She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she jumped up and grabbed the string with a tight grip, opening the hole in the ceiling. She continued to pull the string until the folded, wooden stairs appeared. Then she quickly unfolded them.
Lake stared up at the steep stairs. She was so close.
As soon as she climbed the first step, her eyes welled up again. Climb! More tears fell with each step she took. Climb! Climb! Climb!
Before she knew it, she had reached the attic floor. Her tears kept flowing as she crawled toward the simple mattress on the ground.
The moment her body hit the bed, she was out cold…
Lake piled noodles on the two plates then added marinara sauce on top. Picking up the plates, she headed toward the table and set them down in front of John and Ashley.
“About fucking time. I thought it would just take five seconds to cook for trailer trash. Isn’t that all you people can afford?” John said.
Knowing it was a rhetorical question Lake kept her mouth shut, no matter how much she wanted to open it. Then she started to head off to finish her chores, even though her stomach was growling. She was only allowed to eat what John and Ashley couldn’t consume.
When she got close to the doorway, her mother walked in with a big bag of to-go food.
Her mom walked over to the table and set down the bag. “John, I called and told you an hour ago I was bringing home dinner.”
He put on a smile. “Ashley didn’t know and decided to cook dinner. I didn’t want to upset her, but you know I can definitely eat both.”
“Aww, Ashley, that is so sweet of you! And you had time to clean the house, too. Thank you.”
Ashley’s smile widened. “You’re welcome.”
“Honey, are you going to come sit down?” Her mom waved toward her.
Lake walked toward the table and took a seat. She watched John and Ashley push their hardly touched plates of spaghetti away as they grabbed the to-go bag.
“Tr—” John coughed, restarting and pointing toward Lake. “She has something she wanted to talk to you about. I didn’t agree at first, but she talked me into it.”
“What is it, honey?” Her mother turned to look at her.
Lake’s eyes went to John’s mad-looking face.
“Go on, tell your mother.” His voice didn’t match the way his face looked, but that was for her mother’s benefit.
“Well, I was wondering if it would be okay if I could move my room to the attic.”
“Why would you want to do that?” Her mother looked confused.
Lake shrugged. “I don’t know. I just thought it would be pretty cool.”
“How would you even get any furniture up there?”
“I’ll give the gardener a hundred bucks to take care of it. She only needs a mattress and desk up there. Think about it. We could turn her room into a gym, and I know you’ve been wanting me to get back in shape,” John said while he hit his gut.
“Well, if you’re sure, honey?”
She put a smile on her face. “Yeah, Mom. I’m sure.”
Her mother grabbed the remaining contents in the bag and handed them to Lake. “Look what I got, your favorite!”
Lake’s stomach growled in happiness that it was finally going to be fed, and by her favorite grub at that.
“I don’t think she’s that hungry anymore. You should have seen the big plate of spaghetti she ate. She doesn’t need to get any bigger.” John laughed, pretending he meant the last part as a joke.
“So full you can’t even eat one bite?” Her mother smiled.
Lake’s eyes again went toward John, and his face said it all: ‘Don’t you fucking dare.’
“Yep, I’m stuffed. Maybe I’ll heat it up later after I finish my homework.” Yet again, Lake began walking out of the kitchen with nothing other than her belly rumbling…
Lake finally awoke when she realized the sound of her stomach growling wasn’t in her dream. I wish it was just a dream. Sadly enough, it was her reality.
As she sat up in bed, she had no clue how long she had been out by looking out the huge window to the dark sky. She could tell her body was still sore, and the crust in her eyes told her she had fallen asleep bawling.
She reached into her jeans’ pocket and pulled out her cell phone to check the time, finding she had slept until the middle of the night. She was actually happy about it, because the evil stepsister and the revolting old man would be sound asleep.
Lake headed downstairs and took her time as she showered in one of the guest bathrooms then dressed in clean clothes. She even got to make herself a nice, hot breakfast. When she was done, she headed back up to her bedroom to get to work on Ashley’s paper.
She clicked on the light to illuminate her new bedroom, which was actually better than it seemed. Sure, it was a little sparse, but at least it was safe up there. There was no way anyone wanted to climb those stairs; as a result, at least she could sleep soundly.
It was a little on the dark side at night, but the room really was cool with its triangular shape. Every inch was wood from floor to ceiling, and the exposed wooden beams made for a nice touch. She had her mattress, a chair, and a small desk which held an old box computer. She also had an old leather trunk where she put her clothes. She was pretty certain the trunk had come with the house, though. But, all in all, it had everything she needed for two days of living. Besides, a hell of a lot of people were turning attics into bedrooms. It’s a very hipster thing to do, right?
Lake sat down at her desk and turned on the computer. It was going to take five minutes for the thing to start up, but it would eventually get there. The paper was going to suck to write; however, the best part was she only had to make sure it was a ‘C’ grade paper, because a ‘C’ for Ashley was like getting an ‘A.’
