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.
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.