Fate (41 page)

“My stomach feels a little queasy. I think it’s all the excitement. I don’t want to be feeling sick when Vincent gets here.”

Grace walked halfway into the bathroom and opened the other door to the medicine cabinet. Rose giggled that Grace couldn’t get very close because of huge baby belly.

“Here, is this what you’re looking for?” She handed a small white bottle to Rose.

“Yes.” Rose smiled.

Grace didn’t move her big stomach out of the way
;
instead she stayed there and peered at Rose. “Are you sure it’s just the excitement that has your stomach upset?”

Rose pinched her brows. “Yeah, I guess. It’s been getting worse with every minute that goes by and Vincent isn’t here yet.”

Grace lowered her voice. “I wanted to talk to you about today.”

“What about today?”

“You and Lorenzo here alone in your bedroom with the door closed?”

“I told you he was checking—”

“I know what you said
,
but you’re the worst liar on the planet. I thought you were gonna break into song the way your voice went all over the place. And when we first got here and I called out to you, your response was
I need to
finish
ge
t
t
ing
dressed
. What was that about?”

“Yeah, what the hell was
that
about?”

Both Grace and Rose flinched at the sound of Vincent’s voice. Rose dropped the bottle of medicine
,
and she bumped her head against Grace
’
s belly trying to reach down for it. Grace moved out of the way
,
and Rose bent down at a loss for how to explain this. They both made their way out of the restroom
,
and to her surprise Vincent didn’t seem mad
.
H
e seemed nervous—almost scared.

“What’s going on Rose? Something happen between you and Enzo while I was gone?”

“What? No!”

Now
he seemed angry. His brow lifted sharply. “Is that your bra in his car?”

She thought quick and remembered a few things were missing from her soccer bag. One of them
was
her white bra. “Yeah, I think.”

“It is?” Grace asked seemingly stunned by this.

“Well, yeah
.
” Rose looked back at Grace.

“Is that right?” Vince was louder now. “And he was in your bedroom today
,
door closed?” He pointed at Grace, “And you told her you had to get dressed
,
but nothing is going on?”

“Just tell them, Rose.” They all turned to Lorenzo who stood at the end of the hallway.

“You,” Vince pointed at Lorenzo his jaw going tight
,
“
s
tay over there. You
do not
wanna be anywhere near me right now.” He turned back to Rose again. “So go ahead. Just tell me.”

Exhaling she dropped her head back. “This is not the time or place for this.”

“Damn it Rose, if you think I’m gonna wait—”

“Okay, okay,” she still couldn’t believe she was really standing here talking to Vincent. “It’s not what you’re thinking. I know it looks bad
,
”
s
he turned to Grace
,
“
b
ut you’ll probably be more upset about the real truth.”

“What is it?” Grace asked already looking concerned.

“Lorenzo’s been giving me injections.”

“What?” Both Vince and Grace asked at the same time.

Vince turned and looked at his brother in disbelief.

“Can we go into your bedroom
,
please?” She asked Grace. “I don’t want anyone else overhearing.”

Grace started to her room
,
and Rose reached out for Vincent’s hand
,
turning back to Lorenzo. “You too, Lorenzo.” Then
she
turned to Vincent. “It’s not
at all
what you’re thinking
,
so you can stop threatening your brother.”

“Your bra is in
the backseat of
his car.” Vincent reminded her flatly.

She couldn’t help giggle at the absurdity of it all. “I can explain that, too.”

Her giggling seemed to ease Vincent a little
,
very little
,
though he did take her hand firmly in his.

Once in Grace
’
s bedroom she explained it all. Grace wanted details,
such as her
exact
red-
blood
-
cell count, which Rose hadn’t even thought to ask
about
.
She wanted to know Rose’s
next appointment date
,
and Grace was adamant that unless she was in the hospital giving birth
,
she’d be there with her. Vincent said he would be
,
too. She told them
everything
. The only thing she left out was who had originally been giving her the injections. But that was a conversation she’d save for another day
:
a
conversation she planned on having with Vincent
alone
.

After Grace
’
s interrogation
,
a still stunned
-
looking Vincent
adjusted her hand in his
. His eyes spoke volumes. She’d seen him nervous before
,
but this was more than nervous. He’d been staring at her
silently
the entire time she explained everything. Now he blinked
,
still staring
,
but
he
seemed almost afraid to speak. “How…”
H
e stopped to swallow then take a breath. “How bad is this, Rosie?”

“It’s not.” She squeezed his hand attempting to assure him.

“But you need injections. My grandpa…”
He looked away as if to shake the thought away.

He’d shared with her about his grandpa’s death after losing his battle with diabetes. She hated for him to be thinking this was
that
bad.

