4. Luca

4

LUCA

A s the night draws to a close, sitting in my office at the studio leaves me alone to replay every moment of my day and that singular moment with Josephine. My reflection stares at me from frames of various film festival award plaques decorating the white walls of the room. Sitting behind a huge black desk which normally picks up a ton of dust, four stacks of contracts, scripts, projects in production, and headshots, all wait for me to call it quits.

Playful innocence radiates from Josephine's picture at the top of the pile. I don't much care to go through the rest of the documents that need sorting. Decisions need to be made and all I want to choose is a restaurant which has the perfect view of the Golden Gate Bridge. A view that Josephine will enjoy while we discuss this shit show of a movie that's supposed to be made. At least I already know she can act based on her audition and that kiss. The interaction with Agent Shaw was the cherry on top.

The chances of me staying for an audition are slim to none. Yet, when Josephine's path crossed mine, it leaves me to fantasize about our chance encounter. I'm looking forward to our next kiss. However, the idea of her working here worries me. She's so young, twenty-four according to her stats. She makes my age of forty-two feel old, and she already has a kid, but that kiss is on repeat in my mind. The untouched stack of scripts and production schedules prove she's a distraction. I push the images of Josephine away to focus on those tasks, but it doesn't last long.

Gina Devlin-Brisco, my tough as nails younger sister, walks in with her husband, my business partner, Sonny. What Sonny lacks in height, standing about four inches shy of me at 5'10, he makes up for in muscle. His bodybuilder physique forces him to pivot slightly to pass through my office doorway.

Gina's slimmer, but they pride themselves on their physical fitness, so she packs some muscle, too. She keeps her light brown hair in a low messy bun at all times. Well, it's possible it changes, but she's been wearing the same look since we were kids. A part of my mind wanders back to that gut wrenching moment which changed our lives forever. Well, it changed everything except my sister's hair.

Thankfully, we had Sonny and his folks to look after us. It was only a matter of time before Sonny and Gina hooked-up. After nearly two decades together, they still argue like teenagers … loud teenagers who are bringing their latest disagreement to my doorstep.

"Luca, tell your sister it doesn't matter how long an audit takes, we're going to come out clean as a whistle." Sonny whistles for emphasis and plops into the chair in front of my desk, which is centered at the rear of the office.

Gina makes herself comfortable on the couch against the wall opposite me, covering her eyes with her forearm and groaning with frustration. "It does matter because I'm the one who has to deal with that rigid bitch on a daily basis. She's really trying to make a name for herself by busting up our little studio here."

"I think I need some air. I've had the pleasure of interacting with our little auditor, and it got me hot under the collar." I gesture with my hand for them to be quiet and follow me out of the office.

Once we're in the parking lot, the moon shines brightly against the sparse orange glow of lampposts illuminating the empty spaces. There are only about ten cars left out of the hundred that typically sit here throughout any given day. A long coach bus sits at the far end of the studio lot, most likely waiting for the last batch of crew to wrap filming and take them back to wherever they came from in the city.

The cool night breeze circles us while my eyes scan every nook and cranny of the parking lot, ensuring federal agents aren't lying in wait.

"Why did you drag us out of your perfectly air-conditioned office, Luca?" Gina whines, resting her head on Sonny's shoulder.

"Agent Shaw said she's trying to book us on a RICO charge," I tell them, keeping my voice slightly above a whisper.

"Wait, those exact words came out of her mouth?" Sonny asks, his dark brown brows knitting together in confusion.

"Yeah, I threw her off by introducing her to the lead actress for Starlight," I chuckle, mentally replaying Agent Shaw's fury and disbelief.

"Starlight was never supposed to see the light of day. How did Agent Bitch Face get her paws on it? And, what lead actress?" Gina asks, suddenly interested in the conversation.

"Agent Shaw was looking for documents to validate the movie's existence. I happened to be in the Darkness at Dusk audition, where the woman reading jumped in to confirm she was playing the lead actress for Starlight. Shaw's jaw dropped and now we need to actually shoot the thing. We can make a profit. It's a good story according to Josephine."

