Vincent (29 page)

Chapter Fifty-Four

I Can Still See He Hasn’t Broken You Yet

What the…?
Lake’s hand was snatched while she watched Nero and Elle go down the hallway and she was pulled into Vincent’s place, the door slamming shut right behind her. Her body was then pushed against the wall as shaky hands roughly ran up and down her body.

“Why the fuck would you do that?” Vincent’s lips crashed down on hers, kissing her hungrily, as if he was starved to death.

I just did.

“I-I…” Lake tried to speak through his kiss yet couldn’t, not knowing what to say, and he wasn’t making it easy on her, barely giving her enough time to breathe.

He started to kiss her face then down to her neck, being careful not to hurt the light bruising, which had already started to form. “Why?”

She tried not to jump from how harsh his voice was in her ear. “I couldn’t let them get hurt.”

Vincent’s low growl sent chills up her spine as his hands moved down to her jeans, quickly unbuttoning them and pulling them down along with her panties.

Looking at his eyes, it was clear that he had been just as scared as she was. She was sure watching someone choke the one you love had to be hard, and she was glad not to have been on the receiving end of it. However, she was afraid of him, knowing he was so close to that dangerous side of himself.

“V-Vincent—”

He kissed her again, that time more tenderly. It was still rough, but he kissed her for her that time, not for him, giving Lake what she needed at the moment.

Most of her fears subsided when the kiss deepened, and his tongue began to do all the things that made her body turn up to a million degrees. She helped him by kicking off her shoes and pants, wanting him, too.

Unzipping his own pants, his hard dick was let free, and he didn’t wait a second longer to pick her up then slide her down onto his length.

Lake clutched at the back of his shoulders and wrapped her legs around him, screaming into his shoulder, shocked at the rate at which he had managed to pick her up and slide into her.

He only waited a moment before he leaned her back against the wall and began pumping in and out of her hot, wet pussy with short and quick motions, holding her up by her ass.

There was a slight pain at first, not used to the roughness, but her body reacted to his. Her nipples grew taut, and her pussy and ass tingled every time his open zipper slapped at her. She tightened her inner walls around his dick and pushed her heels into his ass deeper as he wildly bucked in and out of her.

Vincent’s rough voice returned to her ear, sounding somewhere between pleasure and pain. “Baby, don’t you ever fucking do that again.”

Lake moaned loudly, letting her head fall back when she felt the first signs of her orgasm. There was no holding out or lasting. She didn’t even know if she was going to survive this. Going from almost being killed to this only further intensified the already-intense fucking.

He drove his cock into her spasming pussy faster. “Do you understand me?” he ground out.

“Yes!” Her moans turned into whimpers, wanting him to slow. However, as he came inside her, he kept up his rough rhythm. He started to scare her again, being closer than ever to that very dark side of himself.

She felt like her body had betrayed her, enjoying the roughness of him holding her climax until his had finally reached its end. Her breathing was heavy, and she thought her heart was going to jump out of her chest while he held her there, trying to calm his. She was scared to move or even think, unsure if the good or the bad version of Vincent was holding her.

Vincent let the wall take most of her weight. That way, he could reach up and tug at her hair so she would look at him.

She swallowed down the lump in her throat, frightened to meet his gaze again.

Lake didn’t expect it when she saw watery baby-blue eyes staring down at her. She instantly softened into him again, unable to see him hurt.

“I know I’m sick and fucked-up, but I’m trying so hard to keep that part of me away from you,” he whispered to her hoarsely, holding her tighter to him. “Lake, I love you. You will never understand how much I fucking love you.”

The gentle kiss at her lips combined with his words made her heart ache to the point it brought pain.

I think I am beginning to understand.

*  *  *

Dante swirled the dark liquid in his glass as he stared at his son Lucca flicking his lighter open then closed. “Please explain to me why the fuck I just scraped one of my men off the floor and how this fucker could have managed to get close enough to possibly kill my daughter.”

The elevator was programmed with two secret codes: one to take you to the casino in the basement and another to take you to the top, which held his office and the rooms for his men. The actual floor buttons didn’t fucking exist, so no one could just press a fucking button and ‘poof’ you’re there.

Lucca continued to flick his lighter as he spoke. “I assume Al thought he could handle it himself since he didn’t alarm anyone else in the security room. By the time anyone else noticed what was going on with his part of the tapes, I had already made it to Nero’s.”

Dante took a drink.
Stupid fuck.
Al had always been a cocky dick, but he had been one of his best men in the security room, which was why he specifically had watched the elevator and the hallways on the top.

“How did the fucker make it on the elevator?”

“He had a room key, so Joe let him through.”

He had known Lucca’s answer before he had said it, but he had to ask, anyways.

Leaning back in his chair, he looked at his confidant Vinny who hadn’t spoken a word yet, knowing what was on his mind. It was on all of their minds.

“He’s a made man, isn’t he?”

Lucca began to roll the lighter through his fingers. “By the looks of him, yes.”

Fuck.
The fucker wasn’t a Caruso, so that meant he belonged to a different family. “This would make it the second fucking time a Luciano has hit me here.”

Vinny finally broke his silence. “Be careful, Dante. We have more to lose this time if a war was to happen.”

Dante slammed his hands down on the table. “He went after my fucking daughter!”

