“I wasn’t.” Elle quickly ran past him, exactly how Adalyn had, then repeated the same thing by plopping down to give Lake a hug. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Lake hugged her back, knowing she was thanking her more for saving Chloe’s life than her own. “You’re welcome.”
After Elle got up to head back to the bathroom. Lake looked at Vincent. It was written all over his face that he didn’t like how she had risked her life.
Finally, Amo and Elle managed to get Chloe out of the bathtub.
“Let’s get you home.” Amo took his jacket off, draping it over her shoulders, careful not to touch her.
Chloe clutched the jacket to her as she started walking with Amo.
She saw the silent ‘thank you’ Amo had given her. She saw the terrified look in Chloe’s eyes as she passed Lucca. She saw Lucca’s fury staring back.
Amo and Lucca were two different people battling for one broken girl. Amo changed around Chloe, becoming a better man. Lucca, however, wasn’t going to change, showing her exactly the man he was.
“Sal, will you take Adalyn home?” Vincent asked, trying to break the tension in the air.
“Sure,” he answered.
Adalyn gave Lake and Vincent one last hug before getting up. “Um, is he dead?” she asked, pointing at the elephant in the room.
Lucca threw his cigarette butt on top of him. “No, I need him alive.”
That’s not creepy at all…
Adalyn grimaced. “A ‘no’ would have been fine.” Then she quickly ran away.
Sal laughed, following behind her.
Vincent then got up off the floor, helping Lake up with him.
“Did he say anything?” Lucca asked, flicking out his Zippo to light the end of another cigarette between his teeth.
Lake took a moment, thinking back. “He just asked where she was.”
“Maria was going to come, but she got sick,” Nero revealed to Lucca, information he had learned from Elle just a little bit before.
That was exactly who Lake had thought the intruder was talking about. She and Elle were new girlfriends to soldiers. No one would dare to piss on the mafia’s front door steps for them.
Lucca took a long hit. “I’ll clean this fucker up.”
“Oh, there’s a gun in the closet,” she pointed out.
Vincent growled, taking her hand. “Let me know if that motherfucker talks.”
Smoke filled the air as Lucca exhaled. “He will.”
Lake tried not to think about whether the man deserved what was coming to him as they all walked down the steps. No one deserves Lucca’s brutality.
Going out the broken front door and to Vincent’s beside it, she started to go inside when Nero stopped her, pulling her into a tight embrace. “Thank you for keeping her safe.”
“You’re welcome, Nero.” She hugged him back once the shock wore off.
“See you tomorrow, Elle?” She smiled at her.
Elle smiled back. “Ye—”
“Don’t push it,” Nero told her, taking Elle’s hand and going back down the hallway in a hurry. “She’ll be busy.”
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.