Vincent (25 page)

Chapter Forty-Six

Falling Into a Book

“We were worried sick about you, Lake! All day, you disappeared, and you were hanging out with them Satan-loving, devil-worshipping bikers! You said you came here to get away from the mafia, but those men are just as dangerous if not more. At least Italians pray in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!” Her grandmother started praying to Jesus for her forgiveness and to help rid herself from any demons she might have picked up from the bikers.

Lake shook her head, wondering why she had asked Rider to take her home instead of to his clubhouse.
Probably because he wanted to fuck me.
Honestly, he and Train had eyed her together as if they wanted …
No, that’s just crazy!

“They are really nice people, Grandma, and a lot of them go to church. One is even a pastor, I think. Beth is a nurse who is married to Razer. They have twin boys who are adorable. You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.” Lake gave her a look like she had told her so.

Her grandmother’s face slowly turned pale. “Razer?” She turned to her old husband. “We need to move. The bikers have only multiplied since they first came here. I didn’t run from the mafia to be around a gang of dangerous bikers who call themselves Razer and God knows what else.”

Lake rolled her eyes, going to the one and only bedroom in the tiny trailer. She had been sleeping on the fold-out couch but right then, she was going to their room and hiding out while they planned their escape plan.

Shutting the door behind her, her mouth was immediately covered and she was dragged against the wall. Facing her captor, her eyes started to gloss over.

“Shh,” he said before he removed his hand.

“Vincent, how did you—?”

Vincent’s body pressed against hers while he covered her mouth with his, kissing her hard and rough as if he was starved.

Lake pushed at his chest and turned her head before it was too late. “You should go,” she whispered.

He grabbed her chin, forcing her to face him. “The only reason I didn’t tell you about paying your debt was because I didn’t want you freaked out by David. So don’t tell me to fucking go when you ran away from me without a fucking word, Lake. And now you’re hanging out with bikers? You better not be fucking seeing one of them.”

“So you can fuck around all you want, but I can’t? As a matter of fact, me and Cash have a thing, so you can go back home now!” she was yelling and whispering at the same time.

“Cash? That guy’s name makes him sound like the biggest fucking dick. Are you being serious with me right now, Lake?”

Lake looked at his baby-blue eyes, seeing past his fury to his hurt that she would be seeing someone else.

“No,” she whispered. “He had an epic shotgun wedding to Rachel, and they’re very happy.”

Vincent released his breath and rested his forehead on hers. “Please, baby, come back with me. You don’t belong here.”

“I do now, Vincent. Dante wants me dead, and I’ll be fine here. There’s a technical college not far—”

“You don’t belong in a fucking trailer or going to a technical college.”

“There is nothing wrong with that!” She hit at him.

He grabbed her hand, stopping her from hitting him again. “No, there’s not. You’re not listening to me, Lake. I’m talking about
you
. Is this what you want in life? To live in a trailer and go to a technical college?”

Lake slowly shook her head, tears coating her eyes again. She once had a different dream, which had washed away the moment she had handed Dante the money to save her father’s life.

“It doesn’t matter anymore, Vincent. I can’t go ba—”

“I love you.” He took her face in his hands. “I fucking love you, Lake, and I don’t want you to say it back. This week was the worst fucking week of my life without you, not knowing where you were. I’m asking you to come back with me. Come back with me and stay with me just for the rest of the summer. I have kept all the money you’ve made, and I’ll pay for the rest to allow you to go wherever you want to go to college. Just please, baby, stay with me for the summer.”

The tears finally fell from her face as she started crying. When he leaned down and started kissing them away tenderly, she kissed him back. Her mouth opened to let him explore, and she pulled him closer to her by grabbing onto his hair. The taste and feel of him hadn’t changed; it was only heightened from their loss.

Suddenly, the bedroom door flew open, breaking their kiss.

“
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh
, the mafia finally found us! They came to kill us!” Her grandmother ran, screaming through the trailer.

Vincent looked back at Lake. “What the fuck is she on?”

“Unfortunately, nothing.” She squinted when her grandparents’ Shih Tzu, Pippin, came into the room, barking his head off at Vincent.

“
Ahhhh!
Ahhhh! Pippin, my baby
!” Her grandmother quickly ran back in the room and snatched up her little dog then ran back out screaming, letting Lake fend for herself.

“Are you ready to get the fuck out of here now?” he asked her.

Fuck yes.
“Yep, let’s go.”

Vincent took her hand and led her out of the bedroom.

She about had a heart attack when she saw her grandfather with a shotgun in his hand, pointing it at him with her grandmother behind him, holding Pippin to her chest.

Granddad, no!

“Put the fucking gun down. I came in while you were gone and unloaded it.” Vincent leisurely went to the door and held it open for Lake. “You don’t have to worry about the fucking mafia coming for you crazies. We would blow our own heads off listening to you fucking screaming like that.”

The door slammed shut, and Lake thanked God that was the last time she was going to have to hear that awful creaky door slam. She didn’t know how in the world her father had lived in a trailer like that for years before his parents had moved to Kansas City for a job.
One week of his parents and that trailer was fucking enough for me.

Vincent walked her down to a car hidden off the road. He spun out fast, going to the nearest airport as if he wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.

On the way there, Lake pointed at the gang of bikers who passed them along the way. “That’s The Last Riders. And look, that one’s Cash.”

“Motherfucking dick,” Vincent growled as they passed him and his bike.

“Vincent, have you ever thought about getting a tattoo?” Her eyes danced between the bikers as they zoomed past.

“You ever fucking mention The Last Riders and that fucking dick Cash again, you won’t be able to sit right for a week.”

