When the car didn’t begin to move, Lake looked out of the corner of her eye. Five seconds later, she turned her head to face him.
Vincent was merely sitting there, staring at her. She felt uncomfortable with that.
“Well, are we going to leave today?”
“Yeah, but I kind of have to know where to go first.”
Oh, shit, right… She was clearly nervous.
“Um, it’s…” Lake contemplated what to do. She didn’t like telling anyone where she lived, and that was why she always ended up having her parents come pick her up.
Vincent looked confused. “Do you want me to take you to your dad’s, instead?”
“No!” Lake tried to laugh. “I mean, no, my mom is probably already upset I didn’t see her yesterday. Do you know where Magical Cupcakes is?”
He was looking at her like she was crazy. “Uh, yes.”
“Okay, just drive like you’re going there.” Lake smiled.
“All right, then.” Vincent put the car in drive then headed off.
Lake sank into the seat, looking out the window. She knew he probably thought she was crazy, but she didn’t care. She had to make a choice on which house she wanted him to see, and no fucking way was she going to pick her father’s house. She hated that she had ended up in the situation to begin with. Yeah, all because he couldn’t keep his delicious lips to himself.
“So, do you split the time up evenly with your parents?” Vincent questioned.
She was a little taken aback. He had never really asked her a personal question before.
“Um, no. I spend the week with my dad and weekends with my mom.”
“How come you spend more time with your dad?”
Why is he asking me this? I really wish he wouldn’t. “I don’t know. I just do.”
Vincent shrugged. “I just figured you would spend more time with your mom.”
Lake looked at him. “Why would you think that?”
Why does he have to be so freaking good-looking? The worst part was when he asked about her, he got even better looking, and she had no clue how that was even possible.
“Well, since you’re a girl”—he turned to look at her—“and because it doesn’t seem like you care for what your father does.”
Don’t stare into his eyes! She snapped her head forward, telling herself to come up with something. She knew Vincent was trying to get somewhere, and she didn’t like it.
“I guess I don’t want my father to be alone since my mom’s married.” She was glad when he turned his head back to the road and accepted her lie.
Lake was really starting to hate being alone in the car with him. Her nostrils were filled with his glorious scent and since he had just taken a shower, it smelled even stronger. Not to mention his clean-cut, light blonde hair was still damp, making him look sexy and adding to the aroma. Ugh! She hit the button to roll the window down.
He quickly pressed the one on his door to roll it back up. “What the hell are you doing? It’s freezing outside.”
“I just wanted some fresh air. Cracking the window won’t hurt.” Lake hit the button again.
“Yeah, well, you’re not the one with wet hair.” Vincent rolled it back up.
Exactly! She went to roll the window down again.
“Stop it.” Vincent grabbed her hand. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Lake tried to free her hand, but it was useless. “Let me go!”
“Are you going to roll the window down?”
Why does his hand have to feel so good?
She tried to fight him off again and again. It didn’t work. “Okay, fine! No, I won’t roll the window down.”
Vincent slowly let go of her hand and when Lake didn’t make a move, he responded, “Good girl.”
Oh, my God, get me out of here!
Lake unsnapped her seatbelt and turned to the side to squeeze between their seats to reach the back. She didn’t care if it was fucking childish anymore; she was going mad being so close to him.
“Lake, are you fucking insane? I’m driving!” He grabbed her waist with his free hand while keeping the steering wheel steady.
Yes! She kept trying to squeeze through.
“Let. Me. Go,” she ordered through short breaths.
“Sit your ass down before I pull this fucking car over and spank you!” Vincent roared.
It took a total of two seconds for her ass to sit back down. Lake hated that a part of her regretted that decision, just to see if he would actually do it. However, she knew all too well that he would, which was exactly why she had sat down.
She crossed her arms over her chest and gave a humph sound.
“Put your seat belt back on,” Vincent demanded, still mad she would jeopardize her safety.
Lake kept her arms crossed.
His voice came out low, almost at a growl. “Sweetheart, you have three seconds before my arm becomes your seatbelt.”
She hurriedly reached for her seatbelt and snapped it back into place with a few fumbles. Although, from the way he had roughly called her ‘sweetheart’, one part of her wanted him to put his arm across her lap.
What the hell is wrong with me? She thought she should be telling him to quit ordering her around.
“You are so bossy.” Well, at least she had met somewhere in the middle.
He laughed at her choice of words, going back to his normal self. “I wouldn’t be if you would quit fighting me.”
“Sorry I’m not obedient like the girl climbing in and out of your window for you.” Lake stared at him and thought she saw anger behind his eyes again.
I don’t know why he has a reason to be mad about it.
“We know you’re not obedient, because you can’t follow the fucking rules.”
“Fuck the rules, and fuck the mob! They are completely unfair and sexist. When I turn eighteen, they’ll hold no power over me, because I’ll be gone.” She watched him squeeze the steering wheel tightly, thinking it would break.
Shit, it was word vomit! She really hadn’t meant to say it.
“Who gave you the pills?” he asked calmly.
Lake took a deep breath. “My mom did, and I need them back, Vincent.”
