The knot in my stomach got even tighter when that text went unanswered too. Giving up hope of a response, I returned my phone to my locker. As I was standing there, I heard Tina having a heated phone discussion with someone in her office.
“What did you want me to do? Maybe if you weren’t such a greedy son of a bitch we wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place!”
I swallowed and felt self-conscious walking past the door, so I waited, crossing my arms beneath my chest.
“You had no right to send anyone. Pinch Capino had better keep his nose out of my business. Do you want to go right back to prison for another ten years? Don’t send your thugs to handle my problems, do you hear me? Your son is handling it. Yes your son. Call him all the names you want but he has ten times the sense that you do.”
There was a pause and some banging around in her office. “I stepped down because I’m going to act as his attorney. We will get shit settled and out of their hands. It would be nice if you would stop sending your thugs to help. I need to go. Bye.”
I panicked as I heard her heels clicking toward the open doorway. I spun around and tried to escape back into the break room, but I wasn’t fast enough.
“Autumn?”
I pinched my eyes closed.
Shit.
I slowly turned around. “Yes?”
She narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously. “Have you heard from Vinny?”
Taken off guard by her question, I faltered. “Uh, n-no. I called and texted him, but he didn’t answer me.”
“Can you step into my office for a minute?”
I hesitated and held my breath.
“I’m not going to scold you. Come on.” She turned and headed back to her office.
Reluctantly I followed her inside.
“Close the door and have a seat.” She commanded.
I shut the door and settled into the nearest chair.
She dropped into the leather chair behind her desk and yawned while she rubbed at the dark circles beneath her eyes.
“Is everything okay?”
She gave me an irritated look. “As if you didn’t hear my conversation a moment ago.”
My face burned and I looked away. “I didn’t mean to—”
“Look Autumn. Let’s cut the bullshit. I know you know about what’s going on. Vinny told me everything.”
I blinked and grabbed the sides of the chair, my stomach clenching abruptly. “He did?”
“He did. I also know that you and he are apparently in some sort of relationship.”
“Oh.” I shifted my gaze to the paperwork on the desk.
“Regardless of how I feel about that…” she folded her hands over the papers on her desk. “He is going to do what he wants and now that he is managing Mazzolas, I want to make one thing clear, I have enough grimy hands grabbing for everything I hold dear, I don’t need anyone else abusing their privileges around here so if you think you are going to use my son for his money or—”
“Look, I don’t care about the money,” I said, honestly. “I care about Vinny. I won’t do what Vivian did.”
She cracked a hint of a smile. “Good.”
“So he hasn’t called you either?”
She picked up the stack of papers before her and straitened them on top of the desk with a sigh. “No. I never thought Vivian’s father would pull some shit like this. My ex and Vivian’s father worked at a pizzeria together in high school. I thought I could trust him,” she shook her head as if she was still trying to comprehend it. “I really should have known better. Anyway, I just wanted to know if you’ve heard from Vinny.”
“I’ll let you know if I hear anything.”
“Thank you,” she said rubbing her forehead and looking over the paperwork on her desk. “You can keep your phone on you tonight, just in case. You’d better get back to work.”
I stood up and left the office. I felt relieved that I finally broke the ice with Tina, and even more so that she semi-approved of Vinny and I. I made a quick stop at my locker to get my phone. When I returned to the hostess stand, Suz was off seating some guests and every table was almost full.
I spent the next hour doing whatever I could to keep my mind off Vinny. I even cleaned the whole hostess counter area. When it was finally eleven, and I still had no texts or calls from him, I was ready to start looking for him myself. Suz offered me a ride home and since I was in no mood to take the train and it was starting to drizzle, I took her up on it.
On the ride home, I went from worried, to frustrated, and by the time we reached the apartment parking lot, I was thoroughly pissed off. I thanked Suz for the ride and headed upstairs. I walked into the apartment and found Lindy in the bathroom getting ready to go out.
“Hey!” she called out, clamping her hair in a straightener as I marched past the bathroom door. “How was work?”
“Crazy.” I answered, going into my room. I tore off my work clothes and changed into a pair of soft cotton pajamas. She came in with half of her make up done and leaned on the doorframe.
“I’m going to a frat party if you want to come? I need a rebound.”
“No thanks.” I took my hair down from its ponytail and brushed it aggressively.
“Are you in a bad mood?”
“Yeah. There’s a lot of drama at work. Vinny was promoted tonight. He is now the owner and manager of Mazzolas. And he had to give partial ownership to Vivian. He left Mazzolas in a pissed off mood around seven and no one has heard from him since.” I swallowed, unable to stop the emotion in my voice. “He hasn’t called me or answered my texts…what if something happened? His dad was pissed about the promotion and he is a major asshole, what if he did something to him?”
“Oh shit. His dad got out of prison?”
I nodded. Just the thought of him hurting Vinny caused tears to spring to my eyes. I drew a deep breath to keep them in check.
“Auti, don’t cry.” She said grabbing me and pulling me against her. The smell of her hairspray burned my runny nose. “Vinny is probably just overwhelmed, yanno? He was stressing about taking over Mazzolas even before you knew him.”
