Vonnie: Book Two of Broken Girls Series

by J. A. Hornbuckle

  And it was at that moment I realized I’d really been (as he’d pointed out) listing all the things I couldn’t and wouldn’t do.

  Why was that?

  Did I think by telling him all my flaws, enumerating all the ways I wasn’t like other girls, he’d just leave me alone?

  But the real question was even worse…did I want him to?

  I wasn’t much for introspection, but I sure as shit didn’t like the direction of my thoughts. So much so, a trail of shivers trailed down my spine as I glanced down to where Pookie lay sleeping in my lap.

  And one Rio must have seen because before I knew it, he’d lifted both me and the Pook-meister into the cradle of his lap, curling himself around my back as he tucked the edges of his jacket around my shoulders. Creating a cocoon of warmth and manly aroma my senses wanted to revel in. “Shouldn’t have given away that extra blanket, but this is much cozier, don’t you think?”

  “Hmm,” I replied, unwilling to admit to a damn thing as I leaned back against him.

  And we stayed like that for the next couple of songs, in a position that found me barely willing to breathe before Max leaned our way. “Miss Thang here is complaining about the cold,” he offered on an eye-roll his date (whose name I don’t think I’d ever heard) couldn’t see. “I need to get her either to the club or home in order to warm her ass up. Thanks for the ticket, Cloud.”

  He and Rio did some kind of complicated fist-bumpy handclasp before Max and his date left—her tottering along behind on heels totally unmeant for lawns.

  “If you looked up ‘playah’ in Wiki, you’d probably see Max’s photo,” Rio whispered from the top of my head, where I thought he’d been resting his cheek. A witticism so unexpected, I couldn’t help laughing out loud—especially when I’d totally put his fine ass in the same damned column during last night’s shared dinner.

  And with my outburst, more than a few of our group twisted to look at the two of us, each and every face fully taking in our cuddled bodies and registering their version of shock at what they saw.

  My first reaction was to give them all a one-fingered salute, but since we were out in public I settled for a glare instead as I warred with myself about sliding off his thighs or staying right where I was.

  But Rio didn’t let it go, the ass-clown. “Oops! Looks like they’re on to us, Vons.”

  “Shut it, soldier boy.”

  His own quiet chuckles were his only reply. That was, if you didn’t count the kiss he dropped to my hair.

  *.*.*.*.*

  After the concert, Rio took stock as he stayed glued to her side while she said good-bye to all the ones she’d named as family. The music and food had been great, the company exceptional and the fact she’d let him cuddle her on his lap?

  Out-frickin’-standing!

  And that she was holding on to one of his belt loops as they meandered their way back to the car only showed she was getting used to both being touched and touching him.

  Okay, it was only a belt loop, but it was a good goddamn start!

  Now if he could only figure out a way to sneak in a goodnight kiss…

  “…never heard her play that kind of stuff before,” she was saying, her voice creating puffs of steam in the chill of the night air. Stowing the now empty cooler and bags in the back of the Jeep, he moved to open her door.

  Before he was able to lift her up and onto the seat though, she stopped him by way of a tiny hand placed right in the middle of his chest, her sweet face pointed up to his as she cradled PK against her beautifully curvaceous and well-rounded rack. “Did you have fun? Was it okay, I mean, like meeting my peeps and all?”

  God, she was cute as fuck.

  “Yeah, princess. Though I wouldn’t say what your girl and her friends played was my kind of music, it was good. And the eats were the bomb.”

  Should he just lean the few inches down and kiss her there, right in the parking lot? Because that’s exactly what he wanted to do.

  But she was already turning as if she was gonna climb up and into his Jeep. Without thinking, Rio snagged her underneath her arms and lifted her, knowing if he waited for her to get herself in, they’d been leaving around midnight.

  And all the way back to her place, as she babbled on, giving a recount of the evening, his mind remained focused on his goal of ending the evening in a lip lock. Should he do it at her front door? No, he’d rather have the privacy of being inside her place without the full scrutiny of her neighbors who’d already shown a little too much interest in what happened at her place.

