Текст книги "Worth the Chance"

Автор книги: Vi Keeland

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Текущая страница: 7 (всего у книги 17 страниц)

Chapter 21

Liv

Sitting at my desk staring blankly at my computer screen, I shift in my seat to find a comfortable position. My body still aches from the long weekend of sexual escapades with Vinny, and I find myself replaying his words over and over again. I’m going to bury myself so deep inside of you it’ll leave you feeling hollow when I’m not with you. Fidgeting in my chair, I realize he’s done it. It’s only been three days since I’ve last seen him, yet I feel empty this morning without him.

As if on cue, my phone rings and I smile lifting it to my ear. “I was just thinking about you.”

“Oh yeah, what were you thinking?” Sex exudes from Vinny’s deep raspy voice.

“I…” Remembering where I am, I look up and find Summer’s eyes glued to me, waiting for my response. “Ummm…I’ll have to tell you later.”

“Oh no you don’t. You started it, you’re going to finish it. None of this leave me hanging crap, Liv.”

Lowering my voice, “It was just something you said.”

“Who’s sitting so close to you that you have to whisper?”

“A co-worker.”

“The princess?”

Laughing, I respond, “Yes.”

“That’s even more reason to tell me. Come on, Liv. Let me hear it,” he says, his voice low and enticing. “You know you want to.”

Lord, this man is impossible to keep things from. I really need to start watching what comes out of my mouth in the future. “It was about feeling hollow.” I whisper and look up at Summer, finding her wide-eyed. Guess I didn’t whisper low enough.

Vinny groans. “You feel hollow without me buried inside of you, Liv?”

I hesitate, feeling my face flush. “Yes.”

“Say it.”

“Are you crazy? I can’t. I’m at work.”

“I’ll pick you up at twelve for lunch.”

“Vinny,” I warn.

“See you in a bit, Liv.” He hangs up before I can respond again.

Looking up, I find Summer still staring at me. If eyes could shoot daggers, I’d look like Swiss cheese about now. “Sorry,” I shrug my shoulders and offer, my voice as thick and sweet as maple syrup, matched perfectly with my over the top fake smile. It’s clear that neither is sincere.

I struggle through the next few hours, my eyes constantly checking my phone for the time. By the time twelve rolls around, I’m anxious and equally excited. After our weekend together, being apart for a few days feels like a lifetime. But my work schedule took me out of town for two days and then Vinny was busy doing promotional stuff for his upcoming fight.

The minute I push through the revolving glass door, I catch sight of him. He’s leaning casually against a half concrete wall to the right, his legs casually crossed at the ankle. He stands as I make my way to him, but makes no attempt to come to me. Instead, he watches my every move with a devilish grin on his face.

As I stand before him, neither of us says a word. Vinny hooks one arm gruffly around my waist and pulls my body to him as his head lowers and he takes my mouth in a kiss. It’s so powerful, I literally lose track of where I am for a minute as we both come up breathless.

“Hey.” He leans his forehead against mine.

“Hi.”

His eyes dart over my shoulder and then quickly return. “I think we have an audience.”

Turning around, I find Summer gaping. She’s stopped in her tracks, her mouth actually hanging open. Embarrassed, I turn back to Vinny to hide my face. God forbid he follow my lead and try for low key.

“Hey, Summer.” The hand not around my waist raises in a casual wave and I want to kill him for making it worse.

“Ummmm…hi.” She scurries off, completely frazzled.

* * *

We spend the next hour catching up. Vinny tells me about his promotional photo shoot and pokes fun at the photographer, a man who made no secret of his crush on Vinny and spent four hours calling him “Mr. Sweet Muscles.”

I’m ten minutes late by the time he walks me back to my office, so there’s no time for games when Vinny locks me in his grip and demand I tell him what I was thinking about earlier.

“Do you really need your ego stroked that much?” I tease.

“If you’re not stroking something else, I do.”

Rolling my eyes, I try for serious. “I’m late coming back from lunch.”

“Then you should hurry.”

“But you’re holding me.”

“You know what you need to do to get released.”

“You’re such an arrogant ass.” Playfully I smack at his chest and try to pull out of his grip.

“You knew that seven years ago.”

