Vincent (30 page)

Chapter Fifty-Five

Save Me

Broken me yet?
Lake was finally able to shake off their encounter as his words actually started to resonate in her mind.
Broken me yet!
Those words only started to scare her about Vincent more and more, knowing he was slowly gaining power over her body and mind.

She tried to focus on the other parts of their meeting.
Yeah, like him giving me a favor!
Thinking Lucca would ever care enough to give her a favor literally blew her mind along with the fact that he had told her to see him instead of going to Dante. Lucca was telling her that his door was always open if she needed it, but she didn’t know if she was going to have the guts to ever do that after their meeting.

From killing a person to letting you disappear…
Those words whispered over her again. He was giving her a way out, and she knew it. Lake could leave the mob behind and not even think twice about it.

I can still see he hasn’t broken you yet…

Lake screamed when her cell phone rang, her thoughts fully scaring her at that point.

She grabbed her phone quickly without looking at the caller ID and spoke a shaky, “Hello?”

“Lake! My baby … my baby…” her mother cried into the phone.

She held the phone tighter, scared for her mom. “Mom, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“No, it’s John. He just…” she trailed off for a moment. “Could you come pick me up? He’s left and taken my keys. I need to leave and get in a hotel room before he … before he kills me.” Her mother became hysterical.

Lake ran into the closet, hurrying to get dressed. “I’m coming, Mom. I’ll be right there.”

“Thank you, baby. Don’t tell your father, Vincent, or anyone. They’ll kill him. I don’t want him killed.”

She bit her lip, contemplating. “Okay, I’ll be right there.”

The call ended, and her ear met silence.

Lake got dressed as fast as she could in her last clean outfit of the small amount of clothes she had taken to Kentucky. If she was going to stay with Vincent, she was really going to need to go to her father’s to get some clothes. However, that immediately got pushed to the back of her mind like it always had when something major came up. These past few weeks had really been ridiculous.

Running downstairs, she looked at Vincent’s car keys sitting on the table. Her adrenaline was pumping.
What should I do?

First off, she was lucky they were even there. He was clearly still in the hotel, or he was out and had taken a ride with whoever he was with. She understood her mother not wanting her to tell, afraid they would kill him. That was why she had never told anyone about John, afraid they would kill her mother, as well.

Staring at the car keys, she knew Vincent was going to be fucking pissed that she had left. He had warned her never to do it again, yet she was thinking of doing that exact thing.

I can still see he hasn’t broken you yet…

Lake snatched up the car keys, determined to prove she wasn’t going to be broken.

*  *  *

Vincent wasn’t able to spend the day how he wanted—in his bed with Lake. He especially wanted it considering he had almost lost her the day before.

He didn’t remember anything after he had climbed the stairs and saw a fucker choking the life out of Lake. Everything had gone black until he had seen her scared face. As he had slowly approached her, the good in him had fought the bad back down.

When he finally had been able to get her alone, he’d had to feel her. He had needed to have her wrapped around him, and that had been when the war in him had begun. He had never fucked like that in his entire existence, needing someone so badly in that instant to the point both versions of him wanted her equally. The good in him had fucked her while the bad had finally gotten his chance at fucking her, too. Once his release had been met, he had finally maintained control enough to push away his darkness again. The darkness had finally gotten its little taste, and it wanted more, a whole fucking lot more.

I shouldn’t have fucking done that.

He was mad at himself that he had treated her that way, knowing she had been frightened toward the end, but he hadn’t been able to stop. There had been no stopping. He simply should have calmed down and gotten a handle on himself before he had touched her.
That’s where I fucked up.

Lake deserved better than that after what she had done. She didn’t deserve to be frightened one more time in her life. Vincent didn’t even fucking deserve her. He knew he should make her go and not give her the choice to leave at the end of the summer. However, like he had told her the previous night,
I’m fucked-up
.

Vincent took a deep breath, smoothing his hair down. It really wasn’t the day to be a made man. So much questioning was happening on how the fuck the night had happened. He didn’t know anything more than the obvious since Lucca was handling the situation. When or even if they figured out all the details, he wouldn’t know. Vincent was still only a soldier, regardless of whom his father was, which was why he had to spend the day working on new security details.

