High Stakes (A Dark Romance)

by Vanessa Waltz

  Get it off me. Get it off!

  The sound of tires squealing outside makes my heart seize with hope. The sound of a car door opening and frantic footsteps—and then a tall man is silhouetted in the doorway. I see his whitened face, his eyes sweeping over the carnage before finally settling on me.

  “Adriana!”

  He runs over the bloodstains, ignoring Nicky as he stoops down next to me. His face—it’s the first time I’ve seen fear. His lips are shaking as he looks up and down my body.

  “Are you hurt?”

  “No,” I finally moan. It’s like a switch flips and I’m so relieved he’s here. Everything will be fine, now that he’s here. I’m saved.

  Nicky yells in a strangled voice. “A little fucking help over here?”

  Vince kisses my forehead. Satisfied that I’m unhurt, he turns towards Nicky. I want to scream for him to come back to me. Don’t leave me.

  Everything happens so slowly in front of my eyes, but I don’t pay attention. The cards litter the carpet like confetti, except there’s blood soaking through them. I want to vomit. I want to leave.

  Finally, he takes me by the arm. It’s hard for me to move, much less stand, but Vince wraps his arm around my waist.

  “Let’s go home.”

  My fingers dig into his arm when we step outside. I cringe and bury my face into his shoulder, fully expecting to be gunned down at any second. Vince almost has to get a crowbar to pry me off his arm.

  Once we’re back at his place, I can finally breathe. As soon as the door closes, he pulls me into his chest and wraps his arms around me.

  “I’m so sorry, Ade. I should have never let you go to those other games.” The tightness in his voice is a small testament of the emotions he kept buried.

  After nearly an hour, my heart rate is still jacked. I want to dive at every loud noise, and clinging to Vince is just about the only thing keeping me from losing my shit.

  “I can’t do this. I can’t do this!” My voice rises with hysteria, and Vince tries to help by running his hands up and down my back.

  “I hate myself for not being there to protect you.” His voice takes a violent turn. “When I find that piece of shit, I’ll tear him apart limb from limb.”

  I feel his rage rumbling through his chest, feeding some of my anger. It horrifies me that I’m feeling so detached about their deaths.

  They deserve it.

  “Who were they?”

  “I don’t know yet,” he says in a lower voice. “They probably had no idea who they were dealing with.”

  Slowly, he walks me into the living room, where we sit down on the grey couch. Nerves still stinging with adrenaline, I bury my head in his neck and I try to relax. I try to focus on his chest rising and falling, the smell of him, so sharp and masculine. The sharp contours of his body.

  The stress builds in my head and I feel like my skull might explode, and then I cry. It shames me to do it, but I cry into his shoulder as everything releases from me. All the pain, fear, and stress pour out of me and Vince holds me like he’ll never let me go.

  “It’ll never happen again.”

  “You’ve said that before.” I can hardly get the words out between my sobbing. Vince’s arms gently detach from mine, but his face is contorted with rage. He stands up, pacing the apartment with his hand on the gun at his hip, and suddenly he slams his fist into the glass wall. I hear the crunch of his fist and shudder as his hot gaze moves over me.

  Nothing frightens me more than seeing Vince lose control. He seizes a glass sitting on the table and hurls it at the wall, where it smashes into millions of shards. His muscles ripple as he grabs a wooden chair by the island in his kitchen. With a scream of fury, he hurls it across the room where it scrapes over the wooden floor, ruining the beautiful hardwood. His chest heaves for a moment as he stares at the dry wall.

  “Vince.”

  Another inhuman sound erupts from his throat as he lashes out, his fist bursting through the drywall as a cloud of white dust sprinkles over his arm.

  Maria was right all along. He’s a monster.

  When he sees me staring at him, the confident, charming mask slides over his face and he takes a step towards me.

  “No, don’t.” I bolt upright, dragging the blanket on the couch with me as if it’ll protect me from him. “I—I need to go.”

