Page 36 of A Bond Beyond Blood (The Butcher’s Daughter Trilogy #1)
G annon
One week in and I already hated this new year.
I couldn’t sleep—what else was new?—so I was forced to listen to a Staten Island Ricci make my girl come just a few yards away from me, then I got to sit here and dwell on that experience all damn night.
By the time five o’clock rolled around, I finally forced myself off the couch and started a pot of coffee percolating, then checked the fridge to make sure Jackie had everything she needed for her morning caffeine fix.
“It’s going to take more than a pot of coffee to earn her forgiveness.”
I closed my eyes briefly, then turned around.
Vinny stood in the entry of the kitchen, dressed in just a pair of sweats and an ugly fucking mug, looking at me like I was less than the gum stuck to the bottom of his favorite kicks.
“Whatever, man.” I shook my head and opened the cabinet where Jackie stored the mugs, then grabbed her favorite one and set it on the counter. “I don’t want to start shit.”
“Too late, kid. Just being here starts shit.”
I braced my hands on the counter and tried to pretend he wasn’t staring daggers at my back.
“Why should you be our problem?” he asked. “Seems like you’re old enough to fend for yourself, yeah? What are you, twenty? Twenty-one?”
“Twenty-one. And yes, I can fend for myself.” I tried not to growl as I turned to face him, but it was a lesson in self-control. He was on my last fucking nerve. “That was some show you put on last night.”
His lips curled into a slow, arrogant grin. “Thanks, man. Appreciate it.”
“Was that only for my benefit? I think Jackie would be pretty pissed—”
I blinked and Vinny was suddenly in front of me. Thankfully, he wasn’t dangling my ass over the balcony this time, though at least now I knew I’d land on my feet if he actually tossed my ass out.
“Let’s get one thing perfectly fucking clear,” he said in a low, threatening tone. “ Everything I do for that girl is for her benefit.”
“Right. It just happened to be loud enough for her ex-boyfriend to hear, which... what, helps get me out of the way?”
“You’d have to be in the way for that theory to work, and you have absolutely no significance here.” He shrugged, crossing his arms over his bare chest. “But if you’re intent on lingering when Jacqueline has told you to go, you’re going to hear things you don’t want to hear.”
I narrowed my eyes and asked the question burning in my mind even though I was sure I didn’t want to know the answer. “You bit her, didn’t you?”
“I did.”
Hunger tightened my stomach at the thought of sinking my teeth into Jackie, hot and heady as it burned up my throat, but then jealousy so bitter I could taste it on my tongue followed the feeling immediately after.
Jealousy and something else, something deeper and darker that curled my hands into fists. She was mine, should be mine.
Vinny caught the motion of my hands and smirked. “Careful, kid. I’m not the one.”
I knew that. Even if he wasn’t a vampire—and one who’d been around far longer than me—he was a Ricci.
Vinny Ricci, to be exact, middle weight champion and all around badass.
The thing was, I didn’t want to be enemies with this guy.
In another world, another life, I would have worshipped at his feet.
And Jackie cared about him, that much was evident. The last thing I wanted to do was make things hard for her. She’d been through enough. If she was happy with this guy, I had to be happy too.
I inclined my head slightly in deference, then turned and walked into the living room.
“I don’t want to start shit, man.” When I plopped down on the couch, a sigh tore out of me.
I’d never felt more alone. I wasn’t wanted here, by him or by Jackie, and I wasn’t welcome at home.
Elias had given me a sneak peek into what having a maker might have been like, then discarded me like last week’s manigot .
I had no one who missed me or wanted me around.
And it was my fault.
I’d fucked Jackie over in her time of need and I’d scared the shit out of my mom so royally that she’d never forgive me. And the woman detested vampires, so there were two things working against me.
After a minute, Vinny huffed with annoyance, then walked into the living room. “Listen, kid, we need to figure this out. I don’t want to upset her; she’s been through enough. Why can’t you go home?”
I snorted. “My mom is afraid of me and hates vampires.”
He nodded. “Hard to overcome that. Any other relatives? Friends?”
“There’s no one. Most of our old friends are off at different schools, and my relatives are scattered, either in Italy or up and down the east coast..
.” I tilted my head back and closed my eyes.
The problem was, when I broke Jackie’s heart last year, I kinda fell off a bit.
The partying was so out of control for a minute there that I pushed people out or burned bridges beyond repair.
“Let’s just say that Jackie wasn’t the only one who, upon seeing me again, immediately told me to kick rocks. ”
“Have you been staying with Elias this whole time?”
I nodded without opening my eyes. “Since Christmas. He saw me come here and then followed me.”
The time spent with the vampire king had been the first time in a year that I hadn’t felt alone or unwanted; even though he was obviously annoyed with me half the time, he seemed almost fond of me.
It felt like... like I had a friend. Then he dropped me on Jackie like I was some unwanted goldfish or a stray dog.
“You can stay at my place,” Vinny said, whipping my head up.
“What?”
He shrugged, then motioned toward me. “I have an apartment above the gym with a perfectly decent pull-out couch in the living room.”
Frowning, I watched him warily for a moment. “You’d... what’s the catch?”
“The catch is I’d do anything for that girl in there. As much as your presence seems to upset Jacqueline, I think that kicking you out onto the street would upset her more.”
“You really love her, huh?”
“I do.”
With a sigh, I nodded. “Me too.”
“Well, don’t.”
Although Vinny couldn’t compel me because I was ninety-nine-point-nine-nine-nine percent sure that he wasn’t my maker—or a vampire royal —the single word had enough power behind it to startle me.
I swallowed hard and fought to find a response.
I couldn’t just stop loving Jackie Fiorino when I’d loved her my whole entire life.
She was a part of me, interwoven through the very makeup of my being—
“Understand me when I say this, Gannon.” He waited for me to meet his gaze before he continued.
“I picked up the pieces you left behind— all of them—and I won’t do that again.
” Vinny shook his head and pointed down the hall.
“That girl in there isn’t the one you knew.
She’s stronger, bolder, and doesn’t deserve bullshit or grief from some punk ass kid that didn’t know what he had until he lost it.
” He snorted derisively. “I knew she was special the second I laid eyes on her and now I get to show her every day. Every goddamn day, you hear me? If you think I’m giving that up without a fight you can’t possibly win, you’re dumber than you look. ”
I grit my teeth but didn’t respond. He obviously needed to get this off his chest, and arguing would get me nowhere. I had to show Jackie I was sorry, that I’d changed. Arguing with her new boyfriend wouldn’t do a damn thing for my cause.
But frankly, whatever he thought he had going with Jackie didn’t stand a chance compared to nearly twenty years of friendship and love.
He narrowed his eyes as if reading my thoughts. “Whatever intentions you have of weaseling your way back into her heart, let them go.”
Not a chance.
He tilted his head as Jackie stirred down the hall. “Get lost for a bit, will ya? I want some time with my girl.”
My mouth dropped open. “Where... what am I supposed to do?”
“Take a fucking walk. Go shopping. Visit the zoo. Fuck if I know or care, just get gone.” He turned and strode down the hall and I pushed myself off the couch.
It wasn’t much, but the offer to stay in his apartment was too good to pass up—and the best offer I could hope for, really.
The last thing I wanted to do was piss this guy off, even though the desire to strangle him was great.
So, reluctantly, I grabbed my leather jacket and left Jackie’s apartment.