Smiling, I can’t help but laugh. He’s so right. He’s always been confident, the pendulum leaning towards the side of arrogant on the full of himself scale. “Seriously, I need to get back.”

“Say it.”

Lord, this man is not going to give in. “Really?”

A huge grin on his face, he nods his head. “Really.”

Rolling my eyes, I give in. “I was still a little sore this morning from, you know, from our weekend. And I was thinking about something you said.”

“Go on,” he says, his smile wide and eyes sparkling.

“Fine. You told me you were going to bury yourself so deep inside of me that I’d feel hollow when you weren’t inside of me.”

“And do you?” Vinny beams, clearly delighted at being quoted.

“What?”

“Feel hollow?” he says, a cheeky dimpled grin on his face. He clearly already knows the answer.

“Yes, Vinny. I feel hollow without you inside of me. There. I said it. Do you feel better now?”

“I’d feel better buried inside of you.”

“You’re impossible. You know that?”

“Whatever, hollow woman.”

“Mr. Sweet Muscles.”

“I kinda like it coming from you.”

Laughing, he almost makes me forget how late I am. Almost. “Seriously, I’m so late. I have to go.”

He kisses me chastely on the lips, not yet releasing me. His voice low and sexy, “I got tested a week ago during my pre-fight physical. I’m clean.” Leaning his forehead against mine, he offers and waits, searching my eyes cautiously for a response.

Barely able to swallow, my mouth dries up as I try to form the words to respond. “I’m on the pill. No partners since my last physical.”

A mischievous grin spreads across his face. “You aren’t gonna be hollow for long then.”

The heat from my blush spreads from the tips of my toes to the top of my head. Vinny chuckles, clearly enjoying my embarrassment. “Tomorrow night?”

“Tomorrow night.” I walk away feeling his eyes keen on the sway of my ass.

* * *

Back at my desk, I’m greeted with a scowl from Summer. Jealousy doesn’t befit her. It makes her normally pretty face contorted and mean, ugliness crawling out and making its way to the surface.

“Guess I know why Vince requested you. He wanted someone easy.” Looking down at her manicured nails, she tries to act like it doesn’t bother her, but I know better.

Before I can respond, Sleezeball comes out from his office and beckons us both to his lair with a leering smile that makes my skin crawl.

I smile at Summer, determined not to sink to her level. Grabbing a pencil and pad, I head to Sleezeball's office. Normally, I try to avoid alone time with him, but today I’m thinking even his company is better than the princess’s.

Sleezeball comes around from behind his desk, and inserts himself in the little space between us and the front of his desk. As if sitting with my eyes almost perfectly aligned at eye level with his crotch isn’t bad enough, he reaches down with his right hand and adjusts himself before he speaks. Gross, just totally gross. “So ladies, we need to do a little juggling of assignments. Summer, I’m going to need you to take over covering the publishing merger story.”

“But…,” I attempt to protest. I’ve been working on that story for three weeks and it’s going to be a big story. One that could help me land the job in the end.

Summer smiles. I’m sure she doesn’t even know anything about the merger, or what’s going to make it a big story. But she sees how upset I am and that’s enough to satisfy her. “No problem, James. I’d be happy to fix up whatever Olivia has started.”

Fix up? She’s got to be kidding me. I see the chance of finally landing my dream job dramatically decreasing and I can’t let it slip away without a fight. “James, I’m almost done with the story…I really only need another few days and I can piece it all together. I wouldn’t want Summer to have to go through all the work to get caught up on all the research I’ve done.”

Waving away my plea without even considering it, Sleezeball walks back around to the other side of the desk. “Summer should be able to handle it just fine. In fact, Summer, why don’t you go grab Olivia’s file on the story and start going over it. Give Olivia and I a few minutes.”

Gloating, Summer smiles at Sleezeball and smirks at me. I can see in her step as she leaves the office she thinks victory is within her reach. And I’m afraid she might be right. There’s no way I’m giving in this easy. “James, I...”

Interrupting me, as if I wasn’t in the middle of speaking, Sleezeball talks right over my short lived attempt to protest. “Olivia, you’re being given a special assignment. One that can make or break your career.”

