Fate (22 page)

Unbelievably
,
that made him want to plunge right into her
,
but at the same time it nearly choked him. Without saying a word because he was speechless
,
he
slowly
slid in deeper into an almost impossibly tight space. With
her
pained expression gone now
,
he slid in and out a few more times as it got a little easier
,
but knew he’d be done within seconds. The moment he felt her begin to enjoy it, he groaned and was done.

He was a
lmost embarrassed but relieved it was over
.
E
ven though he would’ve wanted to lie there next to her for hours longer, maybe even try again later, there was one thing keeping him from doing so—Sal.

“You okay?” he whispered kissing her softly on her forehead again and again.

She nodded smiling then touched his face with her fingertips. “That was perfect.”

Vince couldn’t help frowning but followed up with a smirk. “It’ll be a lot better next time. I promise.” He kissed her lips softly one last time before moving off the bed. “Sorry
,
but I had a few things working against me here tonight.” He sniggered as he pulled his pants on. “Kind of hard not to kill the mood when you know getting caught would be grounds for a lynching.” He picked up his shirt and brought his face up to face hers as she pulled those beautiful legs off to the side of the bed. “But what was even harder was trying to keep it together because this was
you
.” He kissed her then stared at her in bewilderment. “I can’t put my finger on any one thing about you, Rosie
,
b
ut everything in my life is different since I met you. I know we’re young
,
but I can’t see my future without you anymore. Everything I do now is for you.”

She touched his face, her eyes tearing up. “This is why I had no doubts about doing this tonight. I can’t even imagine being with anyone else but you.”

Vince sat down next to her on the bed
,
and she quickly climbed on his lap
,
wrapping her arms
around his neck.

“No one else ever?” he asked staring deep into her beautiful eyes.

“Ever.”

Tracing her lips with the tip of his finger
,
Vince allowed the beauty of her words to sink in. “I own these, forever?”

She took his hand and placed it to her soft still naked chest. “
You own me body and soul, Vincent. The
re will
never be anyone else for me
,
ever
.”

He’d known it from the first day he met her. There was something special about Rose. She was the positive to his negative. Not only did he not want to be with anyone else ever again he couldn’t even imagine being away from her now. All he ever thought about when he was home was the next time he’d get to be with her. Now she was saying to him the very thing he’d been feeling all this time
,
only he hadn’t been able to put it into words like she had.

He choked back the emotion before kissing her again then pulling away to stare deep in her eyes. “
You
own
me
,
Rosie
,
body and soul
,
n
ow and forever.”

Rose

Having lost an entire month and with Vincent putting extra time in at the restaurant to save up for a car, summer was flying
by
. Rose was
already
busy with soccer training for her college team
,
so they weren’t spending as much time together in the restaurant as they’d originally thought they would. Vincent had already talked to Sal and his uncle about being able to stay out here even after the summer was over.

Unlike Rose who’d accepted a soccer scholarship to the University of San Diego, Vince
nt
would be attending community college. But he was excited about it
,
and that excited Rose. He’d even looked into getting certified in firearms training and had already gone down to the college to find out what classes were needed
and how long it might take.

His fascination with guns made Rose nervous
,
but at least he was looking to do something good with it
:
m
ake a career out of it. He told Rose
that
once he got certified
,
he could look into getting into training at the local firing range. A lot of the trainers at the firing range he frequented so often back home did private training on the side
,
and they weren’t cheap. He said he could make a business out of it. Vincent played it down
,
but Rose could see how excited it made him that Sal h
ad agreed it wasn’t a bad idea.

“I thought he might shoot it down. You know a lot of people have this thing about guns
,
but he said with as much passion as I have about firearms
,
I’d be sure to be successful. He said the most successful people in the world were the ones doing what they loved for a living. He even said he’d be willing to help me get the business going once I got there.”

“Really? He said that?”

Vincent beamed
,
nodding. “Sal puts up a pretty good hard
-
ass act
,
but my dad’s right. He just means well. Family is everything to him and his brothers.”
The gleam in
Vincent
’s
eyes was one
Rose only saw when he spoke of how much
she
meant to him. It was full of pride
,
and there was no hiding the sincerity in those eyes. “He said he’s proud of me, Rose
,
a
nd
he said he’s
always
believed in me.” Vincent laughed. “
It s
hocked the hell out of me
;
let me tell you.” Vince went serious suddenly. “You know I always had the feeling he looked down on not just me but my family for not being
,
” he shrugged and looked away for a moment then looked back at her
,
“I don’t know, as refined as him and his family I guess
…
maybe even resented having people like us in his family. But since I’ve gotten closer to him and all of my cousins
,
I realize I couldn’t have been more wrong.”