  A flicker of the demon overshadows his face. “What?”

  “You’re scaring me. I want to leave, now.”

  “They robbed us!” he says with heat in his voice. “They shot one of my players for no fucking reason. You could have been killed! I have a right to be pissed. I’m not letting you leave.”

  My mouth is dry as I look at him. We’re too different. The gulf between us stretches for eons. “I can’t do this anymore, Vince. This was a huge mistake.”

  “No more card games,” he says in a soft voice.

  Vince tries to take my hand, but I rip it from his grasp.

  “No more people’s hands getting smashed, and me nearly getting killed. No more you.”

  This time, he flinches like I struck his face. He stands there, reeling in shock before his features harden once more. “I know that you’re very upset, so I’m not going to yell at you right now.”

  He takes another step forward and I automatically step back. Vince’s face broods with malcontent, and he suddenly lunges, grabbing my arm so that I’m against his body.

  “I need to go out, and when I come back you better fucking be here.”

  Under my confusion and fear I feel searing hot anger. “You do not own me, Vincent.”

  “Yes, I do,” he says in a black voice.

  His lips crash over mine and suddenly my back slams against the wall. It’s messy and violent. I’m furious, trying to shove him away but he pins me against the wall with his weight, holding my arms above my head as he lays stunning kiss after kiss on his mouth, and I soften against my will. His face millimeters from mine, he smiles slightly and I hate myself for the feelings it gives me.

  This is toxic.

  Then I’m clinging to his neck, as tears burst from my throat. He holds me and rubs my back as every aching sob shakes from my chest. All those times I cried myself to sleep whenever I had nightmares are gone, because he’s there to hold me.

  “Please.”

  I don’t know what I’m begging him for. I want him to leave. I want him to stay. I hate him. I love him.

  His fingers dig into my head, but he lets me go, the darkness almost gone from his face. He almost looks like a little boy.

  “I’ll be back soon.”

  Vince’s arms fall from me and he strides back to the door to head out and do God knows what.

  “What are you going to do?”

  He pauses mid-step. “Find the guy and kill him.”

  Jesus.

  Another horrible thrill through my heart almost makes me pass out. “Don’t say that!”

  “You asked.”

  I look at him angrily, wondering why he’s pretending to be obtuse. “I’m not supposed to know.”

  He gives me a sad smile. “It’s too late for all that, sweetheart.”

  * * *

  With Vincent’s suffocating presence gone, I’m able to think about things. I think about how I got myself into this monumentally fucked up situation. He says I can’t leave, but the front door is right there. I could run to my dorm and tell Maria about everything, but he would drag me right back to his apartment.

  My finger pauses over my phone. I can just imagine Maria’s horrified face. What the hell do I do now? On top of everything, Mom keeps texting me, begging me for more money.

  Please call me so I can scream at you.

  It’s not my fault. It’s hers. She forced me into a corner, to the point of desperation where I actually took money from a monster.

  What was I thinking?

  Now he owns me. I can’t just leave.

  I pace around his apartment, ripping open cabinets and drawers, rifl
ing through their contents. What I’m searching for eludes me; I just need something to distract me. Maybe I’m trying to find evidence that he’s a good man. That I didn’t just forsake everything in my life for a man who’s bad for me. His CD collection has lots of Jazz and Blues; the few pictures in his house are of his mother, and people I identify as Nicky, Paulie, and the rest of his crew. None of his father, interestingly enough. I’m like a sponge, soaking up all this useless information about Vincent. His underwear drawer has mostly black briefs, but nothing else of interesting. Lots of suits in his closet. There’s a huge box of condoms in his nightstand.

  “Having fun?”

  I slam it shut, my heart thudding loudly as I wheel around and see a bloodied Vince leaning against the doorway of the bedroom, looking tired but bemused. There’s blood all over his white sleeves and I already know whose it is.

  He killed someone tonight.

  There’s a grin like the Cheshire cat on his face as he steps forward.

  “Don’t! Get away from me.”