  Although he cautioned himself against hoping for any more than a good night kiss from his little spitfire. She was a woman with clear and real barriers, unafraid of pointing those boundaries out with only the smallest provocation.

  But she might allow a kiss.

  If he went in slow and sweet, saving the good stuff for after he got a bead on her reaction, would that work? She was so tiny though, short enough he’d be in a bent position if they were both standing. How long could he stay that way if he needed to work her lips a bit before gaining access to her tongue?

  Maybe if he picked her up, brought her up to him after he initiated the beginning stuff…

  Glancing her way before they exited the car, Rio only hoped she didn’t throw a pop quiz his way on whatever she’d been chattering about on the drive home.

  Because he’d fail that puppy, hands down.

  After gathering her and PK, the cooler and the bags, Rio followed behind her as they made their way to her front door, his heart beating double-time as he considered exactly the play he wanted to start in the next t-minus thirty or so upcoming seconds.

  But she stopped.

  Stopped walking dead center in the middle of the sidewalk that led to her door.

  “What the hell,” she murmured on such a fierce note, Rio couldn’t help but still his steps as well. Casting his gaze her way, he took in her stricken, wide-opened eyes before directing his look to where her face was pointed.

  At her front door.

  At her very much opened and shattered portal, the raw splitters of wood of both it and its frame catching his attention.

  “I locked it,” she continued before tilting her face to his. “I know I locked it.”

  Quietly setting the cooler and bags on the walkway, Rio shifted until he was in front of her. Spying no one in the room beyond, he pulled his 9 mil Berretta from the holster in his boot and took a step forward. Only to feel her tiny hands snag his bicep, interrupting his focus on what he needed to do.

  “What the hell? You aren’t going in there, Rio,” she demanded on a breathy voice. “In case you didn’t notice, somebody broke in.”

  “Yeah, princess,” he answered, trying to split his focus between her and whatever might meet him on the other side of the doorway. “Stay here and wait until I give you the all clear, okay?”

  He again tried to take a stealthy step forward but the little one didn’t loosen her grip and even hung on tighter if that was possible.

  “I can’t let you go in there,” she breathed, her eyes zeroing into the dimly lit space beyond. “We need to call the cops. Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do in these situations? Get the police involved?”

  How the hell he could again find her and her damned actions so adorable when his body was ready for action (albeit a different kind than he’d originally planned), was a question for the ages.

  Chapter Eleven

  Rio walked as silently as possible turning on lights as he moved. But he didn’t move in complete silence or alone as Vonnie kept one hand on him as she clutched PK while she held a running whispered commentary the entire time. And as if to add her own two-cents about the doings, his little fur-baby was emitting soft ‘woofs’ and tiny ‘arfs’, more than convinced him to leave his girls in the car when and if he had to face something similar in the future.

  After realizing no one was in her condo, Rio finally palmed his weapon and turned to her. “All clear. But jus
t what the fuck did you think you were gonna do if we flushed them out?”

  She blinked up at him before taking in a deep breath. “I-I don’t know—”

  “Too right, you don’t!” He knew his voice was a little too loud but he couldn’t control it. “So when and if I tell you to do something, like, I don’t know…stay outside while I figure shit out, I expect you to goddamn do it!”

  “But it’s my house!” she yelled right the hell back. “My home, Rio. And I didn’t want you to face any of the bad shit alone!”

  Again PK gave her opinion which made him think the canine was simply reacting to the tension between him and his girl.

  Putting a hand on each of Vonnie’s trembling shoulders he faced her fully and took in a deep breath which he let out on a sigh. “Princess, I’m trained in this stuff. Have spent years in these kinds of situations, some a lot worse than this. So trust and believe I know what I’m doing.”

  “Okay. But Rio—”

  No. She wasn’t gonna have a say this time because he more than knew how shit could go south in a heartbeat. And the thought of her putting herself in harm’s way, making her a target for whatever dumb piece of fuck was trapped and aiming to get out of the situation scared Rio to fucking death. “No, Vonnie.”