Still waiting for the computer to fully start, she couldn’t help thinking about how the day had somehow managed to be worse than the previous one. John had given her twice the workload than usual, and her body couldn’t physically take it, nor could her mind. She hadn’t cried or reacted that way in a good while, and the only thing she wanted to blame it on was the fact that John had worked her to death. Don’t even think it. She didn’t want to believe she had possibly had a mental breakdown because of Vincent.
Lake squeezed her eyes shut, trying to keep the thoughts of Vincent away. She was determined he was going to become dead to her. That was going to be the end of whatever they’d had for not even twenty-four hours.
Just six more months…
Lake’s end of her problems was going to come in June when she could finally graduate. Then no one—not John, Ashley, or even the mob—could own her. Lake would finally be a free woman. She was determined no one was going to change that, either.
At last, Lake could see her end in sight and nothing, nothing was going to come between her and her freedom.
Lake shed a happy tear. She could already hear the victory bells ringing.
Ding, dong. Ding, dong…
Chapter Ten
The Story of Vincent and Lake
The next few months felt almost as if someone was flipping through the pages of a book, skimming to the end.
Each chapter became a month. Then, before they knew it, they were six chapters in and finally at the month of June.
However, the story of Vincent and Lake had only just begun.
Chapter Eleven
A New Beginning and A Happily Ever After
Lake tapped her finger on the desk as she stared down the clock.
“Earth to Lake, are you even listening?” Adalyn snapped her fingers in front of her.
“What?” She turned her head away from the clock, only to look right back at it.
“You do know we have a whole hour left, right? And we need to discuss our plans for this weekend.”
That time when Lake turned her head, she kept her focus on Adalyn. “Okay. I’m sorry. So, what are the plans for this weekend that I am sure I will have no sa
y in?”
“Oh, Lake, you know me too well. All right, so tomorrow we go to our graduation, of course!” Adalyn began clapping her hands together with a cheesy smile on her face. “Then we sit through Vincent’s graduation and go to Nero’s party. Okay, good talk.” The last sentence came out fast in an attempt to distract Lake from her words.
“Yes, no, and no.”
“Really, Lake? What the hell happened between you and Vincent? And don’t tell me nothing for the billionth time. I know something did.”
We made out. “Adalyn, I’ve told you nothing happened. The reason why I don’t want to sit through his graduation is because it’s going to be hard enough to sit through ours. I also don’t want to go to Nero’s party because I don’t even know him or anyone else who is going to be there, for that matter. Since when have I even gone to a party?”
“I’ll be there, and that’s exactly why we have to go. We haven’t been to one party, and this is our last chance to go to one together.” Adalyn made a pouting face.
Ugh! “I’ll think about it.” She watched Adalyn smile at her before she began to stare at the clock again.
Her friend had started to make her feel guilty as soon as Lake had received her acceptance letter to the university two hours away. Sure, there was the one in Kansas City, but she had made up her mind long before that she wasn’t going there. Picking the next closest university kept everyone happy and, most importantly, her happy.
Being only two hours away would give her the chance to visit her mother while not having to stay at John’s house ever again. Then there were the added bonuses of being able to see her father and Adalyn whenever she pleased. Oh, and being far enough away from the mob.
But Adalyn was trying to force her into going to Vincent’s graduation. She was certain it was going to be an absolute nightmare since graduations lasted a million years and were completely boring. She pretended the fact that she hadn’t seen Vincent since she had gotten out of his car didn’t play a role into why she didn’t want to see him walk or go to Nero’s party. Lake knew, without a doubt, Vincent was going to be there, and the last place she wanted to see him was at a party.
She had been successful in pretending Vincent was dead, choosing to only remember him up until the day he had kissed her. Truthfully, Lake was scared of seeing him again, and she planned to avoid what it felt like to be in his presence forever. Okay, now quit thinking about him already.
Lake drew her attention back up to the clock, not able to believe it was real. Any second, she should hear…
Tinng.
That was it, the victory bell she had been waiting for. She had imagined the sound to be way better than that. But who cares!
“So, Lake, how does it feel to officially be a high school graduate?” Adalyn asked, getting up from her desk.
Smiling, Lake stood up. “Pretty damn good.”
Lake was determined it was going to be a new beginning and a happily ever after from there on out.
* * *
Would they fucking hurry already?
Vincent waited down the hall from the art room with Amo and Chloe. The two were arguing about God only knew what.
“I’m going to hurry their asses up,” Vincent mumbled, knowing they wouldn’t hear him.
He started the walk down the hallway, wondering how the fuck one semester could change everything. All throughout high school, he had fucked almost every girl in Legacy Prep, but he hadn’t fucked one in months. Vincent had one girl to blame all that on, too. Elle Buchanan.
Honestly, it was a whole other story, but the short version was she happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Then the boss had given Nero the job of finding out what she knew. Along the way, Nero had needed his and Amo’s help and lucky for them, Elle had come with a best friend. Chloe Masters. They had found out the two friends were sickeningly bullied at school, and instead of fucking all the girls his last months in high school, he had been paying them back for every fucking thing they had ever done to the two girls. Admittedly, he had enjoyed it, a lot.