  The smile disappears. Whatever bloodlust he had before, he purged it tonight. My sweet, charming Vincent stands in front of me with a hurt look on his face.

  “What have I ever done to hurt you? I’ve only loved and respected you, paid for your school, protected you—”

  You scare me.

  “If you can hurt other people that easily, you could do it to me.”

  “Never.”

  He says it so forcefully that I know I’ve offended him. I’m cornered against the wall as he invades my space, his eyes forbidding.

  “I watched my old man slap around my mother growing up. I’d never lay a hand on you, Adriana.” A sudden smile twitches on his face. “Not unless you wanted me to.”

  My face flinches when he touches my cheek. His eyes are heavy with longing. Can’t he realize I’m cringing from his touch?

  “I want to leave. Just let me go.”

  A shadow crosses his face. “You can’t leave, Ade. I told you that in the beginning. I gave you a chance, but now it’s too late. I won’t let you go.”

  I whimper suddenly, but he quiets the noise with his finger on my lips.

  “My boss doesn’t trust you. If you leave me and the games, you’ll be clipped for sure. I won’t be able to persuade him not to.”

  Something flips inside me as I look at his calm face. How dare he look so fucking calm?

  “You’re a bastard. If I knew this would happen, I would have never worked for you.”

  Anger twists his face. “Did I come knocking down your fucking door? No. You came in my life, honey. You’re the one who asked me if I had a girlfriend, remember?” He smiles fondly at the memory. “You knew exactly what you were getting into.”

  “I thought it was just about loansharking and card games and protection money and—”

  He laughs at me, his eyes shining with mirth. “Come on, Adriana. I never lied to you about who I was.”

  I’m trembling as I stare at him, knowing that he’s right. I may have not wanted to confront it, but the evidence was there all along, hiding in plain sight. Maria warned me so many times.

  “I know you’d be better off with someone else, but I’m too selfish. I want you for myself.”

  Hands run up my sides and I hate the desire burning in my belly. Vince smiles as if he understands my dilemma, and I don’t push him away when his face comes closer and closer. Even now, I can’t think of anything but how his lips feel over mine. His hot mouth dazzles me, and when his tongue deftly sweeps inside I shudder in his arms.

  “I love you,” he whispers against my mouth.

  “You don’t love me.”

  Vince pulls back completely. “Oh yes, I do. Otherwise, I’d have gotten rid of you when my boss asked me to.” His face hardens at the horror on my face. “Yeah, he wanted you dead. You’re not one of us. At least, not yet.”

  Oh my God. I thought of the man I met at the card game, his fatherly smile, all while trying to convince the man standing next to me to end my life. “Why would he do that?”

  A sick feeling burrows into my stomach. His arms snake around my body, pulling me tight against his chest as he sighs into my hair.

  “Because he doesn’t trust you. He’s old school. Gets rid of anyone who isn’t part of the family without a second thought.”

  So to them, I was disposable? I pull away, looking at his face, which is full of tenderness for me. I’m hurt.

  “It’s nothing personal, Adriana. It’s just the way it is. Anyway, I’ll never let that happen. You’re the most important thing in the world to me.”

  “Why? Why am I so important?”

  “I fell in love with you. I didn’t expect that. Hell, I didn’t even want to settle down before I met you. Something changed inside me. You changed me.”

  He says it while he gives me an unsettled look, as though the power I have over him upsets him.

  “Why me?”

  “You’re smart, talented, and you do what I want you to do.” He smiles as heat flashes over my face. “Go ahead and deny it, if you want.”

  “I’m not your fucking lapdog,” I say heatedly. “I do what I want. Just because we both want the same thing doesn’t mean I take your orders like some slave.”

  His smile grows wider. “I know, baby.”

  I know he’s just saying that to placate me, and it pisses me off.

  “What I love the most about you is that I can be myself around you.”

  My heart gives another violent thud.

  “How are you supposed to keep me safe when your boss wants me dead?”