  She blinked up at him at his harsh tone, but he needed to make her understand. “But I—”

  “When shit gets weird or wonky, I need you to follow my instructions to the letter.” Christ! Was he scaring her further, making too much out of what had gone down? “Do you read me?”

  Her arched eyebrows lifted even higher as she seemed to struggle to keep up with him or maybe it was because he’d used military-speak out of habit. “Read, what?”

  “Do you understand?”

  She shrugged and took in her own lungful of air. “Understand? Yeah. Agree? Not at fucking all.”

  Staring at her for a few heartbeats, he pulled her into his chest, not too tightly because of the dog, but enough so he could both give and receive comfort. “Works for me.”

  “Can I call the cops now?”

  “In a minute,” he murmured closing his eyes as he willed his heart to slow and his muscles to relax. Wrapping himself in the peachy smell of her skin and hair, of her body’s hills and valleys, Rio took a moment to enjoy the feel of her against him. When the need to take things further began to pull at him, he dropped his arms and took a step back, covering his moves by putting his weapon back in its holster.

  “Now?” she whispered on a much calmer note than she’d used earlier.

  Christ, she was a pistol!

  “Yeah, Vons. Now.”

  *.*.*.*.*

  I gotta say, seeing Rio go all commando and stuff as he…erm, we, secured my space was more than eight kinda ways of cool, although he read me the riot act afterward. All because he didn’t like the fact I’d accompanied him as he did so.

  Big whoop!

  And even though I knew he expected me to fall into line with his commanding edicts and stuff, I’d do the same again if afforded the opportunity.

  But I did follow one of his demands after calling 9-1-1.

  The one about not touching anything.

  Although it was hella hard not to—not in the whole of what had been mangled, broken and destroyed in my place while we’d been gone. Even my fridge had been emptied, all the containers and packages thrown to the floor. What kind of thief searches somebody’s damn refrigerator, for god’s sake? I mean I understood the trashing of my living room, my office even.

  But my kitchen?

  For that matter, why’d whoever-it-was avoided the bed and bath rooms? Not that I had anything of real value if they were looking for shit to pawn in order to feed a drug habit.

  But still.

  My jewelry box was on my dresser, right next to Mr. Buttons but it appeared the dumb fucks hadn’t even crossed the threshold to investigate what kind of gems I may or may not have had in my possession.

  A movement at the door caught my eye and I waved the two officers inside as my eyes searched for and found Rio, standing by my sliding glass door, facing away as if looking out into the dark. “Come in. I’m Veronica James.”

  In less than thirty minutes, the two police-people (one Officer Gianetta and his female partner, Gutierrez) started making moves to leave. “I put your report number on the back of my card,” the male portion of GPD’s duo stated. “Get us that list of missing items and we’ll make sure to add it into the database of stolen goods. You’ll also need it to file an insurance claim.”

  Rio seemed to come out of his deep thoughts and finally spoke. “Wait…what? You aren’t gonna get the team out to dust for fingerprints?”

  Gianetta and Gutierrez exchanged a long look. A look I didn’t like in the least.

  “In instances of break-ins or stolen property, it’s not normal procedure to—”

  As he’d done with me earlier, Rio didn’t allow the man to finish. “Don’t give a good goddamn about procedures. This doesn’t read as a simple B&E just in the effort to rip someone off. This seems fucking personal, don’t you think?”

  Holding out a hand while reaching for his phone, Rio placed a call. “Max? Sorry to interrupt, but I gotta sitch here. Vonnie’s place was broken into tonight while we were at the concert. Yep. Shit destroyed like the high poobah’s place in Fallujah. Got the cops here but they’re not even gonna dust for prints. Uh-huh. Yeah. You gotta ‘in’ with the chief? Okay. We’ll wait for his call.”

