Page 26 of All The Happily Ever Afters

This money was supposed to be for the orphanage. I seethe in a breath through my clenched teeth and shake my head.

“No?” the man to my left says incredulously. He moves the gun from one hand to the other, and while it’s still not pointed in my direction, it does the job of instilling fear in me. My heart thump, thump, thumps.

“Look sweetie, it’s real easy. You just empty the cash out of each of the registers, or we will.”

I shake my head again, feeling tears prick my eyes. The man on the right is stock-still, just staring at me with his pale blue eyes. “I won’t give you my PIN,” I say in a cracked voice.

This is stupid. It really is. But I can’t let them do this.

I can’t let yet another person steal from these kids. It belongs to them, damn it! Theyneedit. Not these assholes who thought they’d rob a store on Christmas Eve.

The thought makes me even angrier, and I almost lose my shit. But the man on my right walks closer.

“This doesn’t have to be a fight,” he says beneath his breath. So low, but he sounds so familiar. He looks to his partner and adds, “We don’t wanna hurt you.”

Tears leak from the corners of my eyes, rolling down to my cheeks and I angrily brush them away.

“Besides, we’ve got the key,” the man on my left says confidently as he holds up the manager's key. What the fuck? My face scrunches up in a mix of sickness and irritation.

They don’t even need my PIN. Shit, I’m going to have to physically keep them away, and that simply isn’t going to happen. But I still have to try.

I shake my head and outright refuse. “No,” I say with a strength I hardly feel. “I won’t let you.” I close my eyes and try to summon the courage to continue fighting them.

When I open my eyes, I instinctively take a step back, the small of my back butting against the counter and forcing a small scream from my lips.

Oh fuck, he’s pointing the gun right at me, and my heart stops entirely. His chocolate brown eyes stare back at me, daring me to resist further. I put both of my hands up as fear grips me. I don’t wanna die. I take in a shaky breath.

“Don’t you fucking point your gun at her!” the man on my right snaps. My heart stills, and my hands slowly drop. I do recognize his voice. I shake my head, not wanting to believe it.

But the second he looks back at me, I know it’s him.

“Vinny?” I whisper.

VINNY

It’s a fake gun, but Toni’s scaring the shit out of my sweet cherry. I’m gonna beat the shit out of him.

I’m gonna spank Cherry’s ass, too. Money isn’t worth putting herself in danger. What the hell is she doing?

I was starting to feel like everything would be fine. We’d just have her step aside, grab the money and get the fuck out.

Easy peasy. I’ve got the two junkers out front to throw her off, and the cops too once they get here. They can’t be traced to anyone, and everything would’ve been fine.

Shit, I was looking forward to consoling her tonight.

I know my cherry’s strong, and she’s wanting to do the right thing. But she shouldn’t be risking her life like this.

My heart beats faster as she shakes her head no again. She’s terrified, and all I wanna do is pull her into my arms and calm her down. I wanna let her in on what’s going on. But she’s not going to understand. She might not even believe me if I told her the truth.

The very thought that she’d think I was lying and that I’m no good makes my heart hammer faster in my chest.

I can’t let that happen. I don’t want this to come between us. There’s something here, and I want more of her. I can’t let this shit get out of hand.

“No,” she says as she looks Toni in the eyes. Damn, my girl has some balls on her. “I won’t let you.”

She closes her eyes, and Toni raises the fake gun in his hand.

Fuck that. He’s not going to scare her. I can’t let him fuck her up like that. I’ve had guns pointed at me before. I won’t let her go through that shit.

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