by Komal Kant
“Of course I’m trouble. I’m Vincent Madden.” Vincent’s eyes twinkled as he leaned in closer. “But don’t change the subject. It’s okay to find me attractive. Most women do.” He gave Mariah a wink and I swear, she actually sighed dreamily.
Feeling flustered, I took a step forward, unwilling to back down. “Well, the fact that you’re in a criminal motorcycle gang makes you unattractive to me. I’m one woman who doesn’t find you attractive in the slightest.”
Vincent grinned. “Logically, you don’t find me attractive, but naturally you do.” He tilted his head closer until he was so close, I felt like his lips were on me. “And, you’re seventeen now, but when you turn eighteen—when you’re a woman—you won’t be able to resist me.”
My eyes fluttered to his lips, and my heart was doing cartwheels. We were silent, sizing the other up, trying not to break eye contact. It was a silent staring match and whoever broke away was obviously scared of feeling something and, heck, I was feeling a lot of things.
The one thing I wasn’t feeling was fear. Or repulsion. Or disgust.
Vincent didn’t make me feel any of the things I’d felt two years ago. He made me feel warm, like somehow a part of him and a part of me just clicked into place. Which was strange because this guy was a Madden and he was definitely not the kind of guy I should feel comfortable around.
Luckily, Mariah broke up the stare down for us. “Jeez, get a room you two. You can stop screwing each other with your eyes now.”
And the embarrassment just kept coming.
I snapped my eyes away from Vincent and placed my hands on my hips as I faced Mariah. “Ray! Seriously, do you ever think about anything else?”
Mariah stuck her tongue out at me. “Hey, we were all thinking it. I’ll leave you two alone so you can continue your googly eye, staring thing. Call me tonight, okay?” She grinned at Vincent. “Thank you for not stabbing me or taking my money.” Despite the situation, a laugh escaped me as I watched Mariah walk away to where her car was parked around the corner.
When I turned back to Vincent, he was still watching me. Clearing his throat, he approached his bike and threw me the helmet.
“She’s…interesting,” he mused as he climbed onto the bike.
“That’s definitely one word to describe her, yes.” I climbed on behind him, wrapping my arms tightly around his firm, muscled body.
He gunned the engine and we didn’t speak as he headed to Penthill. The next thirty minutes went by in a blur of trees and fields. I loved the rural landscape that came with the outlying area of Penthill. Not that Statlen was a huge city or anything, but I liked the farms and dirt roads out here. Statlen was more of a suburban town; Penthill had a country feel to it.
I loved how I didn’t need to say or even think anything. There was just a sense of being alive on the back of this bike with Vincent that I had never felt before.
When Vincent pulled up into this driveway, I wasn’t sure if I was quite ready to get off.
“You good, Stelle?” he asked, turning his head a little so I could see his profile. His lips were inches away from mine, and I could actually feel the air passing from his mouth.
Vincent’s dark eyes searched mine and it was like being pulled in by a magnet. There was an unspoken connection between us that made shivers erupt in the pit of my stomach. If he touched me, I was sure I would fall apart.
I felt myself nodding, my eyes were fluttering shut, and my mouth was drawing closer and closer to Vincent’s. I was trying to keep my thoughts pure, but I’d never met a guy like Vincent before and those lips of his were tempting me.
Then Vincent turned his head and swore under his breath, breaking the connection between us. “I told them to stay away when you’re here.”
What on earth was he talking about?
I was about to shoot him a strange look, but that’s when my eyes landed on the eight bikes neatly parked out the front of Vincent’s house that we’d both failed to notice earlier on.
“What’s going on?” I asked, hopping off the bike and approaching the house uncertainly.
I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt Vincent press his hand into the small of my back. He was only a few inches taller than me, so I only had to raise my head a little to meet his gaze.
There was a sheepish expression on his face, and he ran his free hand over his long hair. “Well, the boys kinda want you to cook for them.”
“They what?”
Vincent shot me a grin as he led me up the front steps. “What can I say? Your mac and cheese won them over.”