I pulled back and shrugged. “I just figured he’d call me.”
“Do you want me to call Vivian? She might know where he is.”
I glared at her and then I remembered his mother mentioned they left together. “I guess you could. She supposedly left with him.”
I was beyond desperate.
Lindy walked back to the bathroom to get her phone. She returned to my doorway a minute later with it pressed to her ear.
“It’s ringing,” she whispered and placed her fingers against her lips all serious like.
I held my breath and waited.
Her eyes got wide. “Hey Viv! It’s Lindy.”
My heart pounded and I clutched my brush in my hands.
“Sorry for calling so late, but I was wondering if you’ve heard from Vinny? I guess he never came back to work tonight?” She glanced at me. “Oh, really? You guys talked in the parking lot and then he drove off? Did he say where he was going? No? Okay. Autumn said everyone was worried, so I thought I’d call and see if you knew anything. Are you going to Delta Nu’s kegger tonight? Yeah I am. I think it’s time for a rebound. Tyler can kiss my ass. I haven’t talked to him since I gave his little whore a black-eye.” She bragged and walked out of my room.
I glared after her, insulted that she was actually having a conversation with my mortal enemy. I followed her into the bathroom and leaned on the doorframe, glowering. She did even notice me as continued to ramble while she applied her mascara.
“I know!” she cried, clamping her lashes with a curler. “I hate that professor with a passion. I was like, I know how to fucking take blood pressure, why do we need to be tested three-hundred times?”
“Lindy,” I finally growled.
She looked over at me, and removed the curler from her eyelashes, blinking rapidly. “What?”
I gave her an ‘are you dense
’ stare and she rolled her eyes. “Anyway, I need to go. I’m trying to finish my make-up. Thanks, I’ll need all the luck I can get. See you around.”
She hung up and looked at me. “What? Don’t give me that look. You wanted me to call her. You should really come out with me tonight.”
I rolled my eyes and walked back to my bedroom, feeling worse than before. If Vivian didn’t know where he was either, that lowered the chances he was okay. I fell upon the bed and curled up into my pillows, trying to squelch the worry gnawing my stomach raw.
Lindy came in a few minutes later and dragged me off the bed and into her room to have me help her pick out an outfit to wear. After three outfit changes, she settled on a bubble-gum pink cocktail dress that enhanced her cleavage with silver stilettos. I never understood how she walked in them, but she pulled it off.
“How do I look?” she asked, staring at me through the reflection in her full-length mirror.
“Amazing.”
“I wanted to hear Beautiful. Gorgeous. Make that-drop dead gorgeous.”
“All of those too.”
She rolled her eyes. “Hey if I bring someone home, don’t kick them out of the bathroom in the morning while they are trying to shower.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “Ha. Ha.”
She smirked and stuck her tongue out.
We both looked over as her phone rang on her dresser. She rushed over and picked it up.
“Hello? Okay, I’ll be down in a minute.”
She turned back to me and blew me a kiss. “My friend is here to pick me up. Don’t spend the whole night worrying please? He’s fine. He’s Vinny.”
I sighed and looked down at my phone in my hand. “Yeah, I’ll try.”
“I’ll see you in the morning.” She grabbed her purse and walked out to the living room. “Lock the door after me!”
I listened to the door close before I got off the bed and went to lock it. Afterwards, I sat on the sofa and sulked, staring down at my phone. I wondered if I should call the police, but then I figured his mother should be the one to do that. I wondered if she had heard from him yet. I prayed that he was safe.
I pulled Lindy’s afghan over me and turned on the TV. I checked the news to make sure there were no serious car accidents or shootings, my mind going much grimmer than I wanted. I considered walking to his dorm, but I figured most likely that was the last place he’d be. When I lost all hope, it was around 12:30. I curled up under the afghan and managed to fall asleep until the sound of someone pounding on the door jarred me awake.
I sat straight up, my heart pounding painfully against my ribcage. I immediately remembered I was alone and had nothing to protect myself. I slipped out of the afghan and stood up, only to be shaken up all over again by a second set of louder knocks. I gathered my courage, stepped up to the door, and leaned on the tips of my fingers, peeking through the hole. All I could see was black hair and a forehead. Then I recognized Vinny’s profile when he turned his head to the side.
I sighed in relief and I couldn’t get the door opened fast enough. I even yanked on it without unlocking it. Once the door was open and he was standing alive and well before me, I was overwhelmed with emotion. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to punch him or kiss him. My tear choked greeting came out as:
“Where the fuck have you been?”
He was soaking wet from the rain, and the look in his red-rimmed eyes told me that he was fighting his own demons.
“I’m sorry,” he answered, his voice rough. He reached out and embraced me tight. I squeezed him back and released another sigh of relief.
“Get in here,” I said, pulling away. “You’re soaked… did you call your mother? She’s worried.”
“Yeah, I called her before I got here.” He stepped inside and ran a hand through his drenched hair. “Where’s Lindy?”
“At some kegger looking for a rebound.”
I took his soaked black hoodie from him and laid it over the kitchen chair to dry.