The codes were all changed and only given out to certain men in the family. There was also a new guard on the top floor who stood beside the elevator. They had never required a guard there, since it was watched by surveillance. Besides, in order to get to Dante’s office, you had to walk down the long hall then be let in to the security room with the TVs and guards, and then you could finally get into his office. Not to mention, you were a dumb fuck to even want to get on his elevator and punch in the code in the first place. However, someone had still done it and managed to take Al out.

Vincent slid his card through the door, eager to see Lake again. He had hated leaving her, not wanting something like the night before to happen to her again. If it wasn’t for work and the new guard, he wouldn’t have.

Quickly going up the stairs when he hadn’t seen her downstairs, he felt déjà vu when she wasn’t there.
Fuck, no, no, no!
It was like he knew she wasn’t going to be in the bathroom already.

Vincent picked up his phone, calling her quickly. Just like last time, it went straight to voicemail. Running downstairs, he noticed his keys were gone. She had blatantly left him.

Going out the door and down the hall, he stopped in front of the guard. “Girl, light-brown hair—”

The guard interrupted him. “Tall and hot? Yeah, she left here earlier today.”

Vincent flexed his jaw. “When? Did she say anything? Did you notice anything?”

“I guess a couple of hours ago. She just seemed like she was in a fucking hurry…”

Vincent was already running down the hallway toward Dante’s office, praying Sal would be in the security room to help him find out where she had gone.

Goddammit, Lake!

He knew something was terribly wrong. He just knew it, like he always did with her. Vincent couldn’t take this anymore. She was literally killing him every time she did something like this.

Why does she fucking do this to me?
It was to the point that he believed she enjoyed it.

*  *  *

Lake’s knuckles pounded on her mother’s front door. Something felt off to her, but she didn’t exactly have time to worry about it, afraid John might be back at any moment.

When her mom opened the door, Lake covered her mouth as she saw her crazed appearance.
Holy shit
.

“Mom, are you—”

“Yes, yes, hurry. Come in.” Her mother quickly grabbed her arm, dragging her in and then locking the door behind her. “My bags are upstairs.”

She continued walking with her mom up the stairs as she held her arm rather tightly. Her mom seemed a little wild, and her gut screamed at her that all this was going down wrong.

When her mom led her down the hallway that held her old bedroom and not her mother’s, she was confused. “Your bedroom is the other way.”

“I’ve been sleeping in the workout room.” Her mother put her hand on the door handle.

Lake was shoved inside by her mother when she opened the door, and a hard slap across her face had her falling to the floor.

“You little trailer trash whore.” John spit on her body.

Lake, feeling dazed from the hit, looked at her mother who had tears in her eyes. “Mom, go!” Then she started to kick at John when he tried to grab her.

He managed to slap her hard across the same cheek again. “Fucking stupid piece of shit, your mother doesn’t love you.” He grabbed her by the hair, dragging her across the floor. “Don’t just stand there; open the attic, bitch!” He sounded out of breath.

Pam started crying as she pulled down the string and started opening the stairs.

Lake tried to fight him as tears began to streak down her face. She was successfully tiring him out but Pam had joined in, helping him pull her to the unfolded stairs.

“Mom, why are you doing this?” Lake cried, hoping her mother would come to her senses. The two had clearly gone off the deep end since she last had seen them.

“I’m sorry, honey. He made me get you here. I can’t clean and cook for him right.”

“Get the fuck up there!” John yelled, out of breath.

Lake began to quickly crawl up the stairs when he hit her head on one of the steps. He was going to kill her if she didn’t get away. John wasn’t fit enough to climb up the steps and if she could get away, she could use the same time he was going to use to get her energy back.

John screamed at her as she went up the stairs, “I fucking own you, trailer trash! You are mine, you fucking whore!”

Her foot almost got caught when they folded up the stairs behind her.

She laid there on the floor, crying while she heard him brace something against the floor, locking her in.

Mom, why would you do this to me?
She rolled herself into a ball.
I’m your daughter. I’m your flesh and blood!
She sobbed so hard a puddle of water started to soak the floor.

Lake wished this was all a dream, desperately wishing she was home. The home that came to mind wasn’t the place she had felt most at home for years, though. Instead, her father’s house had been replaced by Vincent’s.

