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“Yes,” she says excitedly. “Let’s get ready.”
ChapterThirty-Eight
Itake two weeks to think everything over. I spend time with my mom, I go to work, I hang out with Noah and Autumn, and I enjoy my life without the threat of being abducted or killed.
There was never news of Fred or his friend’s murder. Last week there were a couple guys clearing out the small amount of furniture Fred had in his apartment. It’s not like he was actually trying to live there, he only wanted to be close to me.
Vicente weighs on my mind a lot. I wonder what he’s doing or if he feels even remotely how I do—like something’s missing.
I understand, in a sort of messed up way, why he did what he did. It was for his mom. He’s been living with her death for so long, having to witness her die and not know why. Then when he found out, being on a mission for so long to get the revenge both he and his father had been wanting. I can understand loving someone so much that you’d do anything for them. It just so happened that I was a person who needed to be used in order for him to get what he wanted. He just didn’t expect to want me.
I believe him when he says he wants to be together. He opened up to me and I respect that. Knowing he was so worried about my safety that it was him who did the work to find me makes my heart soar. He walked into that basement and freed me. He murdered the man who wanted to rape and kill me.
He’s my savior even though he’s a villain, and I think it takes a certain kind of man with the capability of being a monster to even be a hero. A nice guy who obeys all the rules and doesn’t want to get in trouble is not the man that’s going to fight for you, kill for you, lay his life on the line for you. A nice guy will call you pretty and make love to you. A villain will call you a slut and fuck you like he despises you, but he’s the one you want when you find yourself in trouble, because he’s the only one who will burn the world down to find you in the ashes.
I know Vicente is a bad guy. He’ll never be anybody other than who he is right now, and the truth of the matter is that I don’t want him to change. I fell for him knowing who he was, I just have to decide if his way of life is something I can deal with for the long haul.
Sure there will be more fear. I’ll worry when he’s working, but I know he’s more than capable of protecting himself. I’ll always wonder if I’ll be caught in the crossfire of some sort of war, but again, if I know anything, I know Vicente will move mountains to find me or avenge my death. I’ll have to lie, but it won’t be the first time. It’s easier when you know you’re only doing it to protect the ones you care about.
I have mafia blood in my veins. I can handle this.
* * *
After I get off work Friday night, I stop and talk to Autumn who’s getting ready to go home.
“Do you have plans tonight? Want to come eat Chinese food with me and Noah?” she asks.
“I do have plans, actually,” I say, bracing myself for her onslaught of questions.
“With Vicente?” she asks. “Or the guy from your apartment building?”
So, I never told her about being abducted by my neighbor and watching Vicente murder him in front of me. You know, friends don’t need to know everything, and that’s a particular story nobody will ever know.
“Neighbor guy moved,” I tell her simply. “But yes, Vicente.”
Her eyebrows shoot up and she crosses her arms while staring at me, ready for a juicy story. After telling her about me and Vicente breaking it off and crying to her on the phone about it after it happened, she did the best friend thing and talked shit about him while threatening to kick his ass. I did the typical broken-hearted thing and forced a laugh while dying inside.
It wasn’t until the night she told me he was at the casino that we talked about him again. Later, when I was home, she texted me and asked if I ever talked to him. I told her no, which was the truth, but I left out the fact that Tommy and Jian were waiting for me outside, and I didn’t mention the photos Vicente had sent to me. Everything that happened after that night is something she’s unaware of, and I think that’s best.
“We ran into each other the other day,” I tell her, only half lying. “We talked and he opened up a little. I think I need to give him a chance.”
She’s quiet for a few seconds before she says, “Well, I hope whatever happens brings you happiness. I’m still not sure about whatever he’s got going on, but—”
I grab her hand. “But it’s my life,” I say with a gentle smile.
Her shoulders drop and she squeezes my hand. “It’s your life. I just want you to be safe and happy.”
“With him, I will be.”
She pulls me in for a hug before we go our separate ways.
I love Autumn to death, but I think people have a tendency to put too much stock into what their friends think about their significant others. Your friends don’t have to be in your relationship business. They’ll eventually think they can tell you how your relationship should be.
I go home so I can shower and change, and then I pull up the number Vicente programmed in my phone before he left me at my mom’s house a couple weeks ago.
Me:Where are you?
ChapterThirty-Nine
