Текст книги "Worth the Chance"
Автор книги: Vi Keeland
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Chapter 38
Vinny
“How’s the little bambino?” I ask, hitting the speedball.
“He’s perfect, but full of energy, just like his mother.” Nico smiles. “Elle’s a good sport, my niece is upstairs ‘helping’ her babysit.”
“The seven-year-old that wears the pink tutu and cowboy boots?”
“The one and only. I ducked out the door when Elle was changing him and I heard her ask what was inside his pesticles.” Nico laughs.
Finishing up with the speedball, we move to the ring. “We’ll spar for a while, then I have Kojo coming in to work you out on the mat.”
“That guy freaks me out. I’m not sure how he even hears out of those cauliflower things he’s got growing on the side of his head.” I throw a warm up kick as Nico brings up the deflecting pads.
“Yeah, well cauliflower or not, he’s got a gold medal in wrestling, and you don’t. You want a real shot at Lamaro, you gotta focus, pick up as much as he can teach you in the next two weeks.”
Swinging my leg high in the air, I follow the pads, striking each time with a kick almost dead on center of where I aim. Kickboxing is my strongest discipline.
“What’s going on with Delilah?” My kick knocks Nico back three steps. Just the mention of my mother’s name brings back years of pent up anger. Maybe I should drag her ass to the championship, sit her cage side with a pipe in her hands to keep me pissed while I take it out on Lamaro.
“Trouble, what else is new,” I grumble a response, switching to alternating between leg strikes and punches.
“What did she do now?” Raising the pad higher, Nico motions for me to hit him with a series of jabs. We’ve been together so long, we can basically train like mutes, words unnecessary for most of our communication. Yet he always talks anyway, sticks his nose into my business. Been that way since I was a kid.
“Making bad decisions. Hanging out with losers that pull her down into their crap.” I hit Nico with a series of jabs and a strong right, the momentum forcing him back into the ropes.
“Don’t let her take you down with her this time. This is your chance Vinny. Chances like this don’t come around too often. You’re distracted, Lamaro’s gonna pick up on it, deliver you a beating. You’re focused, things gonna go a whole different way than the bookies are expecting.” Nico takes the pads off and stills, wanting all of my attention. “You can take this guy, Vinny. Your right hook and brushing up on your technique with Kojo. You’re ready. Just stay fucking focused.”
* * *
Hours later, I’m standing in a puddle of my own sweat, maybe even a few of my own tears, after the torture Kojo ran me through for three straight hours. I down a liter of water and peel my still soaked shirt from the floor.
On my way up from the floor, I catch a glimpse of long shapely legs sticking out from beneath a chocolate colored skirt that makes my mouth salivate even though I’m pretty sure I’m dehydrated from my water loss. Liv. I’m surprised to see her, but it’s a good surprise. I watch as Sal points her in my direction and she looks up smiling, her eyes taking in every rigid muscle of my chest, and she licks her lips unconsciously as she makes her way to me. I don’t move, instead waiting for her to come to me.
“Hey.” I wrap the towel around my neck.
“Ready for our road trip?” She lifts a bag I hadn’t even noticed she was carrying, distracted by the sight of those legs, my mind visualizing them wrapping around my back.
Titling my head, for a half second I think perhaps I’ve forgotten a conversation we had, but then she smiles. It’s mischievous and sweet, and makes me want to grab her and never let go. I squint, not letting her see I made up my mind she was coming the minute she smiled, pretending I’m deliberating her coming along for the ride. She stands her ground, hitching her shoulders back and readying for an argument. Her boldness turns me on. A lot.
Closing the two steps to stand in her personal space, I lean in, towering over her, my face still unreadable. Never wavering, she looks up at me through her long, thick eyelashes, the hazel color of her eyes turning deep green with conviction. Her eyes never straying from mine, I lean my sweaty forehead against hers and wrap my hand around the back of her neck, pulling her close to me. “Ten minutes, let me shower.” Kissing her chastely on the lips, she smiles up at me in silent victory.
Chapter 39
Liv
It’s a four hour drive clear across the state from Chicago to Macomb, even at the speed that Vinny drives. The early evening sky is drenched in the last of the sun. It turns the horizon in front of us a deep mix of orange and purples. Scootching close enough to lean my head on Vinny’s shoulder, his arm wraps around me and pulls me even tighter.
“Do you want to talk about why we’re going wherever we’re going?” Tilting my head up, our eyes meet at a glance before his return to the darkening road ahead. Vinny exhales a deep breath, a long moment of silence before he finally answers.
“My mother’s a drug addict. Has been as long as I can remember.” My heart tightens in my chest hearing his low spoken words, even though he’s confirming what I already know. “Has a habit of getting herself into trouble. This time, it’s with a dealer that doesn’t screw around. Not a good guy.”
