Chapter Forty-Four
We Are All Cursed
Vincent knocked on the front door. It felt strange coming there for the first time without Lake.
The door opened, only for it to be slammed on his face. Luckily his hand was out, ready to push at the door before it could close completely.
“Talk to me for five fucking minutes, please.” The last word was harsh yet vulnerable at the same time.
Finally, the pressure on the other side of the door released, and he was able to walk in. Looking around, his heart grew heavy with thinking about all the time he and Lake had spent together in that house.
Vincent walked into the kitchen, watching a man pour orange juice into a glass in the middle of the night. He had watched Lake do that several times during the month they had spent together.
“I’ve already told you once that she didn’t tell me where she was going, and if I did know, what in the fuck makes you think I would tell you?” He took his orange juice and sat down at the creaky, little table.
Walking over, Vincent sat down in front of him. “She’s your fucking daughter, so you know exactly where she would go.”
Paul stared at him. “Like I said, if I did know, I wouldn’t tell you. You think I want Lake to be with a man like you? Hell, I don’t want her to be with a fucking man like me. She deserves a lot more than a family man.”
Vincent slammed his hand down on the table. “You think I don’t fucking know that? Most of me doesn’t want to be able to find her, but the crazy in me can’t stop. I have to find her. There is nothing good in me anymore without her.”
“We are all cursed, Vincent. A family man can never truly be happy because of the life we chose. We always want something more or better. We want it so fucking badly till it kills us along with the ones we love. That’s why almost all of us are alone. When we love, we either bury them or destroy who we once were when they finally leave us.”
Paul took a drink from his glass. “When Lake’s mom left me for money, I had to find something to keep me distracted. I had a daughter, so I didn’t want to drink or get into drugs, because Lake was the only thing I had left in this world. If I had lost her, I was so fucked-up I think I would have killed myself. So, I started gambling. I don’t know, maybe at first I chose it in hopes to get rich so her mom would come back to me, and then it twisted into getting rich for Lake. But I let gambling consume me until, years later, it finally hurt Lake.
“That’s what always fucking happens to us. I’m just lucky enough that Lake got out alive. So don’t expect me to tell you where she is, because I’m not going to bury my daughter before me. I suggest you find a fucking hobby.”
“Like you, Lake is the only thing I have in this world, and I will not lose her just because, right now, I am fucked-up.” Vincent stood abruptly, the chair behind him almost falling to the ground.
He understood Paul for having the right to not tell him where his daughter was, and he respected him for that. Vincent merely showed his respect by telling him Lake was going to be his.
“Dante would like to see her dead or worse, Vincent. If you bring her back here after only a week, you are fucking risking her life.” Paul was pleading and warning him all at the same time.
Heading for the door and walking away from Paul, Vincent said, “I told you I’m fucked-up.” Vincent didn’t think he should tell her father the next part, and I’m going to do what you failed to do—teach her a fucking lesson about family men.
* * *
Vincent answered his phone the next morning.
A voice came over the line. “Get over here.” Then the call was quickly disconnected.
Quickly getting dressed, he felt almost numb until he knocked on the office door.
It had only been seven days since he had lost Lake, but it might as well have been seven months later. He had lost Lake once when he had walked away from her months before, but something in him knew she was the one for him. That was why he had fought with himself so hard until he had actually brainwashed himself to believe it. That month they had spent together had solidified his feelings. Then, the moment he had actually gotten her, she had been taken away from him. To lose something he had fought so hard for was a pain so cruel he didn’t wish it on his worst enemy.
Not waiting for an answer, he walked right through the door and quickly shut it behind him.
“Your dad isn’t here, is he?” he asked, turning around.
“No,” a deep, harsh voice sounded.
Fully turning around, he saw Lucca sitting behind his desk, inhaling a cigarette. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Lucca looked rough, like he had been awake for forty-eight hours. His ashtray was overflowing, making Vincent wonder how long he had been sitting there. Then again, with how hard he was inhaling the sticks, Vincent thought Lucca might not have been there as long as he had initially believed. To top it off, he didn’t seem to be in a good mood.
Lucca pointed his cigarette at him. “Really, fucker? I could say the same to you. You look like shit. Now sit down.”
Vincent took that as, ‘Don’t ask me what’s wrong again, motherfucker, ‘cause I sure as fuck ain’t telling you.’
He took his seat in front of Lucca and beside Sal, who was on his laptop.
“Sal found your girl,” Lucca said, dropping his ashes onto the tower in the tray.
“You did? Where is she?” Vincent practically stood from his chair.
“No, I think I fucking found her,” Sal corrected him. “I’m still working on it.”
Vincent smoothed his hair down, trying to calm his nerves.
“Okay, so he almost found her, but why should I let Sal tell you where she is? She was a pain in my fucking ass for the five minutes I was around her and an even bigger pain in the ass to Dante. That girl doesn’t belong here.”
He had known Lucca was going to say that. She belongs with me.
“I already know. This time, I’m going to really teach her how the family works, what she can and cannot do. I promise you, she will not bother you again.”
Lucca sucked his cigarette hard. “What I would do is lock her fucking ass up. Keep her in your house or bedroom and don’t let her ass back out.”
Vincent stared at Lucca like he was deranged.
“That’s what I would do if I were you, of course.” Lucca managed to put out the butt without too many ashes falling onto the desk.
That didn’t seem like he was talking about me or Lake…
“Almost got it,” Sal interrupted his thoughts.
Lucca pulled out another cigarette and flicked his lighter open, taking his time to light the end. “I give you back your girl, and you’ll owe me.”
Vincent thought about his words, understanding what he meant. The last person in the world anyone wanted to owe was Lucca Caruso, because one day he would call in his favor, and that person had just better hope they had lived a full and happy life before that happened. It didn’t matter; he was dead without Lake anyway.
He nodded in agreement.
Lucca took a hit. “Tell him.”
Sal stared at his laptop as he talked. “I’ve been trying to find the address for Paul’s parents. For some reason, they dropped off the face of the Earth. Coincidently, around the same time Paul became a soldier. I’m not promising she will be there, but it’s the only place you haven’t looked. Her name isn’t popping up in the system anywhere, so I’m thinking she has to be with family.”
Vincent had spent the week driving and looking everywhere for her. She had little family that he knew of, and he had started there. Going to her mother’s first, he’d practically kicked the door in on those assholes, asking if they knew where she was. He didn’t expect her to be there nor did he expect them to give a shit, but he did have a fun fucking time scaring the shit out of them. Then he had gone to the college she had wanted to attend. Nothing. This was the first he had heard of her having any grandparents.
“Okay, so where is it?” He was anxious and ready to get her back.
Sal clicked a few more buttons before he started laughing. “I suggest you go home and get fucking changed out of those clothes.”
Vincent and Lucca stared at him, waiting for him to tell them where she was.
Sal calmed his laughter so he could finally spit it out. “The address is in Treepoint, Kentucky.”
“Kentucky?” Vincent sat, stunned. He tried to imagine how in the hell Lake had made herself go there. Never mind. Fucking desperation, that’s how.
“Well, have fucking fun there.” Lucca leaned back in his chair, smiling and clearly enjoying that he wasn’t the one who had to go.
Sal jotted down the address for him when he finally stopped laughing.
He looked down at the piece of paper. “What the fuck do they wear there?”
That made Sal laugh all over again. “Camo. Lots and lots of camo.”
“I’d talk as little as possible and keep your thick Italian accent to yourself. They’ll probably fucking shoot you there.” Lucca actually laughed a little when he told him the last part.
Vincent stood, storming out. “Fuck off.”