Now he has my full attention.

“We have it from a very reliable source that Senator Preston Knight has an illegitimate child.”

Without question, that is a life-size story. One that drives newspaper sales to daily highs and is read, and noticed, by people around the globe. I’m excited, but surprised, that they would let me, a nobody, take a shot at such a story.

“Wow. I can’t believe it. The implications are huge.” Preston Knight is running for his fourth term. His re-election campaign is squarely centered around his Christian values. But even bigger than the effect such a news story could have on the man himself, if he loses his seat in the Senate the majority will shift, allowing the other party to regain control.

“It sure is. And we’re trusting this to you. Do you know how big this is?” Sleezeball leans back in his chair and clasps his hands together, a failed attempt at looking dignified.

“Absolutely...” My mind races. “I don’t want to sound ungrateful in any way…but I’m surprised you chose me.”

“I didn’t. The editor-in-chief did.” Sleezeball leans in and motions for me to move closer, as if he’s going to tell me a big secret. Even though the door is closed and we’re the only two in the room. Whispering for added drama, he continues, “And I’ve been authorized to tell you, Olivia, if you land this story, the job is yours.” He winks.

It’s the opportunity of a lifetime, and yet I sit here feeling jittery for some reason. “That’s amazing. I can’t wait to start.”

“Good, good, I’m sure you’ll do great, Olivia.” Reaching into his drawer, he pulls out a file in an inconspicuous manila folder. “One more thing.”

I don’t know why, but my heart drops. Something just told me there was more. More that meant something big.

Opening the folder, I’m confused as he begins to turn pages and pages of blown up photographs. All of them, the same subject…Vinny. In the gym, on his motorcycle, coming out of the vitamin store…he turns and turns until he comes to one that makes my heart stop…me and Vinny kissing in front of the building. Not more than two hours ago.

“I don’t understand.”

“Our source believes your new friend, Vince Stone, is Senator Knight’s illegitimate son.”

The familiar picture in Vinny’s file, it wasn’t an actor, it was the Senator. Blood thunders so rapidly through my veins it feels like an out of control train that will eventually jump its track and meet its final destiny with a brick wall. My breathing becomes labored and for a second, I think I might throw up all over the pictures. Clutching at my chest, I feel the color drain from my face so fast that even Sleezeball picks up on it and gets nervous.

“Olivia. Are you okay?”

No response.

“Olivia.” Standing. Louder now.

No response.

“Olivia!” Yelling. He comes around and touches my shoulder, startling me and I almost jump out of my chair.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes….um….yes, I’m fine,” I lie.

“Are you going to be able to handle this assignment?”

My response is delayed, but I finally give him the answer he’s looking for. “Yes.”

“Good, why don’t you take some time to go through the research. Let me know if you have any questions.”

I stand, a bit unsteady on my feet, but I make my way toward the door without falling.

“Olivia?”

I look back, not really seeing anything at all when I turn. Though at least the response appears normal.

“Get the story. Get the job. It’s that easy.”

Yeah, sure. Easy.

Chapter 22

Vince

I blow through three sparring partners in less than an hour. I’m so pumped full of adrenaline, I feel like I could take Nico at this point. Jumping up and down on the balls of my feet wearing nothing but my headgear and a pair of shorts, I impatiently wait for Nico to fasten the next victim’s headgear. I’ve seen the guy around the gym. He sucks. Normally I could take him with a few jabs and two heavy leg strikes, but I’m not feeling normal today. I’m wired. Without any extracurricular help to get this way.

“Come on, it’s taking you longer to get his headgear on than he’s going to last in the ring.”

“Don’t get too full of yourself, kid.” Nico responds, but I can tell he’s enjoying himself, taking pride in how good I look today. He doesn’t really mind my arrogance. Mostly because he’s full of himself, too.

My fourth sparring partner finally gets in the ring and shit was I wrong. I must have overthought it. Underestimated myself. It only took me one strike and one jab and he’s splayed out on the floor. So much for light sparring.

Nico laughs and shakes his head. Extending his arm to the poor guy on the floor. “What am I going to do with you today?”

Still bouncing, I respond hastily. “Get me a real partner.”