  He smiles. “Easy.”

  There’s a faint rustling as he reaches inside his jacket and pulls out something. A small black box.

  My heart stops.

  No, it can’t be.

  It opens. Inside is a dazzling ring that seems to shine in the darkness. It’s beautiful. My throat is thick with tears as he takes it from the box.

  “I didn’t want to do it like this. I wanted to wait for a better time, maybe around Christmas, but it couldn’t wait any longer.” He makes a small frown. “But I love you, Ade. Nothing changes that. If you’re mine, no one will ever touch you again. You’ll get the full protection of the family.”

  I’m shaking my head, crying. “No, it’s too much. I can’t—”

  “You think I wanted it to be like this?”

  Pain momentarily fills his face and I feel a tiny sting of guilt.

  “You don’t have a choice. Be smart, Adriana.”

  He’s right. I don’t have a choice. He takes my hand, and I don’t offer any resistance when he slips the ring on. I sob all over him, joy and misery swelling in my heart as I admire how beautiful it looks.

  I must have pictured this moment a thousand times in my head growing up. Never did I expect to be coerced into marriage. He never was supposed to have blood on his sleeves.

  No, I was never supposed to see the blood on his sleeves.

  It’s madness.

  An anxious look furrows his eyebrows. “Do you like it?”

  “Oh, Vince. It’s not about that.” I look at the ring. “It is beautiful,” I murmur.

  A smile breaks over his face as he leans down, kissing me again. “The first of many things, Adriana,” he says between kisses. “You could have the whole world—just say it and it’s yours. I want to do that for you. I want you to have everything you want.”

  He’s saying all these perfect things that burrow deep inside my heart, despite my reluctance. I’ve never known anyone to be so generous, and he really is generous. He gives without a second thought, without expecting anything in return.

  “Why me?” I ask again.

  He sighs. “Why not you?”

  I shrug, struggling with everything inside me. “I’m not much.”

  He shakes his head, disbelieving. “You didn’t hear the way the guys used to talk about you. I’m just lucky that I got to you first. You’re one of a kind, Adriana.” He kiss
es my ear before whispering, “And now you’re mine.”

  Chapter 10

  A book sits on his stomach as he lounges in his chair. I sit nearby, pretending to watch TV. Every so often, his gaze flicks over his book to check on me.

  I know what he’s doing. He sits there day after day, watching me, never letting me out of his sight no matter what. He’s everywhere.

  His eyes follow me as I leave the living room. Even when he’s not in sight, I can feel his presence. In desperation, I turn towards the door.

  Maybe if I just leave right now.

  If I’m really quiet.

  Maybe.

  I don’t even have shoes on, but I’m grateful for that because I’m much more silent on the floor. I reach out and grab the brass doorknob.

  A thick arm wraps around my waist, pulling me back into his chest. I scream, already on edge.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” He asks, nuzzling my ear.

  The scream becomes a shuddering whimper. His lips find the sensitive area right under my ear. I shut my eyes, willing myself not to feel pleasure, not to enjoy it.

  But I do.

  I’m powerless against the feelings he gives me. Just a graze of his fingers on my neck is enough to make me limp. I’m pushed against the wall gently as his body covers mine. His hot mouth descends over mine.

  “I asked you a question.”

  The hint of a smile in his voice makes me pause. I don’t know if this is one of his games, or whether he’s serious.

  “I wanted to leave. Just for a little bit.”

  “Where? I’ll take you.”

  “Don’t you trust me?” I ask, gazing into his warm eyes.

  He gives me a wry grin, tapping my shoulder with his finger. “Ah, don’t make me tie you up. You won’t be able to handle how much I’d enjoy that.”

  Abandoning all pretenses, I shove his chest and walk back towards the living room. There’s no escaping him. No way I can manipulate or trick him.

  But my heart feels differently.

  “This is your apartment, too. You can do whatever the fuck you want in here. You just can’t leave without me. Not yet.”