He took a deep breath, calming himself to think about this logically. It had been a long time since his blood family had been attacked, and he was too close to this situation to see it clearly. Regardless, his
consigliere
was right. Once Dante had become the boss, the family had become richer, more successful. He needed a means to prove the allegations against the Luciano family. If he were to even mention them trying to take a hit on him, it could be grounds for war for tainting their name, a war which could kill his entire family if provoked.

They had been at peace for years, but it was obvious that the Lucianos were becoming angry from not having more. The last war between the families had been brutal before the Lucianos ultimately took a deal to live peacefully with a small portion of Kansas City as their own. When Dante had taken over his part of the city, they had prospered greatly, while the Lucianos had slowly destroyed theirs.

Dante took another drink. “How the fuck am I supposed to prove anything when they’re fucking dead?” He couldn’t prove shit when the Luciano fuckers who walked into his casino hotel turned up dead every time.

Lucca snapped his lighter closed. “He’s not dead.”

“You didn’t fucking kill him this time?”

“No, not yet.” Lucca stood, going to the door.

That certainly changed things. He was going to hold Lucca personally responsible for the night.

“Good, clean up this fucking mess.”

When Lucca nodded as he went out the door, Dante could see he had already planned to do just that. Whatever it was, this wasn’t business to Lucca. It was fucking personal. That shouldn’t have shocked him, considering Maria was his sister, but Lucca wasn’t one to care for anything after learning just how he had that loving could only get you hurt.

He had seen that look on his own face once before. Types of revenge looked different on different people, but there was always one which looked the same.

*  *  *

Oww…

Waking up the next day, her throat felt sore and Vincent wasn’t beside her, making the feeling worse. As the sleepiness wore off, she remembered him kissing her awake at some point to tell her he had to take care of a few things. Lake understood. She was sure he had to deal with what had happened the day before. The more she thought about it, the happier she was that she was alone.

The thought of Vincent fucking her like that, just a step in the door, still had goose bumps going up her arms. While some were terrified bumps, the other ones were turned-the-fuck-on bumps.

She was right; each time they fucked, it became more intense and the less control Vincent had over his dark side.

What the fuck happened? It was like…

Lake honestly had no clue what it had been like, but it certainly hadn’t been how she had thought sex was going to be.

Getting out of bed, she took her time in the bathroom, lazily soaking in the tub to get the soreness out of her body. By the time she got out, she felt a hundred percent better.
Well, almost.

Her thoughts about how he had fucked her still weighed on her mind. Lake was just scared, plain and simple. She was scared to love him. She was certainly scared
of
him. Most of all, she was scared to fuck him again.

She quickly put on a robe that hung on the back of the door, tying it around her waist. Opening the bathroom door, she didn’t see him at first but when she did, Lake clutched at her chest, frightened to death.

Looking at the man sitting on the bed, she pulled the robe closed tighter with shaky hands while he eyed her up and down.

“W-what are—”

“Sit down, darlin’,” Lucca commanded her.

Licking her very dry lips, she found her feet slowly moving, his voice making her do what he asked. After the previous day, she really didn’t want to push his buttons.
Like ever, if he even lets me live.

She sat down gently on the bed, keeping her face straight forward. She had seen enough of his ragged appearance to know the night he’d had was a long one. Every word out of her mouth was going to have to be precise.

“As much as I enjoy you finally fucking get that you should be scared of me, you can relax. I’m not ever going to hurt you.”

His voice still sounded cold, so she had to look at him to see if he was telling the truth.
He is…

She shook her head. “You won’t?”

Something told her Lucca Caruso didn’t cross off anyone on his ‘could kill if it pleases me’ list. She was pretty certain that even his brother Nero’s name wasn’t crossed off.

He grabbed her chin with his thumb and index finger, stopping her motion. “No, I won’t. I give you my word.”

Being forced to gaze in his crazed eyes, she could see the sun from the windows brought out the green more than the blue.

“It’s because of Chloe, isn’t it?”

Lucca stared at her a moment, completely ignoring her question. “Why did you do it? Risk your life for theirs?”

Lake could see him trying to figure out why she would possibly do something like that. The feelings and emotions she possessed were far different than his, but she could see past his emotionless mask enough to recognize they shared the same feelings about Chloe.

“I think we both know why I couldn’t let her get hurt.”

He looked at her for one more second before the pressure slightly increased on her chin. Then it was let go.

“What you did was fucking stupid.” His cold demeanor returned.

Thank God
. She was grateful she could finally look away.

“I know. I’ve already heard this speech from Vincent, so save it.” If she could go back, she was certain she would do it again.

Lucca quickly stood above her, grabbing her chin rougher this time and slightly turning her head from side to side. “He’s lucky, but I can still see he hasn’t broken you yet.”

Lake was too scared for his words to even sink in.

“You ever feel the fucking need to see Dante again, don’t. You come to me.”

She nodded, knowing it was what he wanted.

He let her chin go one final time. “I’m going to give you one favor of your choosing. Whatever it is or whenever it is, you just ask me, and I will do what I can to get it done.”

She bit her bottom lip. “Anything?”

“Anything, darlin’. From killing a person to letting you disappear…” His chilling voice tapered off as he slipped down the stairs and out the door.

Blinking, Lake wondered if their encounter was even real. Only the light chills which still tingled on her chin from where he had touched her proved his existence. Her slight walk on the dark side with Vincent had her feeling slightly different about Lucca.

Holy fucking shit.