Page 44 of Beguiled and Broken

She finally looked up, letting her arms fall. I brought her hands inside mine. “Vinny, I just don’t know what to say or do. That was overwhelming. It’s this whole other world that I knew absolutely nothing about. Do you understand that? Do you understand how that makes me feel? You put our kids in danger, Vinny and I thoughtIput them in danger.” She looked down.

“I know. I had no idea it was that deep. I should’ve told you way back when we got engaged and I’m so sorry I didn’t. I can’t apologize enough. I just had no idea, baby.” I turned her hands over in mine and kissed her palms and made my way to her wrists. I wanted to smell her, and feel her again. I couldn’t be away from her anymore.

“Vinny...”

“Sssh. I’m sorry. I love you.” I continued to kiss her hands and then brought myself up to sit next to her on the couch. I held her face in my hands and kissed her forehead, then laid featherlight kisses along her cheek and jaw. “Look at me. I’m sorry baby. I’m yours. I’ve always been yours. I don’t know how to be apart from you. I don’t know how to exist without.”

“I know. I don’t want to be apart from you, Vinny. But I need to know I can trust you again. I need to know this is everything. No more secrets. I’m sorry I made so many decisions without you. I know my hands are a little dirty here, too.” She started to cry.

“Hey, you did your best, and it was me that messed everything up. Me and you forever, Bianca. Nothing else matters. We can get through anything.” She nodded her head andfinallyshe kissed me. I leaned my head against hers and whispered, “We can fix this. We’re not broken.”

Chapter 29

Sophia

I followed Vinny from Carter’s place to his house. I wondered what he was doing there and really hated that he was staying with Carter and his little bitch, Lex. He could’ve calledme.Wecould’ve stayed together at a hotel and figured out our next move. Bianca kicked usbothout, not just me. He needed me.

I thought about calling him but decided to give him some time with his friends, even though I knew Lex would be in his ear. She didn’t know shit. She didn’t know us and how long we’ve loved each other. I waited outside while he was inside with Bianca. I waited and watched from the street inside a car I had rented. Bianca wouldn’t recognize that car, and I needed to make sure Vinny was ok. I wondered if he would take the kids with him. If he did, then I would get to see them. I knew they missed me and probably didn’t understand what was happening.

There was movement in the house, I could see silhouettes through the sheer curtains. Who uses sheer curtains anyway? I was grateful Bianca did. She paced and waved her hand in the air. I didn’t like that she could possibly be yelling at my sweet Vinny. He didn’t deserve that.

I watched and I waited. I knew we would be reunited soon and this time, it would be forever. He was it for me. My only love. My only family. My shining star.

Chapter 30

Vinny

I had reluctantly left Bianca at the house while I ran to Cole’s place. He said he had a few more things he discovered. When I got there, he was sitting on his couch looking at some papers on his coffee table. He waved an arm at me. “Come on in.”

“What’s up, man?”

“I’ve been going over everything we found out about Ca…Sophia. You?”

“I actually just left home. Bianca and I called Raffe and had a long talk with him. It’s deep man. Real deep. She is absolutely not a safe person, and they’re sending a couple people here to hopefully find her. I have no doubt she’s still in the area. It’s an obsession that runs deep.” I explained the phone call to Cole with all the details.

He shook his head. “I’m sorry man. This is one of those situations that reminds us to always follow our gut instincts. We all thought something was a little bit off about her, but I don’t think any of us wanted to say anything in case we were wrong.”

“Hey, you guys couldn’t have known. None of us did. I mean, if anything,Ishould’ve fucking known better. I’m just grateful Bianca isn’t totally throwing in the towel. She’s pretty fucking pissed at me though, and I can’t blame her.” My phone buzzed with a text from Bianca:

Hey, I’m going to let the kids stay the night at Carter and Lex’s place tonight. I’d like to just be alone with you.

This was a good sign and I was grateful she was giving us a chance.

Of course. I would love some alone time with you too, baby. I love you. I’m at Cole’s place right now, but I’ll be home in a bit. Love you.

I looked at Carter and smiled. “That was Bianca. The kids are gonna stay with Carter and Lex.”

“That’s a good thing, bro. You guys are gonna be fine. She’s just gotta be able to trust you again. No more nannies.” He backhanded me against my chest. I gave him a look. “Sorry, too soon?”

I laughed even though the thought alone gave me the fucking creeps. “Too fucking soon, bro. What else did you find?”

“Well, besides everything we’ve already talked about and what you heard from her dad, I figured out where she was staying before she moved in with you. It looks like she owns a house around the corner from you.”

My face twisted up. “This keeps getting weirder. I don’t get it. We know most of our neighbors. I mean, not all but most. I’m sure Bianca could tell you better than me who lives in what houses.”

“I’m telling you man; sheownsa house inyourneighborhood. When’s the last time you interacted with any of your neighbors?” Cole stared at me as I thought about it.

“I’m gonna be honest. I try hard not to get too close to our neighbors because that just invites people to be nosy. I think the last time I actually paid attention was maybe after we had Angelo. People were bringing us food and cards. It was nice, but I don’t think we’ve really spoken to anyone much since except the people to our left and right.”

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