“Does your dad know?”
She had known that was where he was heading. “Give them back, and I’ll tell you.”
Vincent reached into his pocket and pulled them out for her to see.
“No, he doesn’t know. You’re not going to tell him, are you?”
“I’m thinking about it,” he said coldly.
Lake snatched them from his hand after a small struggle. She swallowed hard when she saw Magical Cupcakes ahead. She seriously thought about asking him to drop her off there, but by the way the car ride was going, she knew he wouldn’t. Therefore, she quickly gave him the rest of the directions to her house which, thankfully, wasn’t much farther away.
As the car settled back into silence, she heard Vincent take a deep breath, which made her turn her head. She could tell he wanted to tell her something, and it was only making her nervous.
“Um, it’s this one on the right,” she instructed, biting her lip.
“Holy shit, you live here? I didn’t know your mom married someone rich,” he said, driving up the long, private driveway.
Unfortunately.
She turned to look at the expensive house, which sat in an exclusive area of town. It was exactly why she didn’t want him to see her mother’s home, because looking at Lake, you wouldn’t have guessed it. To everyone else, she looked poor. Like trailer trash.
She tried to give a fake laugh. “Yep.”
Vincent took another deep breath. “Listen, Lake, I made a mistake last night kissing you.”
Lake’s heart began to beat out of her chest. “Is that why you wanted to take me home?”
When he didn’t respond, she had her answer. Lake could have sworn her heart broke in that moment. Don’t cry in front of him. Don’t cry in front of him.
&nbs
p; “Lake, I’m sorr—”
“Don’t be. I’m the one who should be sorry for letting you take my first kiss.” She wanted to make sure he understood what it meant to her.
She was ready to get the fuck out of there so she threw open her door, set to jump out.
“Wait.” Vincent grabbed her arm before she could escape.
Lake stared at his hand around her then glanced up to his eyes, praying he would say something to make it all better.
“You didn’t tell Adalyn, did you?”
If her heart hadn’t been broken before, it officially was right then.
She snatched her arm back from his grasp and kept her gaze steady. “No, because as far as I’m concerned, nothing fucking happened to tell.” Lake got out of the car and slammed the door shut, coming to one conclusion.
Vincent Vitale is dead to me.
Chapter Eight
Run. Run While You Can
“Fuck!” Vincent squeezed the steering wheel as hard as he could to keep reminding himself to stay the hell in the car and not go after her.
When Lake went into the house, he reluctantly started pulling out of the driveway. Something inside of him felt as if he had just made the biggest mistake of his life. He was only making mistake after mistake lately, and they all involved Lake.
He didn’t know how the hell this fuck-up had happened. Yes, I do. Lake just had to be shaking her ass. That in turn made him want to fuck her brains out, but he had fought it all until he had found those birth control pills. Then he had been furious.
Should he have been that mad? Probably not. However, it was because he had been jealous that someone could be fucking her instead of him. What? Hell no, I wasn’t!
Moving on.
When he had confronted her about it, she just had to get mad and show him who she really was, which only made his dick harder. So, he had kissed her. And it was a mistake.
He had told her not to move because he had been sure, if she’d touched him, there wasn’t going to be any turning back, and damn if she hadn’t pulled his hair. Hell, he hadn’t even thought she was going to kiss him back, but that little bit of nothing somehow made his dick about to explode.
That’s why I told her to go. And there was his real mistake.
Vincent had made another mistake by calling the girl from Poison to come over, yet he had been going crazy. If someone hadn’t released his tension, he would have gone upstairs and showed Lake how to really fight.
She, of course, had to see the girl leaving. That bothered him, made him mad, and again, he wasn’t sure why. Every girl knew he fucked around, so why did he care if she did?
The way they had bantered during breakfast brought him right back to feeling like he wanted to fuck her. He hadn’t wanted the fun to end; therefore, he had decided to take her home. He had known the car ride was going to be just as entertaining, although he hadn’t thought it was going to be that entertaining. However, all that went down the drain when she said, “When I turn eighteen, they’ll hold no power over me, because I’ll be gone.”
That was when he had understood that whatever was going on between them had to stop. Not only because he knew Lake was different and wouldn’t want to only fuck, but also because she wanted nothing to do with the mob while Vincent wanted everything to do with it. They were on two different planets, in two different galaxies.
So, what did he do again? Yep, he made another blunder by telling Lake it was a mistake kissing her. Oh, the irony. When Vincent had grabbed Lake’s arm, telling her to wait, he had almost, almost tried to fix it somehow. However, seeing the hurt in her eyes, he had known he had to finish it. Vincent was in no way, shape, or form going to become a one-woman man, especially not at the age of eighteen. Not ever.
He felt something beating at his mind, telling him to turn the fuck around. Something didn’t feel right to him. His gut was churning and his mind reeling with what could be wrong.
“Why doesn’t she spend more time with her mom?”