“What are you going to do?” There’s no disguising the worry in my voice, Vinny hears it too.
“Nothing. Don’t worry. I just need to find the guy who got her into this mess and drag him back.” His grip on my shoulder tightens. Realizing his words just aren’t doing it, he’s trying to assure me with his physical strength.
“Is he dangerous?”
“To himself. He’s a dirtbag. A loser. That’s who I was looking for the other night when I saw Krissy.”
My body stiffens just hearing her name from his lips. Vinny notices. “I’m sorry about that too. She knows him, I asked her to reach out to him. Nothing more.”
Inhaling a deep breath and exhaling slowly, I admit the truth, “I know.”
“You knew nothing happened?” surprised, he responds.
“Deep down I knew you were telling me the truth.”
“So why did you storm out?”
Unable to keep the truth from him when he’s being so open and honest, sheepishly, I come to terms with full disclosure. “I was jealous.”
“Jealous, huh?” I don’t have to look to know he’s smiling, but I glance up at him anyway.
“What are you smiling at?” I nudge him in the ribs playfully.
“You like me.” His smile widens.
“You’re just figuring that out now?”
“A lot.”
Rolling my eyes, even though he can’t see me with his eyes on the road, “You’re full of yourself.”
“Maybe. But you’re hot for me anyway.”
Isn’t it the truth?
* * *
Hours later we pull into a parking lot of a small hotel. “He’s staying here?”
“No.”
“Do you need to rest?”
“No. I’m checking us in so you can stay safe while I go find him.”
“I want to go with you.” I loathe the sound that comes from my mouth, whiney and grating.
He parks near the main entrance and reaches into the back and grabs our bags. “You’re staying here where I know you’re safe.”
“But…”
“Liv, these people are drug addicts and dirtbags. I can’t be distracted with you there and keep us both safe while I find this loser.”
“So I’m a distraction?” My voice rises higher.
Hooking his arm around my neck, he pulls me close to him. “You’re a big fucking distraction,” he says without remorse to my face.
Insulted, I try to pull back from his grip, but my effort is fruitless. “Not so fast.” There’s an edge to his voice. He waits until he catches my eyes before continuing. “I’m fucking crazy about you, so yeah, you’re a big damn distraction. So how about you give me this one. Cut me some slack. Because the faster I find him, the faster I can be back and show you just how much you distract me.”
A strong sense of feminine satisfaction rolls over me, making me forget what I was even fighting for. Everything that came after ‘I’m fucking crazy about you’ unnecessary, he already had me convinced.
Chapter 40
Vince
Slipping the baseball bat I keep tucked underneath the seat of my truck out, I’m careful to keep quiet as I walk around the perimeter of the boarded up house that Jason’s supposed to be in, assessing my new surroundings. A rancid, plasticky smell wafts through the air and confirms I’m in the right place. The unmistakable smell of crack being smoked billows from a broken window, the only one not boarded up and covered in graffiti. Squatters den. A place that people wind up when they think they’ve hit rock bottom, only to find there’s a whole new level down they didn’t even know existed.
The door creeks as I try to slip inside undetected. It’s not the drug addicts I worry about, it’s the trigger happy dealers desperate to protect their stash. A few candles burn lighting the way, electricity likely turned off a long time ago. There’s three or four people sitting around a table with some folding chairs in the kitchen, none of them give a shit I’ve come in.
Two women lie half-baked on a ratty couch in the living room. One’s useless, eyes rolled back into her head, she couldn’t find a door in a fucking fire. The other notices me, gives a halfhearted attempt at a come-hither look and props her head up in her hand.
“You looking for something, honey?” She’s probably only in her late twenties, yet her teeth are rotted brown and it looks like she hasn’t had an easy life. One too many times around the block.
“Jason Buttles. Supposed to hook up with him. You see him?” Scares me how I can drop back into this life, communicate so easily.
“He’s gone. Left yesterday. Said something about a sister up north he was gonna stay with. Some scary dudes came looking for him this morning too. Guess he got out just in time.”
Fuck. “You know where up north?”
“Didn’t say. But if you see him, tell him he still owes Felicia a pack of smokes.”
Yeah, that’s what I’ll do when I find him…deliver your message.
I rummage through the house anyway looking for Jason, learning early in life to never trust the word of a junkie. Unfortunately a few more losers confirm Felicia’s story. Reaching the last closed door on the second floor, I use the flashlight on my cell phone to guide me through the darkness.
An electronic something illuminating in the corner of the bed takes me by surprise. A boy no older than ten looks up, grabbing a long pipe resting on the bed next to him. Holding up my hands in mock surrender, I quickly scope the room looking for any other signs of danger.
“Your mother live here?” I ask, seeing garbage bags in the corner with clothes spilling out all over the floor. Suitcase of the junkie.