Her eyes grew big. “S-Sorry. I promise I won’t even mention this place ever again.”

Looking at the trees pass by, Lake was glad to be leaving. In all honesty, it had felt as if she was falling into a book the moment she had stepped foot into Treepoint, Kentucky. She was ready to get back to her mafia-filled world.

Vincent clearly felt more passionate about getting back to Kansas City. “Fucking Kentucky.”

Chapter Forty-Seven

The Secret to All Made Men

I love you.
Those three little words Vincent had told her hadn’t left her since he had spoken them. It was the most unexpected thing. Vincent Vitale was not a man born to love. He had told her not to say it back, and she hadn’t because her body, mind, and heart were torn on how to feel about him.

She watched Vincent slide the card through the slot. “If you have to go straight to work, why can’t I go home?”

“The deal was you stay with me.” He barely opened the door for her to enter, making her squeeze by him. “And I want you here when I get off work.”

Lake’s body heated, understanding what he meant.
Okay, maybe my body isn’t that torn.

“What am I supposed to do, helplessly wait for you? You don’t even have a TV, and that’s really freaking weird.”

“I just haven’t gotten around to that part yet, and I have a computer that’s perfectly fine to watch stuff on. It doesn’t matter. I have a surprise for you anyway.” He headed up the stairs to get dressed.

Surprise?
She followed him when he disappeared, going to his open closet door after him.

“You can’t tell me you have a surprise then walk aw—” Her eyes drifted to the end of the closet which had her black dress, a couple of other dresses beside it. “Whose are those, Kim’s?” Her eyes started to water.

Vincent finished pulling his shirt off. “What are you talking about?”

“Those dresses. You fucked Kim again, didn’t you? I’m not experienced enough for you, am I?” She wiped at the tear that slid down her cheek.

“Lake, those are new dresses I bought for you while you were gone. The tags are still on them.” He came over and wiped her tears away with his thumbs. “I never fucked Kim. When you came in that bathroom that day and I found out everything, I swear to you, I haven’t wanted to fuck anyone besides you, baby. I love the fact that the only experience you have is with me. Baby, you are more than enough for me. When I told you I love you, I meant it.” He lightly kissed her forehead. “Now, why would you say that? Kim told you that, didn’t she?”

She moved her eyes down to his chest, unwilling to tell him and unable to lie.

“That’s why you left, wasn’t it?” He tugged at her hair.

Partly
. Lake still couldn’t tell him, but she didn’t have to; it was written all over her face.

Her head slightly leaned back when he came down to kiss her, giving him a better position to claim her. She placed her hands on his bare chest, causing her to melt into him. They had spent too long apart, and her body was craving his.

“You don’t have to work, do you?”

Vincent placed another kiss on her lips. “I do, baby, but I promise I will be back.”

She hated the loss she felt when he went back to getting dressed, but she didn’t mind watching him strip down, either.
Damn, he’s perfect.

When he started putting on a nice suit, it reminded her where he was going.

“Why do you have to work in the casino? Aren’t there a million other jobs you could do?” She didn’t think the mafia lacked job positions, and thinking about Vincent working with half-naked women when she wasn’t down there anymore made her a little jealous, which she really hated.

Vincent took her hand after he straightened his tie. “There is nothing for you to be worried about.”

She started following him through the house. “You made it your mission to stop me from working there.”
So I shouldn’t feel guilty about it.

“That’s fucking different.”

“No, that’s not!” She jerked her hand from him.

He grabbed her hand back, holding it tighter to where she couldn’t jerk it out again. “Yes, it is. You were wearing lingerie around a bunch of old men.”

“Yeah, and you’re a guy surrounded by a bunch of girls in lingerie.”

“The difference is no one will be thinking about fucking me, and trust me, baby, I’ll be too distracted by thinking about how I plan to fuck you tonight.” He opened his front door.

Lake’s cheeks started burning from his words. She was shocked when he took her into the hall, shutting the door behind him and going to the next door down at the end.

“Where—what are we doing?”

He knocked on the door. “Your surprise, remember?”

Nero opened the door a second later with Elle standing behind him.

“You and Elle can hang out while Nero and I go to work.”

Lake raised her eyebrow at him. “It’s also to make sure I don’t run away again, isn’t it?”

“Of course not.” Vincent leaned down and gave her a kiss, swiping his tongue over her bottom lip and making Lake weak in the knees. “Elle, call me if she even thinks about fucking leaving,” he said, leaning up.

Elle broke hers and Nero’s own kiss, blushing. “I swear.”

“Hey!” Lake pushed at his chest.

Vincent laughed before he stole another kiss from her then pushed her into Nero’s apartment. “Bye.”

Lake crossed her arms and scrunched her nose at him before Nero shut the door. She was still upset he was going to work in the casino and that he thought she needed a babysitter.

“How do you do it? Vincent drives me crazy,” she said, turning to Elle. The two looked so happy together.

Elle giggled. “You haven’t figured out the secret, have you?”

Lake shook her head, wondering what the secret to all made men was.

Elle’s cheeks grew pink again. “You have to let him dominate you.”

Excuse me?
“Excuse me?”

“They are um … very aggressive, and you have to accept him.” Elle’s tone changed. “All of him.”

“You
do
know Vincent’s a psycho, right? He has a very, very bad side, which frankly scares the shit out of me.”

Elle smiled at her. “You’ll learn to love it.”

Her eyes widened, wondering how in the world a girl as sweet as Elle was saying these things.
Just when you think you know a person…

It would be a cold day—
never—
before she
was going to let the dark, psychotic side of Vincent dominate her. She shivered merely thinking about it…