  I glanced at the officers and saw their eyes kept going from Rio to each other’s as he spoke. Guess the four of us were gonna be working a holding pattern for at least a few minutes anyway. Looking into the kitchen, I assessed the damage before offering, “Does anyone want coffee while we wait?”

  *.*.*.*.*

  Rio tried yet another position on Vonnie’s version of a sofa, unable to find a way to comfortably accommodate his feet and head at the same time. Though it probably fit her to a ‘T’.

  It had taken a good hour before the fingerprint specialist from GPD showed with his kit of powder and brushes. Then another couple of hours after all the police personnel had taken their leave and he’d assisted his spitfire in putting her home to rights.

  But they’d done it.

  Enough so she thought she could sleep.

  Which, despite both his and the cops arguments, was in her own bed. They’d advised her to stay away from her digs for a few days, citing whoever had broken in might be back.

  Agreeing with their reasoning, Rio had ordered her to pack a bag so she could join him at his hotel for a few days. But do you think she’d listen to their voices of reason? To professionals who more than knew the kind of horrible shit humans could and would do to others without blinking an eye?

  Hell no.

  That’d be too easy.

  Easy for her maybe, he thought, kicking out and turning again on her frickin’ hard as shit couch.

  But just as he’d stopped, he heard her bedroom door open and the sound of her soft foot-falls coming his way before they veered off to the kitchen. The over-the-stove vent-light clicked on and he watched as she reached for a cup, filled it with water and placed it in the microwave.

  Interesting, but not surprising she couldn’t sleep either. After a break-in, a victim typically felt vulnerable and unsettled until they fell back into the soothing rhythms of their routine. Rio had seen it time and time again in his time with the Rangers. And it hurt his heart his little one was going through that crap.

  When she finally turned his way, he made sure she knew he wasn’t sleeping. “You okay, princess?”

  “Yeah,” she answered, her face as somber as her soft voice. “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

  He let those words hover and dissipate before he spoke again. “You didn’t.”

  “I’m making chamomile, if you want some.”

  He didn’t know what chamomile was, but if she was offering something besides a freak out, count him in. “Sure.”

&n
bsp; Watching her move, silhouetted in the weak light made Rio’s heart take up an out of cadence beat as the flesh between his legs started to stir. She was beautiful, but not in a way that was obvious. It was in the way she moved, the surety as she inhabited her space (whatever space she was in) and that damn fierce spirit which lit her up from the inside.

  Throwing his legs over the side, Rio came to a sitting position, carefully arranging his blanket to hide the erection she’d caused. As she made his way to him, handing him a matching mug before taking a seat on the coffee table, she grinned.

  “So much for making you think I lead a calm life, huh?” Bending her multi-colored head to her drink, he considered her words. With all her ‘won’t’s and can’t’s’ he was getting the idea his little Vonnie was a bit on the sensitive side, even though she hid it pretty damned good behind a amazingly thick veneer of I-can-do-it-myself.

  Sipping from his own cup after giving it a sniff and deciding whatever chamomile was it smelled good, he considered his words before replying. “Nobody does, babe. Let’s face it, life is like a carnival. Each and every goddamned day. You just never know what the next turn along the midway is gonna hold.”

  Staring at him over the rim of her cup which was held in a two-handed grip, she nodded and smiled softly. “I like that.”

  And his heart again went off-beat, his ever-inconvenient hard-on flexing as their eyes connected.

  “But…” she started, and Rio made a point of giving her time to speak. Something he’d never done with anyone else that he knew of, never in his life. “Who and why would someone do this to me?”

  “Wreck your place, you mean?”

  “Yeah. I mean, I totally get some druggie looking to score a few items to trade in for cash. But to rip up my photos? Empty my fridge?” She shook her head and took another swallow. “It just doesn’t compute.”

  Putting his cup on the nearest end-table, Rio reached to take the mug from her hands. Then slowly, deliberately, he slid his fingers to her bottom to capture the cheeks of her ass, sliding her body to the edge the table before bringing her up and across.