His possessive gaze bored into me.
“Well, it worked.”
Blood pounded in my temples. “Vinn, I’m not one of your goddamned floozies.”
He blinked. “My what?”
“The girls you see for a week and discard.”
Vinn smirked, reminding me that while he might’ve been a sweet boy, he hadn’t grown into a tender-hearted man. “You’re way above them, Li.”
“I thought I wasn’t special,” I sparred.
“I let you get away with a lot.”
“Well, you’re nothing to me.”
“Yeah, I’m not worth a damn.” Vinn’s tone sparkled with sarcasm. “Otherwise your friend would know my name.”
Screw you, Queenie. “She didn’t mean you.”
“Vinny is what you’ve called me since you were four.”
“Now it’s a nickname for someone else.”
That sucked the joy from his face.
The life drained out of him. He gave me a black look layered with bitterness.
I’d shot an arrow through his maddening arrogance, but it felt less like a victory when his features clouded over, transforming him back into the block of ice.
“Queenie mistook you for another man. That’s all.” My hand anchored on my hip as Vinn cleared his throat. “You share the same name, but that’s about it.”
His gaze bolted me to the floor as he lapsed into a stony silence. “Why haven’t I met him?”
“Because he left me a while ago.”
Not quite a lie. The old Vinn died. He’d abandoned me for war, and he’d never returned. His body had survived.
Everything I’d loved about him hadn’t.
“This Vincent,” he drawled. “Is he Italian?”
“I won’t talk about him to you.”
A hardness replaced the twinkle in his eyes. Apparently eager to change the subject, Vinn headed toward the desk. He picked up a photo of us as children. A shirtless, teenage Michael stood in board shorts beside Vinn, who’d slung his arm over eight-year-old me. I’d never grinned so hard, but I’d also never been plastered to his bare chest.
I fidgeted with my dress. “Do you remember those summers at Salisbury Beach?”
“A little.”
Disappointing. “I think about them often. You, me, Mom, and my brothers. All of us hanging out at the beach. The heat baking my feet. The waves.”
“Only you would reminisce about that place.”
“I like remembering a time when I was happy, and my family was whole.”
Vinn’s gaze locked on Daniel’s portrait. “It never gets easier. You learn to deal with the pain.”
The pain of losing Daniel—or killing him?
A crushing sadness squeezed my lungs. The seashell necklace burned my throat, like it contained a piece of Vinn’s black soul. Maybe wearing it every day, having the constant reminder, was less of a token of hope and more a torture device.
“I want you to leave. Now.”
My voice throbbed with agony.
Thankfully, Vinn must’ve decided he’d tortured me enough. He stepped past me, his fingertips brushing my waist, as though to remind me what he’d done.
“I’m your date for the gala.” He paused, halfway out. “I’ll pick you up at eight.”
My stomach clenched. “Why are you messing with my life?”
He offered no answer as he strolled toward the exit. Michael had probably filled him in on the dumb plan, and Vinn took it upon himself to save me.
“Vinn, I’m not going with you!”
“You are. Everyone will think we’re an item.” He curved his hand over the edge of the wood. “You’ll hang on my arm. You’ll smile. It’ll confirm rumors that we’re dating, which will get back to Nico.”
“Like a stupid game of telephone.”
“Exactly. He can’t give you away if you’re already mine.”
I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall, wishing I could tell him what an arrogant dickhead he’d turned out to be.
“You’re not the boss of me.”
“I am, and I don’t care how many summers we spent on that shitty beach. I’ll make you submit, and not in the way you hope, darling.”
Asshole.
“Do as you’re told, Liana.”
Six
Vinn
Why was she blowing me off?
Why did I care?
I cycled through my phone, swiping past Girl A through Girl E to banish Liana from my mind. I banged a handful of girls on a semi-regular basis, never giving anyone too much attention because I had no use for a clingy mistress. My tolerance for company dried up long before the cum on my cock. Luckily, Boston didn’t lack hot girls with low expectations.
Girl B had sent a nude photo, a mouthwatering shot of tits beading with moisture. It generally would’ve dragged me to her place. Instead I put her on read and paused at Liana.
I didn’t chase women.
That required effort, which was beneath me. And yet, I’d spent hours checking my cell, wondering why I didn’t have her wrapped around