Page 26 of Unforgivable Ties

“Looking for a new apartment,” I said, turning to face him.

“Why?”

Why?I had made it obvious I wasn’t going to stay with him. I couldn’t just live in one of the nicest buildings in town and not pay rent.

“This is temporary,” I reminded him. “I need to get out of your hair as soon as possible.”

“You don’t take up that much space. I forget you’re here sometimes,” he said nonchalantly. “Why don’t you just stay?”

“I can’t do that,” I sputtered, feeling a surge of heat rise to my cheeks. His nonchalant suggestion was as confusing as it was unexpected. “I’m basically just freeloading in your house.”

He shrugged and leaned back against the wall, all casual indifference. His dark, liquid gaze studied me. “What am I going to do with all the empty rooms, anyways?”

“I don’t know. It’s your apartment.”

“And, it’s cleaner than it ever has been with you around,” Vincenzo added, casting a glance around the spotless living room.

“Well...”

Jessica’s words popped back into my mind.That’s how it starts.Just like a tiny seed, one thing leads to another.

“Can I pay rent?” I asked hesitantly, not wanting him to think I was taking advantage of the situation.

“Do you really think I need you to? I wouldn’t even notice it,” he said, running his hand through his long hair. He had recently taken a shower, and hadn’t had the chance to put it up yet, the dark locks instead cascading down his back.

“How does the mafia pay so well, anyways?” I asked,

“Another one of those things you don’t want to know about, Doc.”

I wasn’t even sure why he wanted me here. Based on previous conversations, Vincenzo was adamant about not keeping close relationships with women. He used them once and then tossedthem away as easily as yesterday’s newspaper. Why was I the exception?

My heart dropped when I realized he just saw me as a friend. If you could even call us that. He probably saw me more like a pet, a random stray he picked up on the streets and was taking care of.

“Ok,” I said hesitantly. “But like, give me a chore list, or something. I want to earn my keep.”

This would be a bad idea. It was already a bad idea that I wanted to sleep with a member of the mafia and probably had a crush on him. But agreeing to live in his apartment, to share a space with him, to breathe the same air morning, noon, and night? This was opening the floodgates for potential disasters.

“Sure thing,” he responded.

My phone lit up, Jessica’s name on the screen. She had been hounding me and Vincenzo to go on a double date with her and Ted for weeks. I had always found some excuse to get out of it, but I wasn’t sure how much longer I could do it.

“I agreed to it when I talked to her, didn’t I?” Vincenzo said, reading the text over my shoulder.

“Well yeah, but you had a fake personality on. You were being,” I paused, remembering how terrifyingly good his acting had been. “Friendly.”

“I fucking hate that shit,” he grumbled, running a hand over his face as if to scrub away the very memory of the act. “But I said yes to your friend. Tell her we’re coming.”

I was confused. I thought he had said that to her to get her to leave, and that all memories of the interaction would be forgotten after he had closed the door. And, even if he had remembered, that it was an obvious lie and there was no way he would go.

“You don’t have to do that,” I murmured, not meeting his gaze. The thought of Vincenzo pretending to be someone he wasn’t for my sake unsettled me. It seemed too personal, too close.

“She thinks I’m your boyfriend, remember?” he responded. “And I have nothing better to do tonight.”

“No shootouts to get into, or drug deals to make?” I said, not bothering to hide the sarcasm in my voice.

He chuckled, a low rumble that resonated in his chest, and my heart physically ached in response. He did it so rarely. I wished he’d laugh for me more often.

“I get every third Saturday off,” he joked, a playful glint in his eyes. “So tell her we’re coming.”

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