Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 73042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
We reach the bedroom and he releases my hand to shut the door behind us. Vinnie moves to the window and peeks through the blinds.
Then he turns to me.
“I want you,” he growls.
Despite my fear and nerves—and the knowledge that someone could be watching and listening—my body responds to his words. “I want you too.”
He steps toward me, raking his fingers through his hair. “You don’t understand,” he says. “It’s not just physical.”
I drop my jaw, a flood of emotions crashing over me. His confession makes my heart nearly stop. “Then what is it?”
Vinnie moves forward, planting his hands on either side of me against the wall, his body so close to mine that I can feel his breath on my face. His eyes hold mine prisoner. The intensity makes me shiver.
“Every day,” he begins in a hushed whisper, “every single day since I’ve met you, I wake up with your name on my lips. You’re the last thought in my mind before I sleep. You’ve become an obsession, Raven.”
A gasp escapes from me and I can feel every muscle in his body tense. Heat is coming off him in waves.
“I shouldn’t drag you into this. I had no intention of doing it, but I seem powerless to stop it.”
I hold up my hand. “I know what you’re up against, Vinnie,” I say. “I know you want to bring down your family. I know it’s dangerous. But I’m not afraid of danger. I nearly died from the cancer. This is my second chance, Vinnie, and I want you to be a part of it.”
Vinnie’s eyebrows crease, the tension emanating from him as palpable as the heat between our bodies. “Raven,” he murmurs, “you don’t understand. It’s more than taking out one person. It’s a dark alley with no end.”
“I’m not afraid of the dark,” I say. “I’ve been there before, remember? I fought my way back once, and I can do it again. But this time, I won’t be alone, because you’ll be there.”
He rests his hands on my shoulders, gripping them gently. He heaves a sigh as he drops his forehead to mine.
“You’re absolutely amazing,” he murmurs against my skin. I can hear the smile in his voice. “I should stay away. And I’m an idiot for allowing myself to fall for you.”
My heart stands still. Did he just admit he’s in love with me?
“I… I guess we make quite the pair then.”
Vinnie chuckles, a soft rumbling sound that vibrates against me. “Yeah,” he says, his voice laced with an emotion that sounds disturbingly like defeat. “I guess we do.”
We stay silent for a long while, our breaths the only noise in the room. The thoughts whirl around my head like a tornado, but the feeling of Vinnie’s body against mine brings a sense of calm that I have no business feeling given the circumstances we find ourselves in.
But before I can dwell further on these thoughts, he pulls back slightly, just enough to look at me. His eyes are serious.
“Raven,” he says firmly, “Promise me something.”
“Anything.”
“Promise me that you’ll remember who you are—that you’ll remember this feeling—no matter what happens next.”
A pit forms in my stomach. His words echo of some foreboding doom. I swallow and nod. “I promise, Vinnie. I won’t forget.”
“Good,” he murmurs, wrapping me in his arms once more, holding me so close that it feels like we’re one person. “And remember this too—I love you.”
The words hit me like a physical blow, stealing my breath. A lump forms in my throat as tears prick the corners of my eyes.
He said he couldn’t do this. That we couldn’t… That it would never be…
But all I hear are his words.
I love you.
“I love you too,” I whisper, reaching up to kiss him.
No truer words. How did it happen? I don’t know. I don’t care. All I know is that I love Vinnie, and nothing else matters. Not the drone following us. Not the Uber driver. Not Vinnie’s grandfather. Not the body buried on the Bellamy ranch.
Nothing.
Nothing except Vinnie, me, and our love.
Our lips meet in a kiss full of unspoken promises and shared fears. Waves of vulnerability crash over me as I realize the danger we’re about to step into, but I can’t ignore the flame burning brightly within me. For Vinnie, I’d brave any storm.
As we pull away from each other, he wipes away a stray tear from my cheek with his thumb, and I feel a sudden urge to memorize every line in his face—the rugged jawline, the stubble that always seems to be there, the weary lines etching the corners of his eyes. I study them all as if preparing myself for an unknown future where these memories might serve as my only solace.
“What are you doing?” he asks.
“Just memorizing,” I whisper.
His eyes soften at my words. “Raven…”