Putting down the game he’s playing, but not the pipe, he keeps his distance, but not his manners. “None of your fucking business,” he scowls, foul language rolling from his tongue like it’s an ordinary occurrence.
“I’m not looking for trouble. Was looking for a friend, but I can see he’s not here.”
“Who’s your friend?”
“Jason.”
“Guys a loser.” The corners of my mouth twitch, he’s a hundred percent right, but the kid’s got balls saying it to me.
“You’re right. He is. You live here?”
“For now.”
“Your mother Felicia?” I hope she is, the other one’s a bigger disaster.
“Nah, that’s my Mom’s friend.”
Damn, poor kid. “You eat?”
He shrugs his shoulders. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
I smile, smart kid. “Good. You shouldn’t. I’m not a bad guy. But you don’t know me.”
“My mom will probably bring me something to eat later.”
Saw her on the couch, not much of a chance of that happening tonight. Probably not tomorrow either, “I’ll get you something. Be back in a few minutes.”
* * *
Returning fifteen minutes later, no one has moved from where they lie. Knocking quietly on the door, the kid doesn’t answer, but I open it anyway. I toss the bag to him on the bed, careful not to get to close. I wait as he rummages through the bag, pulling out the sandwich and ripping the paper off in a fury. God knows when the last time he really ate was.
“There’s fruit in there and vitamin water. Eat it, don’t trade it. And a toothbrush and toothpaste. Use it. I put a fifty in the bottom of the bag. Hide it in the clothes you’re wearing. Don’t leave it in your stuff. They’ll smell it and it’ll disappear before you can buy your next meal. Use it for food only.”
I don’t know if he pays any attention to my instructions, but his voice stops me on the way out. “Thank you.”
The entire drive back to the hotel, I think maybe it’s time I say thank you to Nico.
Chapter 41
Liv
Pacing the room for the hundredth time, I hear a key slip into the door and freeze. Quietly, Vinny opens the door. “Hey. You’re awake.”
“Of course, I’m awake. Do you think I could rest waiting for you to come home from somewhere you might get hurt?”
Tossing his keys on the desk near the door, an amused grin on his face, one of his deep creviced dimples threatens to appear, “You do know what I do for a living, right?”
“That’s different.” Shaking my head, refocusing on the subject that brought us across the great state of Illinois, “Did you find him?”
His playful face changes to grim. “No.”
“Was anyone at the address?”
“Yeah, a whole fucking treasure trove of losers, but no Jason. He left yesterday, went up north to a sister’s or something.”
One eyebrow shoots upward, “Treasure trove?”
He saunters over, a cocky smirk on his face. “I had a good English tutor.”
“She must have been a very good teacher.” Grinning, I wrap my arms around his waist.
“I might have had a crush on her. Hot little smart girl. If all my teachers looked like her, I might’ve stayed in school.” Wrapping his hands around the nape of my neck, Vinny leans down and crushes his mouth to mine.
Both breathless, still standing just barely inside the doorway a few minutes later, I ask, “What are we going to do now?”
“I can think of a few things.” Vinny smirks and raises a brow. Kissing me gruffly on the lips, he reaches down and effortlessly scoops me up into his arms. “Come on my little distraction…distract me.”
He settles on the bed, surprising me by keeping me on top of him. Seeing the familiar look of desire in his eyes, I expected to be pinned beneath him, lost to his control within seconds of hitting the bed. But he seems to cede some control tonight. Sitting with his back to the headboard, he lifts my shirt, revealing a pink lacy bra. He groans. My nipples already swollen, he swipes a thumb over each, eliciting a low moan from my throat. He dips the lacy demi cups holding my overflowing breasts slightly, allowing the pink, hard, fleshy points to protrude freely as he leans forward, catching a taut nipple with the tip of his tongue.
Arching my back to allow him greater access, he tangles my hair in his long fingers, clenches them into a ball, and pulls my head back roughly. “You want me to suck on your pretty swollen nipple?”
Breathless, I respond, “Yes.”
Drawing deeply, he sucks hard on my nipple, tugging and nipping with his teeth before releasing and turning his attention to the other waiting, needy breast. His hot mouth continues to suck as his teeth nibble slow, unhurried nips around my engorged breasts.
Feeling his hardened cock grow thicker beneath me, I grind down, desperate for friction. Another low moan begins to escape me, but Vinny’s mouth finds mine and stifles it beneath his kiss. Moving his mouth to my neck, his tongue trails up and down, alternating between biting and sucking.
“Are you wet for me?” His velvety voice muffled against my neck, his words are my undoing. God I love it when he talks to me like that.
“Yes,” the word tumbling from my quivering lips between pants.