“Did you want something warm to drink? I think we have some instant coffee somewhere—” When I turned around, he caught my shoulders and took my mouth in a hungry kiss. I grabbed the front of his white undershirt to steady myself as his tongue met mine in hot clashes, while his hands moved beneath my shirt to caress my naked breasts. I moaned, suddenly consumed with lust. My heart that was pounding in a panic minutes before was now threatening to combust. His lips chased up and down my neck and his hands moved from my breasts to follow the curve of my hips. They ended up down in my pants, where they cupped my rear and pulled my hips into his. His hard-on pressing between my legs, sent a thrilling ache throughout my lower body.
All of my concern for his well-being changed to concern about how long it would take to get him naked. I unbuttoned his damp jeans and peeled them down. Once he was down to his boxers, her lifted me onto the kitchen table and pulled my pajama top over my head.
I wrapped my legs around his waist and our mouths met again in a deep kiss. He pushed me further onto the table and peeled down my panties, leaving me nude and aching for him. It felt like an eternity for him to remove the last of his clothing and get the condom on. Once he was ready, he pulled me to the edge of the table and I wrapped my legs around his waist. He stared into my eyes and guided himself between my legs. I shuddered and released a moan as he sunk deep inside my walls. He held me there for a moment, and I relished the feeling of him before his hips began their assault, drowning me in the pleasure I had come to love so much.
Once we finished, he carried me to my room and we laid in my bed. I laid my head on his chest and listened to the sound of his heart thudding against my ear while he held me close. Releasing a satisfied breath, my fingers traced up and down the front of his chest as we enjoyed the quiet calm. After a few minutes, his breathing slowed along with his heart’s pounding. I looked up fully expecting him to be asleep, but his gaze met mine and he leaned in to kiss me.
“Are you okay?” he whispered against my lips.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”
“I am now,” he said, kissing me again and running his fingers through my hair.
I pulled back and looked into his eyes. “Where were you tonight, Vinny?”
He paused and looked up at the ceiling. “I needed to get shit straightened out. Clear my head.”
I frowned. His vague answer telling me he didn’t want to elaborate. “Where did you go to do that?”
“My father’s place.”
I stared at him, stunned by that answer. “You saw your father?”
“Yeah. He called me after I left Mazzolas. He wanted answers. He wanted to know what I planned to do about getting cheated.”
“And what did you say?”
“I said I didn’t know. At the time I was so overwhelmed I didn’t know what to do, so when he told me to meet him at his apartment so we could talk, it sounded like a good idea.”
I placed my hand over his chest. “What happened?”
He shook his head. “We just talked. He told me I needed to keep my friends close and my enemies closer. He said that what Vivian’s father did was wrong and he wouldn’t forget it, our family won’t forget it, and we should get payback.”
My eyes widened. “You’re not going to do something crazy are you?”
His serious expression changed to amusement and he smiled at me. “No. You really think I’d do something crazy?”
“I don’t know. I’ve watched those crazy mob movies. I know what people like your dad do for payback when they get wronged.”
“That shit is dramatized.”
“It is not.”
He smirked. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to do anything crazy. I’m going to play my cards right. Acting like an asshole isn’t going to help.”
“What’s your plan?”
“I’m going to convince Vivian to give me back her share.”
My heart dropped. “How do you plan to do that?”
“Once I get a couple months
of managing under my belt…I’ll pay her off.”
“Why doesn’t your mother just pay her off now? Isn’t it her fault Vivian’s father is involved anyway?”
“It’s not my mother’s problem anymore. It’s mine, and I’ll take care of it.”
“What if she doesn’t want the money?”
“Then I’ll give her something else she wants in exchange.”
I knew what she wanted. “Vinny…”
“Don’t worry about it. It won’t come between us, trust me,” he assured. “It’s just going to take some time.”
“So I’m guessing we have to keep pretending there is nothing between us?” I asked, frowning.
“For a little longer.”
I sighed and rolled over, glaring into the darkness.
He leaned over me and rubbed his hand over my abdomen. “Come on Autumn, don’t do this now.”
“It’s just annoying. I feel like I’m your whore or something. Your mother knows about us, Suz knows, so why do we even care what Vivian thinks?”
“Because Vivian is taking a five-hundred grand away from me by owning half of the company. This is my business now, Autumn. I need to think like a business owner. Vivian is part of my business now whether I want her there or not.”
I turned to him again and sat up, unable to hold back my anger. “Yeah well I’m your girlfriend. Maybe you need to think about that too.”
He looked stunned for a moment. I realized that it was the first time either of us had admitted to being official.
His brows came together in frustration. Why do you keep giving me such a hard time?”
“Because it’s hard. Now that she is an owner you will spend even more time kissing her ass.”
“I won’t kiss her ass. You know that was not my choice. My hands are tied.”
I dropped back onto my pillow and draped my arm over my forehead.
“Just keep in mind that it’s temporary until I get Mazzolas to myself. Then she will be done with and you get to have me to yourself…” he pulled me on top of him and kissed my lips. “That is what you want, right?”
“You know that’s what I want.”
He brushed his hand through my hair. “That’s what I want too. I promise I’m going to make it up to you. I’ll make it up to you tenfold.”
Down to Business (Business Series) Page 29