It wasn’t like his balls were blue; he merely started proudly fucking public school girls, instead. Despite his lack of blue-balls, he definitely wasn’t getting off like he used to. Vincent fucked longer and harder, and still he was hard. He began to fuck more and more girls, trying to satiate his appetite, but sleep ended up coming before satisfaction. Then Vincent had begun to prefer fucking them from behind so he didn’t have to look at their face. He decided to blame Elle for ruining all high school girls for him. One thing was for sure—his last semester had taught him something: high school girls are fucking bitches.
Vincent went into the art room to find it empty. Looking at the door in the back, he began to smile. He quietly started walking toward it, hearing noises coming from behind the door. Leaning against a table facing the door, he decided to wait.
It wasn’t much longer before the door flew open.
“I’m upset I wasn’t invited,” Vincent said, watching Nero come out of the art supply closet, zipping up his pants as Elle buttoned her shirt.
The strawberry-blonde tried to run back inside the closet, but Nero caught her hand and pulled her toward him.
Vincent winked at her. “No need to be shy, sweetheart.”
Elle covered her face with her hand. “I can’t believe you talked me into that, Nero. I won’t let you do that again.”
“I swear to God, Vincent, I’m going to pay you back for all your bad timing,” Nero said.
He started laughing. “Come on, man; it’s the last day of school. You two aren’t going to see that closet again. There’s a million other closets you two can—”
Nero held up his hand. “Vincent, shut the fuck up. Right now.”
“I will if you two are done so I can get the fuck out of here.”
“Oh, my God,” Elle whispered into Nero’s shoulder as he pulled her along.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart; you weren’t the closet’s first. I was in there freshman year.”
“You’re not helping,” Nero hissed.
Vincent laughed, deciding to stop giving Elle such a hard time. He didn’t have a choice, really. If he kept going, Nero was going to kick his ass.
They had all grown fond of her and Chloe. Hell, because of them, he, Nero, and Amo had all become soldiers. Being a soldier in the Caruso mob was the best and last thing which had changed that semester.
When they reached the end of the hallway, Elle ran to Chloe’s side.
Vincent watched the two girls laugh side by side as they started to walk toward the school parking lot. He knew Nero and Amo couldn’t stop staring at the two, either. The girls had come a long way, and they all felt responsible for them. What the fuck is wrong with you? You’re being a pussy.
He was done having a moment. “You all need to come to my sister’s graduation tomorrow.”
“Fuck no. I ain’t sitting through two,” Amo retorted.
Nero kept his eyes on Elle. “As much as I don’t want to go, either, we all have to. She’s family.”
“That reminds me, is Adalyn’s friend going to Nero’s party?” Amo asked Vincent.
“I don’t know. Maybe.” He shrugged.
“Fuck, I hope her hot ass will be there. What’s her name again?”
Vincent’s hands wanted to rip his throat out even though he had no feelings toward her.
“Lake.” He wasn’t prepared for it to come out as a growl.
Chapter Twelve
Getting Whacked On Graduation Day Would Really Suck
Lake scanned the bleachers around the whole gymnasium. Where the hell is she? When her eyes met her father’s, he gave her a comforting smile. She desperately tried not to look at the goons beside him, but the whole Caruso mob took up half the damn bleachers on that side. She knew because it was nothing except a sea of black suits.
She looked down at her phone again to see if she had any messages. Nothing. Lake went into her messages and sent a text.
Where are you?
When Lake raised her head back up to the man talking on the stage, she had to swipe away the tassel hitting her in the face. The man was about to start calling their names at any second, and it was making Lake even more nervous. She really wished the seats weren’t assigned alphabetically so she and Adalyn could sit together.
She started to almost feel out of place as she glanced around. I never knew high school gyms like this even existed, only in college.
Their high school’s graduation ceremony was always held at Legacy Prep High due to budgeting reasons. The public schools got a free place to hold the ceremony, and Legacy Prep saved money by having it in their gym. The school system really knows how to go all out…
Scanning the bleachers again, her eyes rolled over the black sea once more, but that time her eyes were caught by a pair of baby-blues she hadn’t seen in six months.
He looked different to her, like he had in that moment when he had rolled up his sleeves in Poison. Vincent had somehow grown more handsome, more mature, and she couldn’t quite put her finger on what was making him look that way.
Her body started to respond to him again as his gaze held her prisoner. She began to wish she was closer to him to see his changes up close.
Buzzzz.
Lake nearly jumped out of her seat when her hand began vibrating. She didn’t think she could be anymore embarrassed, or flustered for that matter.
Why, God? Why did you make him so perfect? She felt like the whole dead thing was seriously being thrown out the window.
Looking down at her phone, she read her new text.
John got sick. I am so sorry, honey. I’ll make it up to you. I love you.
Lake squeezed her phone as hard as she could, trying to keep from crying. She had known when her mother hadn’t showed in the first five minutes that she wasn’t coming. She had already had a feeling it was all John’s fault. John had no reason to be there since Ashley was a junior, and he sure as fuck wasn’t coming for his stepdaughter.
Vincent (Made Men Book 2) Page 5