Nico looks around, there are a few guys working out, none of them even close to a contender. Raising both arms from at his sides, he responds in question, “Who?”

“You.”

He laughs. “I don’t think so, kid.” He begins to climb out of the sparring ring.

“You afraid?” I yell loud enough to get the attention of everyone in the gym. It’s gonna take some assistance to get him to do this.

Nico turns and raises an eyebrow. “Don’t ask for things you can’t handle, Vinny.”

“Not sure who’s the one that can’t handle it anymore, old man.”

The guys that were working out stop what they’re doing and respond with a series of oohs and aahs, a couple of “you gonna take that Nico” thrown in for good measure.

“Give me your headgear.” Nico turns to my last sparring partner then back to me. “Don’t say I didn’t try to walk away.”

Smiling, I bounce around the full perimeter of the ring, putting on a big show for the muscle heads that have stopped to watch us.

Headgear on, Nico lifts his hands and faces me, a smirk on his face, “You’ve had this coming for a long time. This is gonna be fun.” And then he strikes. Unexpected, hard and fast…he connects with my ribs. I stumble back two steps but somehow manage to stay on my feet.

So I respond, winding up for a roundhouse kick that lands on Nico’s shoulder. The sheer momentum from the windup catches Nico off guard and he stumbles, forced back three steps, his back hitting the rope as he struggles to stay on his feet. I expect him to lunge at me, but then he stops cold. I trace his line of sight and find Elle, one hand on the bottom of her belly, her face showing signs of distress.

“Nico…I think it’s time.”

“Shit.” Hopping over the ropes in one swoop, he tosses me the keys as he lands next to Elle. “Pull the car around, Vinny.”

Once inside, Elle doesn’t want Nico to let go of her, so I drive them to the hospital, both of them in the backseat, chauffeur style. It’s a quick ride, even quicker when you drive twenty-five over the speed limit. We arrive at St. Joseph’s and Nico and I both run around to help Elle out of the car. None of us even notice the engine’s still running and three doors are left open. Nico speaks to the admitting desk and they tell us to take a seat, it’s going to be a few minutes before the doctor can take Elle in.

Contractions subsiding, Elle sits in a chair and looks up between me and Nico, flanked on either side of her, standing. Looming. A big goofy smile on her face quickly turns to laughter. “Do you two realize what you two look like?”

I look between myself and Nico for the first time, realizing we’re both wearing nothing but shorts. No shoes, no shirts. Just two jacked fighters, a sixteen pack between us, hovering over a very pregnant Elle. Looking around the room, I find all eyes on us. Nico and I join Elle in her fit of laughter.

* * *

Three hours later, we’re all back at the gym. Braxton Hicks contractions or some shit like that, otherwise known as false labor. I grab my bag and say goodnight to Elle with a kiss on the cheek. “I know you threw that labor. Saw us fighting and didn’t want your washed up, has-been of a husband getting embarrassed in his own gym.” I smile and Elle smiles back, shaking her head.

Chapter 23

Liv

Sitting on my bed, hundreds of documents and photos strewn all over the place, I feel sick…like a big hand has reached into my chest and squeezed my heart so tight it struggles to pump blood through my veins. There are pictures, birth records, interviews, incomplete genealogy studies, and hours and hours of countless research on both Senator Knight and Vinny.

I’ve learned so much about the last ten years of Vinny’s life, so many pieces to the puzzle that all seem to fit together, making him the man he is today. But they’re things that he should have been the one to tell me. Things I should have learned a little at a time, as we got to know each other again.

Staring down at the photo I haven’t been able to take my eyes off for the last four hours, I find Vinny’s captivating baby blues looking back at me. Staring. Only the photo is of Senator Knight. There’s no denying the resemblance. The broad shoulders, the squareness of the jaw, even the way they both hold themselves while they stand. Confident, firm, with authority that instantly makes you feel like they’re in charge.

Testimony dates back almost twenty-five years, before Senator Knight was even elected. In his mid-twenties, Preston Knight was a rising star at one of Chicago’s most prestigious law firms. Married to his college sweetheart, he was the living, breathing picture of perfection. He seemed to have it all when he became the youngest partner at Kleinman and Dell at only twenty-eight.

