Chapter Forty-Seven
The Secret to All Made Men
I love you. Those three little words Vincent had told her hadn’t left her since he had spoken them. It was the most unexpected thing. Vincent Vitale was not a man born to love. He had told her not to say it back, and she hadn’t because her body, mind, and heart were torn on how to feel about him.
She watched Vincent slide the card through the slot. “If you have to go straight to work, why can’t I go home?”
“The deal was you stay with me.” He barely opened the door for her to enter, making her squeeze by him. “And I want you here when I get off work.”
Lake’s body heated, understanding what he meant. Okay, maybe my body isn’t that torn.
“What am I supposed to do, helplessly wait for you? You don’t even have a TV, and that’s really freaking weird.”
“I just haven’t gotten around to that part yet, and I have a computer that’s perfectly fine to watch stuff on. It doesn’t matter. I have a surprise for you anyway.” He headed up the stairs to get dressed.
Surprise? She followed him when he disappeared, going to his open closet door after him.
“You can’t tell me you have a surprise then walk aw—” Her eyes drifted to the end of the closet which had her black dress, a couple of other dresses beside it. “Whose are those, Kim’s?” Her eyes started to water.
Vincent finished pulling his shirt off. “What are you talking about?”
“Those dresses. You fucked Kim again, didn’t you? I’m not experienced enough for you, am I?” She wiped at the tear that slid down her cheek.
“Lake, those are new dresses I bought for you while you were gone. The tags are still on them.” He came over and wiped her tears away with his thumbs. “I never fucked Kim. When you came in that bathroom that day and I found out everything, I swear to you, I haven’t wanted to fuck anyone besides you, baby. I love the fact that the only experience you have is with me. Baby, you are more than enough for me. When I told you I love you, I meant it.” He lightly kissed her forehead. “Now, why would you say that? Kim told you that, didn’t she?”
She moved her eyes down to his chest, unwilling to tell him and unable to lie.
“That’s why you left, wasn’t it?” He tugged at her hair.
Partly. Lake still couldn’t tell him, but she didn’t have to; it was written all over her face.
Her head slightly leaned back when he came down to kiss her, giving him a better position to claim her. She placed her hands on his bare chest, causing her to melt into him. They had spent too long apart, and her body was craving his.
“You don’t have to work, do you?”
Vincent placed another kiss on her lips. “I do, baby, but I promise I will be back.”
She hated the loss she felt when he went back to getting dressed, but she didn’t mind watching him strip down, either. Damn, he’s perfect.
When he started putting on a nice suit, it reminded her where he was going.
“Why do you have to work in the casino? Aren’t there a million other jobs you could do?” She didn’t think the mafia lacked job positions, and thinking about Vincent working with half-naked women when she wasn’t down there anymore made her a little jealous, which she really hated.
Vincent took her hand after he straightened his tie. “There is nothing for you to be worried about.”
She started following him through the house. “You made it your mission to stop me from working there.” So I shouldn’t feel guilty about it.
“That’s fucking different.”
“No, that’s not!” She jerked her hand from him.
He grabbed her hand back, holding it tighter to where she couldn’t jerk it out again. “Yes, it is. You were wearing lingerie around a bunch of old men.”
“Yeah, and you’re a guy surrounded by a bunch of girls in lingerie.”
“The difference is no one will be thinking about fucking me, and trust me, baby, I’ll be too distracted by thinking about how I plan to fuck you tonight.” He opened his front door.
Lake’s cheeks started burning from his words. She was shocked when he took her into the hall, shutting the door behind him and going to the next door down at the end.
“Where—what are we doing?”
He knocked on the door. “Your surprise, remember?”
Nero opened the door a second later with Elle standing behind him.
“You and Elle can hang out while Nero and I go to work.”
Lake raised her eyebrow at him. “It’s also to make sure I don’t run away again, isn’t it?”
“Of course not.” Vincent leaned down and gave her a kiss, swiping his tongue over her bottom lip and making Lake weak in the knees. “Elle, call me if she even thinks about fucking leaving,” he said, leaning up.
Elle broke hers and Nero’s own kiss, blushing. “I swear.”
“Hey!” Lake pushed at his chest.
Vincent laughed before he stole another kiss from her then pushed her into Nero’s apartment. “Bye.”
Lake crossed her arms and scrunched her nose at him before Nero shut the door. She was still upset he was going to work in the casino and that he thought she needed a babysitter.
“How do you do it? Vincent drives me crazy,” she said, turning to Elle. The two looked so happy together.
Elle giggled. “You haven’t figured out the secret, have you?”
Lake shook her head, wondering what the secret to all made men was.
Elle’s cheeks grew pink again. “You have to let him dominate you.”
Excuse me? “Excuse me?”
“They are um … very aggressive, and you have to accept him.” Elle’s tone changed. “All of him.”
“You do know Vincent’s a psycho, right? He has a very, very bad side, which frankly scares the shit out of me.”
Elle smiled at her. “You’ll learn to love it.”
Her eyes widened, wondering how in the world a girl as sweet as Elle was saying these things. Just when you think you know a person…
It would be a cold day—never—before she was going to let the dark, psychotic side of Vincent dominate her. She shivered merely thinking about it…