“Ride me.” His mouth at my ear, every breath, every word, sending shivers down my spine. There is nothing more I want to do. Realizing what he’s giving me is far greater than just what it seems on the surface, I slow, cupping his face in my hands. Kissing him with purpose, full of emotion. Sensual. Seductive…everything I could give in the moment. I want him to feel me. Need him to want me. Need me. As much as I need him.
Palming my ass in his hand, Vinny lifts me enough to remove the rest of our clothing without losing contact. Reaching down between us, I pump the length of him up and down a few times, although it’s hardly necessary. He’s already hard as stone.
Watching me intently, Vinny grips my waist and lifts me to my knees, allowing his wide rimmed cock to sit patiently at my opening. I feel his arms tremble as he reigns in his need to control. His offering to me far greater than the actual desire to take control, locking his eyes with mine, I return what he’s just given me. “Take me. Please.”
Closing his eyes, he breathes deep, exhaling and opening them again, a wicked smile on his face. Pulling me down onto him as his powerful hips thrusts upward, the length of him fills me deeply. He keeps me firmly seated, rooted within the depths of my body for a long moment, looking into my eyes, searching for something.
“Love being deep inside of you,” he growls before he begins a relentless pounding into me from underneath. Thrusting hard and fast, furiously he lifts me, his biceps bulging as he pulls me down to meet each and every plunge. Each time he seats me further and further, until there’s not another ounce of space remaining between us.
Frantically, together we race to orgasm, him in complete control of my body, even though I’m the one rising on top. Our bodies drenched in sweat, loudly slapping into each other, our mouths desperate to touch, needing every part of our bodies connected, he kisses me hard. My orgasm hits me powerfully, taking a strong hold of my emotions, tears stream down my face as I moan through rolling waves of pleasure pulsating through my body.
As I begin to fall asleep, my head tucked into the crook of his shoulder, his arms wrapped tightly around me, I find my hand resting on his dog tags, covering his heart. There’s an ache in my chest I just can’t ignore anymore. This complex man protects his mother, yet has no one to protect him.
Chapter 42
Vinny
Nico kicked my ass today. Brought new sparring partners in from a gym across town, ones that have no power to their punch, but their hands and feet work are so fast they made my head spin. Little fuckers didn’t leave me bruised, yet I feel like I did a twelve-hour day of nonstop cardio.
“Out of breath?” Nico asks, grinning as I bend over, grabbing my knees to catch my breath after finishing my last spar of the day.
“You’re a sadist.”
“Nah. I only enjoy watching you get your ass kicked.” He laughs as he throws me a towel.
“How’s Elle and baby Nicholas?”
“Good.” Nico smiles reflectively, chuckling to himself.
“What’s so funny?”
“She burned the bottle.”
“Burned the bottle? I’m surprised you even let her near the stove.” It’s been a running joke since Nico and Elle met, the woman is smart, beautiful, funny…but put her in the kitchen and she’s like a nun at a sex toy shop, scared and totally at a loss at what to do with any of the equipment.
“It was two in the morning. I guess she didn’t put enough water in the pot she was using to warm the bottle. Melted the plastic. Smoke alarms, fire department…the whole nine yards.” Nico smiles, clearly amused instead of upset.
“She’s never gonna live this one down.”
“Nope.”
Laughing, together we walk to the back room for water. “Can I ask you something?”
“Shoot.”
“Why Elle?”
Nico furrows his brow, confused at my question. He’s not sure where the question came from and oddly, neither am I. “You went out with a lot of women.” I smirk. “A lot. Think half the reason I got to the gym so early in middle school was to see what you had coming out from the night before.”
Tersely, Nico replies, “You got a point to this little walk down memory lane?” He folds his arms over his chest and leans against the counter, chugging half a water bottle down in one big gulp.
The amusement draining from my face, I’m in serious need of some advice, something I rarely ask from Nico. Not from anyone for that matter. “What made you know Elle was the right one?”
He’s quiet for a minute, giving his response thought before he replies, “I started to think about the future. Before Elle, I lived in the moment, never thinking past today or tomorrow. But the day I met her, I started to think about down the road…and every thought, every plan I made in my head, she was standing by my side.”
I nod. Thinking a few months ago I wasn’t even sure what I was doing at night as I got on my bike to go out. Yet this morning, as my mind wandered, I realized my lease would be up in six months, and I found myself wondering if maybe it would be time to move. Find a nicer place, one that Liv would like, possibly even want to share with me.
Nico waits, watching as I give his words some thought, I see a knowing grin rising to the surface. “You running on the treadmill or lifting every time you find yourself thinking of the future with Liv?”
I chuckle to myself, he’s so god damn right. “Running.” I smile.
Tossing our water bottles in the garbage, Nico slaps one hand on my shoulder as we head toward the door, turning off the lights as we pass through each room. “Eventually, you’ll be so exhausted from all the running, you’ll just give in.”