She cried even more, her true feelings finally coming to light.
I promise, I won’t ever run from you again. Please save me.
The fact that she prayed for Vincent to save her instead of God proved her feelings to be true.

She squeezed her eyes shut, making another stream of tears coat her face.
I love you, Vincent.

Chapter Fifty-Six

True Family Is Earned, Not Born

The car ride was long, and he was dying to get out when Amo pulled down the long, private driveway.

Sal had quickly gone through her phone records and seen that her mother had called. It hadn’t taken much thought to figure out where she had gone.

As the sun started to set, Vincent hoped he wasn’t too late.
I’m not.
Vincent was refusing to believe anything other than finding Lake safe and breathing. Then he was going to take her home and make damn sure her little fucking stunts of running away were over. He had reached the end of his very long rope with her, and Lake was finally going to learn what it took to love a made man.

Amo parked the car halfway down the drive and Vincent jumped out, going to the trunk. He saw headlights come up behind him, the car parking right behind Amo’s.

After he and Amo took a few things out of the trunk, he slammed it closed then turned to see Nero and Maria standing by.

He spoke quickly, wanting to hurry and get in the house. “I don’t give a fuck what they do, you are
not
allowed to kill those two fuckers. I will. Maria, I need you to take care of that bitch Ashley if she’s here.” Ashley was only seventeen; therefore, the rule of no killing children still stood.
Maria is our fucking loophole.

When they all nodded in agreement, he headed to the house with them following suit. Sneaking up to it, he hunkered down by the bushes with his gaze on the front door. His eyes then followed Maria’s stilettos as they clicked up the pavement until she reached the front door.

Maria rustled her perfect blonde waves a bit before she knocked.

He recognized someone sneakily try to peer out the corner of a window before the curtains snapped back in a hurry, and then he heard rustling at the door.
Dumbass.

The door only slightly creaked open, the chain that still kept the door locked visible. “Can I help you?” a slimy voice spoke through the door.

“Hello. I’m so sorry to bug you, sir, but I used your driveway to turn around, and my car broke down. I just wanted to let you know that I’m blocking your driveway, and it’s going to take a couple of hours until the tow truck gets here. I just wanted you to be aware, and I apologize if this inconveniences you.” Maria spun on her heels to walk away.

“Wait,” the voice on the other side of the door called.

Maria stopped and turned back to face him, smiling.

“Do you have a ride back home? A pretty girl like you shouldn’t be kept waiting.” The voice sounded slimier and slimier by the second.

Maria blushed, turning her head slightly away. “My boyfriend doesn’t get off work for another hour. It should only take him thirty minutes after that to pick me up.”

“Would you like to wait inside?” He smiled through the crack of the door.

“Oh, I would hate to—”

The door quickly shut, and then the sound of the chain could be heard before the door reopened, this time all the way, revealing the man Vincent was more than ready to kill.

“No, come in and wait inside,” John told her, licking his lips.

Maria giggled. “Well, if you insist.”

Vincent, Nero, and Amo readied themselves.

Taking one step in, Maria smiled at John before her hand flew upward at his face, his nose breaking in one quick hit.

Vincent quickly ran in the moment he heard the sound of bone crunching. Nero and Amo followed right behind, closing the door.

“Where the fuck is she!” His foot came out, kicking the fucker in the stomach while he stood, holding his nose as blood began to gush out.

He fell straight backward like a domino with a hard thud, hitting the floor. Then he began to manically laugh. “That trailer trash piece of shit is dead!”

Something inside of Vincent broke. “Motherfucker, where is she?” He started kicking him over and over as hard as he could.

Nero brought out a hysterical Pam who had been hiding in the kitchen.

Amo pushed Vincent back, trying to calm him. “Go look for her, make sure she’s okay, and then you fucking kill this fucker.”

He nodded a couple of times, getting himself under control. “You’re right.” He headed for the stairs, trying to keep his demons pushed back for a little bit longer. “Maria, come on.”

He and Maria went up the stairs to see a pole at the end of the hallway bracing the ceiling.
Fuck!
He ran down the hall, yelling for Maria to check to see if Ashley was there.