Chapter Sixteen
Vincent
The look of annoyance on Dylan’s face made me burst out laughing.
His scowl only deepened and he folded his arms across his chest, not impressed that I wasn’t taking him seriously. “It’s really not funny, Vin. Estella was my friend first and now everyone wants to be friends with her.”
Goat started laughing as well and clapped Dylan on the back. “God, you’re a possessive bastard, Dil. Already trying to keep her all to yourself.”
There was loud bang, and we all jumped. Estella had slammed a large jar down on the kitchen table and was glaring at Goat. “Put a dollar in the jar!”
Goat stared at her, startled. “W-what?”
“Put a dollar in the jar! I’m sick of you guys swearing in front of Dylan!” She placed both hands on her hips to show she wasn’t messing around. She was pissed.
Goat looked at me for help, but I shrugged. “You heard her.” A smile crept onto my face as Goat caved, pulling out his wallet and placing a dollar bill into the jar.
“Shit. She’s scary,” he said to me in a low voice, “I wouldn’t wanna get on the wrong side of her.”
Estella spun around, shoving the jar in front of Goat’s guilty face. “I heard that!”
The guys started laughing as Goat groaned and dropped another dollar bill into the jar. Estella somehow managed to glare at everyone in the room. “Let that be a warning to the rest of you. You swear, you put a dollar in the jar.” Her glare ended on me and she gave me a pointed look as if I was the one to blame for all this.
Normally, a woman talking to me like that would’ve pissed me off—Sarah had definitely done a good job of pissing me off last night—but Estella didn’t have that effect on me. As stupid and lame as it sounded, I was in absolute awe of her, especially after the way she’d handled herself around the boys last week and tonight.
It seemed so natural for her to fall into this role of taking charge and taking care of everyone. Warmth just radiated from her and made everyone want to be close to her. The guys had willingly volunteered to help her cook and were now trying to find enough plates and forks for everyone.
My home had never felt more like a home. And, it was all because of Estella.
There was nothing I wanted to do more than sweep her up in my arms and plant a kiss on the pout that filled her lips. I’d wanted to kiss her so bad when she’d been sitting on bike, but I’d made myself stop before I did something stupid.
Shit. I shouldn’t even be thinking about her like that. Estella was off limits to everyone, including me.
But as I watched her walk back over the stove where she was getting Topher and Three to stir the large pot of chili, I couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d somehow managed to creep into every part of me without me even noticing.
“I’m not finished talking to you,” Dylan said, still scowling at me.
“Huh?” I’d almost forgotten that my kid brother was standing there, thoroughly annoyed with me.
“Estella was my secret,” Dylan said, not looking impressed that I hadn’t been paying attention to him.
“Okay, I’m sorry, Kid,” I said, feigning defeat. “But you know what? Secrets should be shared. Especially good ones.”
Dylan still didn’t seem convinced, but before he could argue with me, Tyson strolled into the kitchen, a grin plastered across his face. “What the fuck is that amazing smell
? I’m fucking hungry!”
He was still dressed in his boxers and his hair was a mess. It was six o’clock in the afternoon and the asshole had just gotten out of bed.
“Chili,” Cohen said. “Estella cooked.”
“You want?” Riley asked, as he searched for plates and bowls.
“Fuck yeah!” Tyson said, walking over to where I stood with Dylan and Goat.
“Three dollars,” I said, pointing to where Estella stood with the jar in hand.
“What the fuck? I have to pay to eat in my own house?” Tyson stared around at Estella, not realizing that he’d just added another dollar to his swear debt.
“Swear jar,” Goat responded. “And you owe four dollars now.”
“What the f—“ Tyson caught himself before he spewed another expletive. Then he patted his boxers, frowning. He looked around at Goat sheepishly. “Can I get a loan?”
Muttering under his breath, Goat pulled out a five dollar bill and put it in the jar. Estella gave him a confused look. “I only needed four dollars. Do you want change?”