The beautiful smile was back again
,
and Rose couldn’t help smiling with him. “Okay,”
h
e laughed
,
“
s
o Sal is a little more
type A
than your
average
type
-
A
person.” Rose nodded with a laugh
,
agreeing wholeheartedly. “But he’s a good guy. I’ve seen the way he talks to all his brothers and his sister, even Romero. He’s just looking out for those he cares about. And family is who he cares about most. He even said he always knew I’d come aroun
d and straighten my shit out.”

Rose saw not only the pride he was feeling at that moment but the excitement he felt about his future—
their
future. She was excited too not just because he was excited about this future he spoke so eagerly about but because Sal was also agreeing to let him stay here and continue to work for him. Things couldn’t be working out more perfect
ly
.

Then later one evening
,
he brought up something that took Rose by surprise.

“I wanna us to get our own place.”

Silenced by this out of nowhere announcement
,
Rose wasn’t sure she’d even heard him right. “What?”

“Well, not until after I get certified and get a job. I wanna make sure that I can handle paying rent and all the bills
,
but wouldn’t that be cool? If I’m gonna be living in La Jolla full time and seeing you every
day
,
why not go home together every night?”

A little surprised by how excited the very thought made her
,
Rose brought her hands to her mouth to try and hide the huge smile. “That would be
incredibly
cool.”

She immediately regretted how fast she jumped for joy because she saw the look of fear in eyes. “Rose, I’m talking later
—
way
later.”

She snuffed the smile
,
feeling embarrassed. “I know. I didn’t think you meant—”

He slipped his hand in hers and squeezed. “It’s not that I wouldn’t want to now. It’s just that we can’t afford to yet. I don’t wanna have to ask anyone for help once it’s done. I wanna be absolutely sure it’s something I can handle all on my own.”

Nodding and hoping to reassure him that she wasn’t having visions of them moving in together any time soon, she squeezed his hand back. “However long it takes, it’ll be worth the wait.

Of course Rose wasn’t about to freak Grace out by letting her in on how exciting the idea of moving in with Vincent made her seventeen-year-old sister. So she kept that jaw-dropping conversation to herself. This would probably still be a few years away
,
so why stir the waters now?

Vincent walked into the restaurant
’
s kitchen
,
and Rose picked up on his change in mood. They’d been closing things down at the restaurant when he got a call from his dad
,
and he’d gone out back to take it.

“What’s wrong?”

Vincent shook his head
,
but his jaw was already working. “Enzo got in another fight.”

This was the third time his dad called Vincent about his brother getting into trouble this summer. The worst part was the last time his dad called a few weeks ago
;
Vincent told her these were only the incidents his dad knew about. He was sure there were more. Lorenzo was as hot tempered as Vincent
,
only at least Vince had matured some—seen the error of his ways. He said he was trying to get his brother to see it, too. Blowing up like that got you nothing but trouble
.

“Thing is, Rose, you were a huge incentive for me to stay straight and out of trouble. Honest to God
,
the only reason I felt any kind of remorse for beating Randy’s ass was because of what it cost me. Otherwise I’d do it again in a heartbeat.” He leaned against the counter. “Same goes for going to Alfonso’s party the week before I came down here. Compared to all the trouble I’ve been in the past
,
I really didn’t do shit. But once you reminded my dumb
-
ass of what might’ve happened if I’d had gotten in trouble
,
I did
regret
it. I regretted it a lot. That’s when change comes—when you start feeling some remorse for the wrongs that you do. Enzo,”
h
e shook his head again frowning and looking away
,
“
h
e has no incentive, so he doesn’t care. And he’s stubborn as shit.” Vince let out a sarcastic chuckle. “Once you get to know him, you’ll know what I mean. Sometimes I think his fuse is shorter than mine because once he’s lit and his mind is made up
,
there’s no reasoning with him. He just doesn’t give a shit or think about consequences. At that moment he just doesn’t care. The only time he shows any remorse is when
I
get pissed at him.”

Rose reached for his hand
,
and he looked up at her. Now she saw just how troubled he really was. Instinctively her heart sped up. “What is it?”

“My dad’s asking me to hold off moving down here until next summer
a
t least until Enzo gets through his senior year.”

Rose tried not to react
,
but the news was a huge blow. The only thing that had made up for their summer together being cut so short was that he’d be staying. She fidgeted with her fingers almost afraid to ask
,
but she had to know. “Are you going to?”

“I think I have to.”

She spun around and started to walk out the kitchen.

“Rosie, please don’t be mad!”

She froze
,
feeling like the worst girlfriend ever
,
but she couldn’t help being crushed. Not wanting to turn and let him see the tears already spilling out of her eyes
,
she spoke without moving. “You should. You really should.”