"Josephine, huh?" Gina narrows her dark brown eyes at me. Skepticism captures her round face, revealing the inner tug-of-war between yelling at me or the fact I've mentioned a new woman's name. I ignore her inquisitive glare.

Sonny sighs, his gaze shifting between me and Gina with an apology ready. "I didn't think she'd dig deep enough to find the Starlight stuff. I still can't believe that agent said we're under investigation. I thought this was a standard audit."

I shrug, telling them, "Technically, she said if I don't produce the film and its ledgers, she'd bring us up on RICO charges. She threw Marzano's name in there too. Maybe she's bluffing, trying to scare us into making a mistake or else why float it out there so freely? It kind of steps on her superior's toes if we know about an investigation and can do something about it. Maybe Don Marzano can shed some light on it since it's his money we're washing with the Starlight movie."

Gina chimes in. "I don't know how much help he's going to be. His sister went crazy or something. Tried to kill Don Marzano and her son's girlfriend. That's a bit extreme."

I laugh. "Let's talk about extremes when Antoni starts dating and see how well you take it."

Gina waves me off. "Thankfully, Antoni's only five and we won't have to deal with him dating for a while. Disliking a girl, I can understand, but murder? That's over the line. So, yeah, I guess they have been busy. You boys should go see him."

I shrug. "Maybe that's what Agent Shaw wants. Let's keep our distance from Don Marzano for now. We'll focus on putting a short film together for Starlight. We can tease it as a part of the same universe for the Darkness movie Jo's going to be in."

"Jo? Josephine?" My sister's face is full of questions. "Spill it, Luca. Who is she?"

"The woman who's audition I barged in on. She is going to give us Starlight of the Sea. I'm waiting for her to confirm she wants the lead role and we can start production." My voice trails off as I see someone moving in the shadows. It's brief, but the sudden flicker of headlights and a car starting have me on edge. "In the meantime, anything about our work with Marzano can't be discussed in that building. Who knows how many bugs Agent Shaw has planted."

Gina agrees. "That's fine with me. I am going to head home and relieve Ma. She's been with the kids far too long."

Gina kisses Sonny and walks a few feet to her car. Sonny and I stand there in silence as she pulls off. Once she's out of sight, Sonny turns to face me.

"We got another problem, Luke." Sonny bristles, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"What?"

"Vito's been hassling some of the actors. The girls mostly. He's threatening them, saying if they don't act in his films, he'll put them center stage at Trips."

"So, we’ve got the feds sniffing into our business because we wash money for Don Marzano. We have a rival family stealing our actresses to force them into making porn at his janky strip club. On top of that, we're going to have to put our own money into making this Starlight film. Why didn't we make anything with the money Marzano gave us for that?"

Sonny runs his hands through his balding hair. "I got greedy. I didn't think the feds would swoop in a month after we put the project to bed and ask for proof. The one time we don't make the movie is the one time we're getting nailed for it. That's my fuckin luck."

I grab Sonny's shoulder. "We're going to make that movie. Let me take care of Agent Shaw and the Starlight thing. Can I trust you to do what you do to keep the girls safe from Vito? Whatever you do, it has to be quiet. We can't afford a war against the Dacosta crime family when Don Marzano can't even give us a heads up about an investigation."

"Do you think that Marzano is setting us up?"

I don't give it much thought, telling Sonny, "No. I think Gina's right. He's got a lot going on with the shit that went down with Julian and his mother. Shit, his father, Charleston Blackwell recently died too. I'll reach out discreetly and see what comes back from their side. If things don't seem right, we have a parachute to get out of this shit."

"That means going to New York then." Sonny sighs. I know his apprehension is from the idea of uprooting his family at the drop of a hat. Three kids, my sister, and his mother moving across the country while I disappear on my private jet isn't the happy ending either of us wants.

What's worse, for the first time since we hatched our business strategy, I have someone making me want to stay behind. It's crazy how a few minutes and a few kisses with one woman has me ready to second guess my future. Even crazier, is how much I want to see how Jo fits into it.