Sources place the first meeting between Vinny’s mother and Senator Knight at a celebration held at a place called Wally’s Den, the night he was voted in as partner. A gentlemen’s club, known back then as the place for influential and powerful men to let loose in private, Vinny’s mom had been a cocktail waitress. One that apparently caught the attention of Senator Knight, and he pursued her relentlessly for a month before finally getting what he wanted.

Stories confirm Senator Knight was extremely unhappy when he learned of Vinny’s mother’s pregnancy only two months after they began their affair. Senator Knight’s wife was already expecting their first child, a son born only a few weeks before Vinny.

The trail of their affair goes cold after an incident that left Vinny’s mother in the hospital. Apparently she was attacked one night coming out of Wally’s Den. She was beaten so badly the doctors were amazed that she didn’t lose the baby. Especially since the beating seemed to focus on her stomach. The police never caught the attacker, as Vinny’s mother was vague on the description. Although internal investigation reports seemed to suggest that Vinny’s mother was hiding something, possibly even knew and was protecting her attacker’s identity.

My phone rings, startling me from the daze I’ve been in since I started sifting through the mounds of documents.

“Hey.” Hearing Vinny’s voice melts my heart.

“Hi.”

“Did I wake you?”

“No, I was just doing some work.”

“Anything interesting?”

“No.” My response is so quick, I wonder if my guilt travels through the phone, smacking Vinny in the face on the other end of the line.

“Well I had an interesting day.”

I freeze, convinced he knows what I’m doing, maybe even able to see the pictures that lay on the bed in front of me. I know it makes no sense, but that doesn’t stop my paranoia from kicking in.

“Liv?” There’s concern in his voice from my lack of response.

“Sorry. I dropped the phone for a second,” I lie.

“Oh.”

“What made your afternoon interesting?” Hesitantly, I ask the question and hold my breath waiting for his response.

“Elle went into labor.”

“Oh.” Exhale. “Wow.”

Paranoia and guilt mix for a potent cocktail, leaving me feeling hungover, even though I’ve just been given a reprieve.

“Yeah,” he laughs. “I’m not sure who was more nervous. Me, Nico, or Elle.”

“Did she have the baby yet?”

“No. Turned out to be false labor.”

“Oh. They must be disappointed.”

“Think Nico looked more relieved than anything.” I can tell he’s smiling, enjoying his trainer showing fear. “Big guy was looking pretty scared.”

“Maybe he’s nervous about seeing his wife in labor. Watching her in pain.”

“More like he’s afraid of what comes after the labor.”

“You like the thought of him being afraid of a little baby, don’t you?”

“Yep.”

I can’t help but laugh at his honesty. We talk for another half an hour. He tells me stories about Elle and her little brother Max. Clearly, he adores them, the excitement about the baby coming through in his voice.

After I hang up, I lie back in my bed, my head spinning from the day. The feeling of being on a runaway train with no means to lessen the impact of the crash that would inevitably come overwhelms me. The job I’ve dreamed of since I was a little girl is dangling from a fragile thread right in front of my face. So easy to reach out and grab it. But if I don’t, if I let the chance of a lifetime slip through my fingers, there’d be no bracing for the impact of the fall. The job would be Summer’s.

My phone ringing again, not ten minutes after I hung up with Vinny, makes me debate ignoring the call. But I don’t, I answer it, although without the enthusiasm I usually greet people with.

“I’m still thinking about you. The look on your face after I kissed you outside your building today. I’m lying in bed with a hard-on remembering the way your body reacts to me.” Vinny’s voice trails off. “Even in public. It’s uncontrollable and so god damn sexy, I just needed to hear the sound of your voice again.”

Swallowing hard, my voice is throaty when I respond, “It was a good kiss…”

“Tomorrow night. I’m going to do things to you that’ll make you scream my name over and over.”

Ummm…how do you respond to that? Other than having your nipples harden and feeling the flesh between your legs swell in anticipation. “Okay,” I say softly.

“Night, Liv.”

“Night, Vinny.”

I hang up, tossing my phone into a pile of papers, and eventually drift off to sleep with visions of Vinny making me scream, rather than thoughts of the story I had to come to terms with writing.