Page 29 of Pretend Ring Girl


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Naturally the fun seems to leak right out of the day after the big confrontation. We get another round of drink and some snacks, and Vincente lets them know we’re ready to head back.

As if there were some agreed-upon terms I wasn’t aware of, we stay in the back of the ship for the rest of the ride. I suspect the cousins are up front.

Everyone is subdued, thinking, and Sandro’s few half-hearted attempts at telling a joke are wasted effort.

I can’t seem to warm up. Whether it’s the breeze or the after-effects of adrenaline, my body is so racked with shivers we eventually move inside.

Last night this space had been full of party-goers in fancy dresses and tuxedos, and the whole place feels immeasurably more comfortable now. Vincente retrieves a fluffy throw blanket from a cupboard, and as we settle on to the couch Elian unearths a remote control, lowering a panel in the wall to reveal a large TV. He and Sandro start a video game while Vincente tucks the blanket over us and shares his delicious body heat with me.

I don’t know exactly how, but within minutes my limbs are twined around his body like I’m some sort of heat-seeking starfish. Once every part of my exposed skin possible is pressed against him, the shivers dissipate and I sigh in relief. I sit with my head against his chest for a few minutes until I can’t hold back the question any longer.

“So what happens now?” My voice is light and breathy, almost a whisper, and I cringe in anticipation of the response.

Vincente’s warm chest rises and falls heavily. “There’s more to joining our family than a legal document and a church ceremony. It’s a bond of loyalty, so you’ll have to take an oath to the family, and then you will be given a task to prove your loyalty. If you do both successfully, you’ll be under our protection. Even if you don’t want to… to be with any of us.” The last part is intoned more quietly.

“But… how would that work? If we already told them we’re engaged?”

“It’s not as complex as it seems. If you take the oath and prove yourself, you’re still part of the family; that won’t change. Sandro, Elian, and I will always look out for you. I’m so sorry, we were planning on this being far more of fun, getting-to-know-you kind of dating and courtship experience. None of us wants you to feel like being with us is your only option. So I promise we understand if you’re not interested, but at least until your task is done, we’ll have to go with it. Otherwise, we won’t be able to stop them from… removing any threat, real or perceived.”

I nod silently, and I know he can feel my head moving on his chest. It’s not as if I don’t want them, but there’s so much going on I don’t know up from down at this point. I’m hardly entertaining romantic thoughts, knowing that a genuine threat to my life exists.

Even so, I feel safe and protected here, wrapped in a blanket on Vincente’s lap. His two brothers are like a pair of bodyguards, keeping me safe from the known threat just a few cabin doors away.

My phone pings; it’s been quiet all day, and the sound startles me. Emiliano grabs my bag—he’d brought it from the guest room when we moved into the cabin—and tosses me the device without being asked.

I read it, then ask, “Hey, do you know what time we’ll be back? My mom wants me to babysit tonight. She picked up a shift.”

Vincente nods. “We should be back at the dock within an hour, so we can have you home by five pm. Does that work?”

I shoot the text off to my mom, and she replies immediately. “Yes, that’s perfect, thank you. She’s happy, so thank you double. One less thing to worry about.”

Vincente stares down at me with unfathomably deep eyes. “You have nothing to worry about, my darling. We’ll take care of you.”

A lump catches in my throat while a delicious shiver runs down my spine. Since when did I become, ‘My Darling?’ Not that I mind, but it seems like a pretty serious nickname for a man I’ve never even kissed.

“I know. I mean, thank you.” I really don’t know how to respond.

Vincente just gives me his one-sided smile and looks to the TV screen.

True to his assertions, we make it back to Miami within the hour, and Elian and I are the first to disembark.

“So, you’re babysitting tonight?” He broaches the conversation on our way back to my office to finally pick up my car.

“Yeah. My mom tries to pick up extra shifts as often as she can. Not only because… well, both my parents are cops, and they don’t make extravagant salaries.” I flush with embarrassment, realizing I just got off the multi-million dollar yacht his family owns. Not to mention the criminal ties.

“But also because when I was younger, and to a degree my siblings, she stayed home with us and let my dad work extra. That reputation got him promoted up the chain over her, time and time again, until he made detective. So even though she was a better cop with better grades from the academy and higher performance reports, she hasn’t caught up. Now that she has me to help she’s been volunteering for extra shifts, and she’s actually been promoted since I started at U of M. She wanted to retire as a detective, but I think she’s got her sights set on jumping straight to lieutenant now, since she’s at the top of the sergeant class. They’re expecting the commander to retire in the next year, which will open up some positions down through the captains and eventually the lieutenants.” An unconscious smile curls my lips as I consider it. “She would be pretty jazzed to finally outrank my dad again.”

Elian is quiet throughout my rambling. “Sobothof your parents are police? I don’t think I knew that.” His voice is lightly disinterested, but a second realization strikes me: Elian’s family is suspected—now known to me—criminals, and I’m just rambling off about my entire family being law enforcement. Jesus.

“Yeah, well,” I scramble to recover, “I mean, we don’t talk work at home, you know. It’s like any other job, I’m sure. They go to work, but when they’re done, they hang up their gun and badge like anyone else.” The joke is terrible and I cringe even when I say it. Forcing a fake laugh, I add, “I suppose I probably get more self-defense lectures than the average girl, but I mean, any girl with protective parents probably gets a lot of those.”

Elian doesn’t flinch. “So you’d say your parents are protective?”

Shit shit shit.

“I mean, what parents aren’t, nowadays? You see all these news stories about girls being murdered and found floating in the canal or dumped off the MacArthur Causeway. Of course, my parents are worried about my wellbeing. But I wouldn’t call them overprotective. They just like to know that I’m okay.”

“I see.” The car slows, and we pull into the garage. I direct Elian up to my spot, and he puts the BMW in park behind my car. “So both of your parents are working overnight, and that’s why you’re babysitting?”

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