Vincent knew what it was like to have parents not together. Ever since he could remember, his own parents had been separated. The more he thought about it, it became clear they were in the same situation, his mother marrying Sam who already had Adalyn and his dad being alone. His time had been split up half and half until he had gone to high school, but that was because of the whole mob thing, not because he felt bad for his dad being lonely. If anything, she should want to stay with her mom more because of the whole mob thing.
Vincent ran his hands through his almost-dry hair, knowing he was trying to come up with any excuse to turn around.
“Shit, did I make a mistake?”
No, you did the right thing.
The farther he drove away from Lake, the saner he became. By the time he made it to his father’s house, he had wiped Lake clean from his mind.
Stepping out of the car was almost like he had hit a ‘clear memory’ button.
* * *
Lake quietly closed the front door, praying she could escape to her bedroom unnoticed. Please, God, I beg you, of all days, this is honestly the one I can’t—
“Lake, there you are!”
“Oh. Hey, Mom.” Lake hugged her mom who was squeezing her tightly.
“Where were you yesterday? How was your first week back at school?” Her mother talked a mile a minute.
“I heard you were going out with friends, so I figured it would be okay if Adalyn and I hung out.” Lake had to force a smile. “School was great.”
Her mom smiled wide. “Of course it was okay, honey. I’m glad your first week back was great.” She began to look her up and down. “Lake, why must you always wear those old hoodies and jeans? I know you have plenty of clothes.”
“I just—”
“That reminds me; look what I bought you!” Her mother dragged her into the living room and picked up the bags beside the couch. “I went to the mall this week and had to pick these up for you.”
Great.
“Thank you, Mom. I can’t wait to wear them.” Lake’s face started to turn sore from pretending to smile so much.
“All right, honey; I have to go. John gave me a bunch of errands to run. I’ll see you later tonight.”
No-no-no-no-no.
“Oh, you’re leaving? Already?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry. You know how John gets when he wants something.”
Unfortunately, all too well.
Her mother kissed her on the cheek. “Bye, honey. I love you.”
“Love you, too, Mom.” Sadly, Lake didn’t have to fake that. She did love her mom because, at the end of the day, she was her mother.
She squeezed her eyes shut and began to pray again as her mother walked out the front door.
“Get your fucking ass in here!” she heard the man yell in the other room.
Run. Run while you can.
“I said get your fucking ass in here!” That time, the yell was louder.
Lake reluctantly moved her feet and headed for the den. You have to. You don’t have a choice.
She walked into the room and saw the huge TV screen playing football then, all of a sudden, it was paused. Her eyes traveled to the recliner holding a grubby, older man.
“Are you a fucking retard or somethin’? I yelled for you twice.”
“S-sorry, I-I—”
He started mocking her. “Uh-uh-uh-uh.”
She heard cackling in the doorway and turned to see Ashley.
“From my understanding, you didn’t come home yesterday because you didn’t want to be here while your mom was gone, so I made sure she’ll be gone all day,” he said.
Lake shook her head. “No, I had already—”
He sat up in his chair, about to get up. “Don’t you lie.”
Lake nodded, closing her mouth.
He pointed his finger right at her, his face turning evil. “Your mom is gone, so now you’re mine. Clean this fucking house from top to bottom and do what trailer trash does best. Save me some of m
y goddamn money your mom likes to spend.” He sat back in his chair.
“Daddy?” Ashley sweetly said.
He flipped Lake off. “And I heard what you did to Ashley at school, so once my house is clean, write her English paper.”
Lake swallowed the little bit of pride she had left. “Yes, John.”
Chapter Nine
The Evil Stepsister and the Revolting Old Man
Lake grabbed the bags off the living room couch, holding tightly to the clothes her mother had bought her. She was dripping in sweat, and her body was going to give out at any second. The hardest part of the gruesome day hadn’t been cleaning the huge five bedrooms and five and a half bathrooms. No, it had been holding her tears in. If John or Ashley saw them, they would call her a ‘fucking baby’ and add more work. However, the real reason she refused to let them see her crying was because she was sure they got off on it, and Lake wasn’t going to let them win that one.
She started going up the huge staircase then down the hall to the right. At first, she thought she wasn’t going to make it past all the doors to the end but when she did, she almost burst into tears.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going with those?” Ashley came up behind her and snatched the bags out of her hand so hard Lake ended up falling on her hands and knees.
Don’t cry. Don’t you cry.
“Trashy girls don’t get to wear pretty dresses. You know that.” Ashley began to walk away, cackling. “And don’t forget my paper, bitch.”
Lake watched Ashley disappear down the hall, her eyes finally beginning to water. She looked up at the ceiling through the wetness to see the white string hanging. It appeared to be a million miles away. It might as well have been on the moon, though, because Lake had no strength left.
A tear rolled down her cheek. Get up. She used the back of her hand to wipe the tear off her face. Get up. Now.
Lake used every bit of strength she had left in her body to push off the floor. That time, when she looked up at the string dangling from the ceiling, it no longer rested on the moon, but the Earth. She knew she had only one shot to jump up and grab it; otherwise, the string would become a pendulum, and she wasn’t going to be able to stand up long enough for it to stop.
Vincent (Made Men Book 2) Page 4