s going to be a very long day.