Vincent quickly moved the pole out of the way, his heart pumping out of his chest. Pulling down the string, he unfolded the stairs and swiftly crawled up as fast as he could. With each step he took, he repeated in his mind,
Please, be okay. Please, be okay. Please, be oka
—

The world stood still when he saw Lake on the cold, hard floor in a ball. His heart constricted into a tight knot as he reached out to her, his fingertips lightly smoothing over the bruise on her cheek. “Lake… baby…”

*  *  *

Lake’s eyes drifted open, only to close them when it was just a dream. The dream started to feel more real when she felt her body slowly laid down on something soft.

Opening her eyes again, she met Vincent’s face one more time; however, that time, she was on her old, soft mattress instead of the cold floor. Finally, it dawned on her that it might not be a dream.

“Vincent…?”

Vincent swept her bangs off her face. “I’m here, baby. Everything is going to be all right.”

Tears flooded her eyes again when she realized he was real. Leaning up, she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him as tightly as she could. “You came for me,” she whispered into his neck.

“Of course I did. I will always come for you, baby.” He tugged on her hair so she would look at him and then wiped away at a tear that fell down her cheek. “Why wouldn’t I come for you? Haven’t I come for you every time?”

“Yes, I…” Lake looked down and away from his intense eyes. “I just thought that you might’ve gotten sick of coming after me now.” Instinct and feeling told her this time was different. She had run off from him too many times, pushed him away too many times.
I thought he might not want me anymore.

Vincent’s thumb caught another tear. “I will never get sick of you, Lake. I love you.” His voice slightly changed to a darker tone. “But we
will
talk about you running from me when we get home.”

Nodding, she understood her feelings had been right.
I have broken the last straw.

When his lips crashed down onto hers, it wasn’t like any other kiss he had given her before. This kiss held a different promise, one of possession. His mouth owned hers in one long, hot caress. Her body shivered when he pulled away, and she came face-to-face with the darkness inside him.

Lake licked the dryness of her lips as she stared at him. This other Vincent wasn’t trying to hide, showing her he was there to stay.

Maria softly came up the stairs while her eyes remained unable to move from his crazed baby-blues.

“I want you to stay up here with Maria.” His voice was as cold as his eyes.

Oh, God.

She grabbed his hand, stopping him from getting up. “Why?”

He merely stared at her, his eyes saying it all.

Lake blinked back the tears, holding his hand tighter. “Vincent, please. I lo—”

His thumb covered her lips, hushing her before the pad of his thumb began to rub her kissed-swollen bottom lip. “You will not tell me that now. If you still feel the same tomorrow, then you may tell me.”

She stared in shock while he got up and whispered to Maria. Her eyes fell shut as the fresh tears ran down her face, unable to watch him leaving. There was no pleading or fighting with someone that dark. It would only make the outcome worse, his eyes promising her as much.

Maria sat down on the bed, taking her hand when Vincent closed the attic door once more.

“Maria, please go talk him out of it. He might listen to you.” Lake’s tears only multiplied.

“I can’t,” Maria whispered to her as she laid Lake’s head on her lap, gently smoothing her hair.

“W-why not?”

She continued the rhythm of stroking her hair. “Do they not deserve it after all they have done to you? I just saw them, Lake. They have gone mad and lost all sense of reality. When you are born insane, you have to keep some kind of anchor to keep you grounded, to keep you in touch with reality. The moment you lose that, you have lost your humanity. They need to be dealt with for the sake of other people and for themselves. To know you have lost it like that—to the point of no return—can be the ultimate suffering.”

Lake could see that her mother and John had gone crazy, and whatever they deserved for hurting her was something she would never take into her own hands; therefore, the choice wasn’t up to her. Still…

She tried to keep it together, shedding tear after tear. “She’s my mother, my family, my blood.” Lake didn’t know if she was trying to convince Maria or herself anymore.

“Family cannot be determined by blood. Family is determined by actions. Family is about trust. Family is about acceptance. Family is about love. True family is earned, not born.” Maria’s voice was clear and strong, giving her strength with each word she spoke.

The tears slowly started to stop as she took in Maria’s words…

Family is about trust…
I’m sorry, honey. He made me get you here.

Family is about acceptance…
You little trailer trash whore.

Family is about love…
Lake, I love you. You will never understand how much I fucking love you.

The tears in her eyes finally stopped. Everything was finally clear.