“It’s just a vitamin deficiency, Vincent.
T
he doctor said because of my age and because
I’m so healthy otherwise
,
this can easily be controlled. The very minor symptoms have completely gone away already.”

That seemed to calm him a bit
,
but not a whole lot
,
so she wrapped her arms around his waist. “I feel fine. I really do.” She turned to Grace. “I promise you both. I’ll be fine
,
okay?”

Sal stuck his head in the door. “There you are. Everyone’s looking for you, Vince. What’s going on? Why are you all in here?”

“I’ll explain later,” Grace said. “But we’re done
,
”
s
he turned to Rose
,
“
f
or now.”

Lorenzo walked out after Grace and Sal. Rose and Vincent began walking out until he pulled her to him then pinned her to the wall. “So why
was
your bra in Enzo’s car?”

She could see he was serious
,
but the smirk told her he knew there was a legit explanation.
Happy to see his worry had been put aside
,
though she knew it was only for now
,
she smiled playfully
“Well you see
,
the last time me and him…”

Vincent eyes opened wide
,
and he pushed his body against her even harder making her laugh. “He gave me a ride to my game today, silly. I was late
,
so I had to change in his backseat. You’ve seen me change in and out of my uniforms, so you know he didn’t see a thing. But I ran out of the car so fast a few things must’ve fallen out of my bag.”

He stared in her eyes for a moment, turning her insides into liquid like he always had then kissed her deeply
,
stopping only to look in her eyes again. “I want my bra back.” She smirked. “It’s
one of
my
lucky ones
.”

“You’re not getting it back.”

“Why not?”

“Because after having to deal with seeing my girlfriend
’
s bra in the backseat of another guy
’
s car—my
brother’s
car—I deserve some kind of compensation.”

Rose laughed. “So you’re gonna hold my bra hostage?”

“Yes.”

She tsked, unbuttoning the top button of his army fatigues. Something about seeing him in them was such a turn on. “Pity, there are so many better ways I can think of to compensate you.”

He groaned
,
leaning in and kissing her like she’d missed for too long. She didn’t even care that they were standing in Grace and Sal’s bedroom doorway. She kissed him back with the same unabashed hunger as he kissed her.

“Vicente!”

Vincent pulled away instantly. His mother stood at the doorway of the guest bathroom
,
glaring at them. Okay,
now
Rose cared. She felt her face heat instantly. His mother pursed her lips and shook her head pointing to the other end of the hallway then walked into the bathroom without saying another word and closed the door behind her.

Vincent turned back to Rose then laughed. “Man, I’ve never seen you so red. C’mon,” he pulled her hand down the hall. “This is nothing. Just wait til
l
she finds out it’s your bra in the backseat of Enzo’s car. She’s the one that found it.”

Rose covered her face with her hand
,
groaning. “No!”

“Yes!” Vincent laughed.

The rest of the evening
,
as expected
,
Vincent was pulled from one person to the next. Everyone wanted to hear his story. Rose had heard it several times
,
and already she knew no matter how many times he told it, no matter how many times they
all
heard it
,
no one would really get the magnitude of what Vincent had gone through. It’d be with him forever
,
and she hated that. She hated that these images and terrifying memories would most likely haunt him forever.

“I really thought that was it.” Vince said deep in thought. “They were coming in and with a purpose. Neither one of us understood what they were saying
,
but the way they were tearing down that bunker to get to
whoever
was down there, there was never any doubt they were going to kill us. Of course
,
I wasn’t gonna go down without a fight
,
but I could barely move
.
T
he pain was so bad already
,
and I was unarmed. I’d already begun to thank God for all the blessings he’d given me up until then.” He turned to Rose and squeezed her hand. “Thanked him for the people in my life I’d been so lucky to have spent some time with.”

Rose smiled at him
,
feeling choked up all over again
,
and he turned back to his cousins and some of the others that were listening intently. “That’s when the gunfire erupted. Me and the Sarg took cover with what we could and listened to the chaos above us. When it was all over like a miracle we heard our names being called out.” Vincent laughed just like he had the first time she’d heard him tell it. “They weren’t just there on
accident
;
they’d been sent there to look for us
,
and they’d arrived just in the nick of time. It was nothing short of a miracle.”

He went on to tell them about how he and the sergeant had gone nuts yelling out that they were down in the bunker and how the soldiers dug them out. Then they were flown by helicopter again to the nearest base where medics were already waiting for them.

As absorbing as his rescue story was
,
Romero seemed more interested in his tactical arms training. He went back to the beginning of Vince’s story. “So
,
no shit
,
t
hey were gonna send you back here to train
,
and your ass chose to go to Iraq instead?”