“Hold on.” Goat turned to Tyson and shot him a glare. “You owe me, asshole.”
Estella’s hand shot to her mouth, and she gasped, and the guys started cracking up at the entire situation. Goat turned back to her with a winning smile. “I don’t think I’ll be needing that change.”
“Can we eat now?” Three said from where he was still standing by the stove. “I’m fuc-fluttering hungry!”
“Yeah, I’m so fingering hungry, too,” Hudson chimed in.
“Riley, give us some motherfloating plates already,” West said, grinning at Estella who was shooting everyone looks of disapproval.
Finally, she sighed in defeat and placed the jar down on the counter before busying herself with serving everyone a bowl or plate of chili herself. Once we all grabbed a plateful of food—Estella had cooked some rice too—we all found a place to sit. Some of the guys sat on the floor, others preferred to stand. Estella, Tyson, Dylan, and me sat at the kitchen table, and there was silence all round as everyone stuffed their faces.
I noticed Estella glance around, a look of disbelief filling her face, before her eye caught mine and she gave me a small smile. Even when she started eating, I continued watching her, because there was nothing else in this room that my eyes would rather look at than her.
It was hard to explain exactly why I was looking at her. Let’s just call it interest. Yeah, that was the word. She was interesting. There were no other feelings involved aside from interest. I kept telling myself that as I finally lowered my gaze and stuffed a spoonful of chili and rice into my mouth.
“This is sooo good,” Todd declared, finishing first. He glanced over at Estella expectantly. “Can I have seconds?”
“Sure you can.” Estella was beaming, her features lit up, making her even more beautiful than she already was. I wanted to freeze that smile and take it with me everywhere. “I’m so glad you like it. Does anyone else want seconds?”
“Yes!” the guys chorused together.
Estella stood up, refilled plates, handed out drinks, and once everyone had finished eating, she ordered West and Three to do the dishes while she helped Dylan with his homework.
The rest of us went outside to smoke so that Estella could tutor Dylan in peace. The first thing the guys had to say to me was how amazing Estella was. They’d met her twice now and she was obviously making a good impression on them.
“I didn’t get a chance to ask you before; are you with her?” Topher asked, leaning against my truck.
“Nah,” I said, and some pathetic part of me hated that I wasn’t. She wasn’t a quick fuck; she was the kind of girl who came into your life and completely changed it.
“She’s fucking gorgeous,” Todd said, as though I didn’t already know.
“But what’s with the old lady clothes?” Cohen wanted to know. “She always dress like that, Vin?”
I nodded, taking a long drag of my cigarette, letting the smoke settle around my insides. “Yeah, I dunno why she dresses like that.”
“Who cares?” Riley said, pulling out a flask from the pocket of his jacket and taking a swig before passing it along. “She’s gorgeous, she can cook, and she’s a good girl. What else would you want? If no one wants her, I’m game.”
Anger boiled through me, and I reached over and grabbed Riley by the collar of his jacket. “You touch her and you die. You got it?” I knew the way he treated girls and there was no way in hell I was going to let him do the same to Estella.
Riley’s eyes darted left and right as fear shot through his face. “V-vin, relax, I was kidding. I’m not interested.”
Two hands clamped down on my shoulders, and Goat and Tyson pulled me back. “Relax, Vin,” Tyson was saying, and when our eyes met, I could tell that he was surprised by my reaction. He ran a nervous hand through his hair. “You sure you’re not with her? ‘Cos’ you’re sure as hell acting like it.”
I shook him off and took a step back, breathing heavily. What the fuck was wrong with me? Where had that reaction just come from? When had I become so protective of this girl who looked down on everything I stood for?
“It’s not that,” I lied. “Dylan warned me not to mess things up this time. I’ve scared off all his tutors and I don’t want the kid to be disappointed in me if I scare Estella off too. Trust me, she already hates me enough.”
“Good,” Tyson said, and there was a warning in his voice, “because you know Ryder wouldn’t want you getting serious about some girl. Especially when you have a big fight coming up. You can’t have any distractions, Vin. You know that, right? I’m supposed to take care of ya.”
