Chapter 15: Space

                                    

                                          
THOMAS POV
                          
There was so much passion in that kiss, partly because it was mixed with a lot of anger, but also tension that I won't deny had built up over the last... However long since I've met her.
                          
I don't remember the last time I touched or let be touched... Or felt... Like that... Or if I ever had actually.
                          
I'd spend nights with different girls from time to time. Owning clubs where people went to drown in their sorrows and forget their problems had perks I guess... But this wasn't one of those times.
                          
The way my hands found her waist, then the small of her back, and the back of her head... And how I let her hands find my neck and run through my hair... 
                          
Or how our bodies couldn't be pressed any closer.
                          
I realized that night how much she had an effect on me and how much more she could effect me...
                          
If I let her... But I wouldn't... I wouldn't let her.
                          
I walked away from that kiss with my heart racing for more than one reason... The sound of her lighter echoing behind me as she lit her cigarette and turned back to face the city, fading as I walked away.
                          
She seemed so unphased.
                          
And it only made me angrier.
                          
Yet I almost wanted to turn around and do it again.
                          
It's been 2 weeks and we haven't talked much since then, mostly because I'm the one who avoided her.
                          
I still had so many questions about her past life and what her plan was now. Did she really just want to be a doctor for the rest of her life? 
                          
So much power and talent gone to waste if so.
                          
I got some of my answes while eavesdropping on a conversation she had with her brother after our second meeting with all the leaders... To be fair, they were in my conference room.
                          
Riccardo:"You fancy him."
                          
Y/n:"Don't be silly."
                          
Riccardo:"Then why America?"
                          
Y/n:"I met him on accident, Rick, I didn't come here for him. He came to my... Hospital."
                          
Riccardo:"Your what?"
                          
Y/n:"I had a hospital."
                          
I hear Riccardo sigh.
                          
Y/n:"And I primarily treated our kind of people."
                          
Riccardo:"Do you know how dangerous that is?"
                          
Y/n:"I told you before I left that I'd be done... I took so many lives... I guess I wanted to save some for once."
                          
Riccardo:"That was worth putting yourself in danger? What if someone had found you or found out who you were before everything was complete?"
                          
Y/n:"You know damn well I can take care of myself... And anyone else who gets in my way."
                          
Riccardo:"That's not the point."
                          
Y/n:"Except it is. If people knew who I really was, you think they'd come after me?"
                          
Riccardo:"I-"
                          
Y/n:"And if you couldn't even find me..."
                          
Riccardo:"Why did you never get in touch?"
                          
Y/n:"I was never sure when everything was finalized and I wanted nothing to do with papa... But then too much time went by and I had a new life here."
                          
Riccardo:"But now you're here with Thomas Holland... Doesn't seem far off from your old life."
                          
Y/n:"I'm just a doctor now. It's a long story, but I'm not under him, I'm not part of this-"
                          
Riccardo:"You'll never be just a doctor, mia sorella. Not with that legacy."
                          
Y/n:"What legacy? The people don't know what I-" 
                          
Riccardo:"But you do. And that's on you... But of course you're not part of- You're hardly part of us anymore. You're just... You."
                          
Y/n:"So I'm disowned now?"
                          
Riccardo:"I'm saying technically, taking down a leader means it's yours... And you took down-"
                          
Y/n:"How's mama?" She quickly changes the subject.
                          
It's true. She killed many leaders and she could have taken over all of those mafias, but she didn't. She didn't even take credit for it even if it completely changed our world, even if it meant respect.
                          
Like me, everyone thought Riccardo was the one who took down all the leaders and united the modern mafia code, even until today. The only people who knew were the leaders who took over the deceased, aka the ones that were in our meeting.
                          
For someone so powerful and feared, even cocky at times, she doesn't seem to embrace it much... 
                          
You can bet I would've welcomed her differently had I known she was the phantom, but she refused to reveal that and no matter what she says, she basically did work under me, almost humbly, given who she is.
                          
If they hadn't asked to meet her during the meeting and she never saw her brother there, I think she really would have lived her days out as just a doctor.
                          
But I want to know how she got here... How she got her skills, why she did it, and why she left... Even Riccardo himself, "godfather" of the modern mafia, admitted that she's stronger, in more ways than one.
                          
I'd wonder how our world would take it should they find out she was the phantom afterall.
                          
If I wasn't a leader myself, I think I'd bow down to her.
                          
Perhaps in fear.
                          
Perhaps in admiration.
                          
Perhaps because I'd like the view from below.
                          
I shake my head at the inappropriate thought.
                          
This damn woman.
                          
I heard the door open later that night after I eavesdropped as I was sitting in my office.
                          
Thomas:"Can I help you, doc?"
                          
Y/n:"Just letting you know that I'll be seeing Rick one more time."
                          
Thomas:"You know he can't come here-"
                          
Y/n:"I know."
                          
We already had two meetings at my headquarters. The rule of thumb is that you don't meet anywhere for a third time in such a short amount of time.
                          
And for obvious reasons, we don't have much conversations over the phone... Or anything that 
                          
can be hacked into. 
                          
Thomas:"Where will you go?"
                          
Y/n:"Perhaps an upscale restaurant."
                          
Because anywhere random would be risky... A hotel looked suspicious, lower-scale places risked other gang members around, etc. You get it. We're careful.
                          
Thomas:"And you'll talk in code?"
                          
Y/n:"Who do you think I am, Thomas?" She pauses, but I don't answer, 'cause I don't even fucking know.
                          
Sometimes I wonder why the fuck she's even still living with me when she's clearly loaded.
                          
But at the same time, I don't want her to leave.
                          
Y/n:"He leaves in two days, so I'll see him tomorrow, perhaps early night."
                          
Thomas:"I'm not your boss, doc. I don't know why you're reporting to me."
                          
Y/n:"I'm not. I'm letting you know because you need someone to cover me. Your family is still here-"
                          
Thomas:"Okay, got it-"
                          
Y/n:"And I need a date."