It was always about what Ryder wanted. It was never about what the rest of us wanted. If Ryder said something, we all had to follow him blindly, regardless of whether he was right or wrong.
Fuck Ryder.
But that’s not what I said, even though the guys surrounding me had my back. This was my half of the gang; these were the guys who supported me. They were my friends. Even within our gang, there was a clear divide. There were the guys who believed that I should be leading the Madden gang. I was the prizefighter. I was the one who was unbeatable. I was the one who brought in a shitload of money.
Yet Ryder’s supporters believed that Ryder should head the gang because he was the one who’d created it. He was the oldest; he was the toughest; he was the cruelest. Ryder’s friends outnumbered mine in the gang. They were older and they were just dirtier. They had dirty ways of getting money out of people. They were the ones who’d started dealing drugs on the side. That was something I didn’t want to get involved in.
So there was the stupid silent split within our group, but no one ever did anything to try and fix it. It was probably always going to be there, but that was okay. I didn’t care about leading the gang; I just cared about having enough money to make sure Dylan got through school.
“Yeah, I know.” I felt like an asshole as my eyes sought out Riley. “I didn’t mean to get rough with you. Sometimes I just lose it because of stupid shit.”
Riley didn’t seem pissed at me, which surprised me. I figured he’d hate my sorry ass for being such a dick. “Hey, don’t worry about it. You like her; I get it.”
Some of the other guys snickered, and heat crept up my neck. I ignored him because I didn’t know what the fuck to say to that. Was that why I was acting like this? Because I liked her? That couldn’t be the reason. It had to be something else.
“Hey,” Goat said, walking away a few steps and gesturing for me and Tyson to join him. “I saw Ruby on Sunday.”
I didn’t respond. I didn’t know what a normal reaction to the situation was, so I just kept my mouth shut.
Tyson spoke instead, leaning forward eagerly. “Really? Where’d you see her?” He tried to act like he didn’t care in front of Ryder, but I knew there was a huge part of him that wanted Ruby back in his life.
As for me, I was too far gone. Despite the many
things I didn’t agree with Ryder on, this wasn’t one of them. He was right to keep Ruby out of our lives. We didn’t owe her anything.
Goat flicked his cigarette onto the ground and put it out with a shoe. “She was at the bar in town where she always is.”
I snorted. “Where else would she be?”
“Look, I wouldn’t normally bring it up.” Goat’s expression turned serious. “But she didn’t look good, Vin. She had a black eye and there were bruises on her arms. Some asshole is really beating the crap out of her.”
Bunching up my fists, I tried not to react to his words, but there was a part of me that was really pissed off. I shouldn’t care, but I did. Why the fuck did I care?
“Do you know who she’s seeing?” Tyson asked, his voice shaking with anger.
Goat opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off.
“Why the fuck should we care, Son? She doesn’t give a damn about any of us.”
Tyson fell silent, his expression torn. I knew he wanted to argue with me, but somehow I had more of an influence over him, even though I was younger. I knew he wouldn’t say anything against me.
“So let’s just fucking drop this, okay?” The warning was clear in my voice and Tyson nodded, storming off in the direction of the creek.
I didn’t bother following him. He had to resolve his Ruby issues on his own. No one was going to fix them for him. He had to realize eventually that holding onto her was a sign of weakness.
Goat stared at Tyson’s retreating figure, looking stunned. “Shit, Vin. I’m sorry. I didn’t think-”
“It’s fine.” But a part of me wasn’t fine with it, and despite what I’d just said to Tyson, I had to know. “Who’s she seeing?”
Goat hesitated, clearly wondering if he should tell me or not. “There’s this guy who comes into the bar a lot—Mikey. He’s a total douchebag; beats up on all the women he sleeps with.”
The name sounded familiar. Ruby had mentioned that name the last time she’d been here. Her story of getting beaten up hadn’t stirred any sympathy from me because as usual, I thought she’d been spewing bullshit.
