Page 48 of A Bond Beyond Blood (The Butcher’s Daughter Trilogy #1)

J ack

Two days passed before we spoke of the thing we weren’t speaking of . Two whole days of not addressing the elephant in the room.

In our avoidance, the elephant had grown to be about the size of three vampires. Not as big as an adult elephant, no, more like a baby, or maybe even a teenager.

Still a bitch to tiptoe around, though.

But I’d been through worse. Avoidance was nowhere near as terrifying as actually addressing the issue.

Vinny had been quiet for the past few days. The man was a bit of a brooder, but I’d known him long enough to know he’d either work through his shit on his own or make me face the music.

Gannon was coming over in a bit for a movie night, and my nerves were notched up to ten. Vinny was allowing us space to figure this shit out between us, but I know it ate at him.

It had to, right?

He loved me. Wanted me. Hell, he was acutely possessive of me in an adorable and sometimes annoying way.

.. surely that meant that he didn’t like Gannon hanging around.

And... I swear I had to have mistaken it, but there was a moment that night, amid the claiming, when I could have sworn I hadn’t been the only one of us turned on by the idea of three—

“Motherfucker!” I cursed when I sliced into the log of coppa and nicked my finger.

Vinny was by my side in a heartbeat, staring at the trickle of blood. “Sweet girl.” He lifted my hand to his lips, then sucked the blood from my cut, a hint of crimson ringing his dark brown irises.

His tongue flicked over the pad of my finger and I shivered involuntarily.

Vinny winked, then dropped my hand, picking up the knife to finish slicing the meat.

“That’s what I get for making charcuterie for men who don’t eat.”

His head lifted and his gaze met mine, a wicked glint in his eye. “Oh, I eat , little Fiorino. Or have you forgotten?”

I rolled my lips to keep from giggling. There he is. Shaking my head, I whispered, “I haven’t forgotten.”

Vinny’s eyes narrowed. “Maybe I should remind you anyway, just in case. Wouldn’t want to slack on taking care of you.”

I frowned at the hint of snark in his voice, then sighed. “Okay.”

“Okay?” His eyes flashed with excitement. “My girl wants a reminder?” He reached for me and I danced backward, fists lifting into peek-a-boo stance automatically. Vinny quirked a brow.

“We should talk.” I dropped my hands to my sides and leaned back against the opposite counter.

Vinny pursed his lips, crossing his arms over his chiseled chest. “We could. Or—”

“Vinny,” I said on a sigh.

“Come here.” He crooked a finger at me and I stepped into his open arms. “What’s on your mind?”

“Are you...” I closed my mouth, then sputtered, “Are you serious?”

His brow furrowed. “Yes?”

“You don’t know what’s on my mind?” Searching his gaze, I tried to step backwards but he tightened his hold on me.

“I have my suspicions.” He leaned forward to place a soft kiss on the tip of my nose. “But, trust me when I say this, Jacqueline, you don’t need to worry about me.”

I scoffed. “You’ve been quiet for two days.”

He shrugged. “You’ve been quiet for two days. I was giving you space.”

My mouth fell open on another scoff. “Vinny.”

“Jacqueline.”

I groaned. “You’re not mad at me?”

He barked out a laugh. “Mad at you? For, what, exactly? Being human?” He tilted his head. “Seems an unfair thing to blame you for, doesn’t it? Kind of out of your control.”

“ Human , Vinny? That’s not what this is about. This is about me. Me being...” I huffed. “I don’t know, greedy .” Awful . “I have a perfect boyfriend right in front of me, and I can’t for the life of me let my ex go—” At his wide grin, I stopped talking.

“Perfect?”

With a growl, I shoved out of his arms and stepped backwards, putting space between us. “You’re impossible.”

“And yet... perfect.” He splayed his hands in presentation.

Lifting up onto the counter, I dropped my head backwards with a loud sigh.

“Fine. Let’s do this,” Vinny said, and I held my breath. “I’m fucking livid over the way Bristol put his hands all over you, Jacqueline.”

My head snapped forward and I met his gaze.

“And every time that kid tries to weasel himself back into your heart, I want to scream at you both because he doesn’t—for even a fucking second—deserve you.”

My bottom lip quivered. He was wrong; Gannon was a good man.

“Anytime either of them is within ten feet of you I have to fight the urge to rip them apart—or piss on your leg.”

I snorted. “Nice.”

He crossed the kitchen and stepped between my thighs, caging me in with his hands on either side of me. “But you , Jacqueline, you’re what keeps me together. You’re what makes me feint, rather than fight.”

I frowned, searching his gaze. “I don’t... what do you mean?”

Vinny’s gaze dropped to my mouth. “That soft curve of your lips when the kid is here.” He shakes his head, then meets my gaze again.

“It’s different from the way you smile for me.

” He lifts his gaze to meet mine once more.

“It’s beautiful; I crave it, even if it’s for him.

When he’s in the room I watch for those sweet smiles, the Gannon smiles that soften your face into something completely fucking mesmerizing.

” He brushes my hair back behind my ear.

“The way you backtalk Elias, a born vampire, a goddamn king ...” He chuckles, shaking his head.

“It’s the sexiest fucking thing. I can pull sass from that sweet mouth, Jacqueline, but not like he can.

” Vinny lifted one shoulder in a slow shrug.

“And, if I’m honest, I crave that, too.”

“I-I—” I stop, trying to gather my thoughts as emotion crushes against my windpipe. “I don’t mean to smile differently for Gannon, Vinny. I love you, I—”

His brows fell and he quickly leaned forward, pressing his lips to mine to silence my response.

I closed my eyes as he kissed me softly, tenderly, and tears slipped down my cheeks.

Vinny pulled back, licking the salt off his lips as he scanned the tear streaks.

“You misunderstand me.” Clasping my face in his hands, he held me firmly. “Listen, sweet girl, and listen good.”

I nodded, sniffling as more tears threatened to leak from my eyes.

He’d seen me look at Gannon one way and Eli another and he’d been hurt by both.

I’d hurt him. I knew I had, but being presented with it now cracked my heart open wide.

Selfish, selfish girl. How could I not be satisfied with this perfect man?

How could I even entertain the idea of Gannon coming back into my life or Eli wanting his own piece of me?

“I don’t crave those things for myself, Jacqueline.

I crave them because they come from you .

” He kissed a tear, catching it before it crested my cheekbone.

“I crave those sweet smiles for Gannon and those bright, sex-starved eyes you give Eli when you think I’m not looking because I fucking love seeing these other sides of you. ”

Shaking my head, I searched his gaze, still not catching on.

“If Gannon in your life makes you smile like that, who the fuck am I to object?”

I swallow hard.

“He loved you first, little Fiorino. He has a part of your past I could never touch and wouldn’t even dare try.”

“But—”

“No, listen. You love him and I love you—”

“I love you, too—”

“ Listen ,” he said on a growl. “You need to hear me so the next time you cry it’s not because I made you doubt me.

” His eyes searched mine. “I know I’m enough for you, Jacueline.

I do. I promise you that. I know your mind and your body, and now I get to know your sweet fucking heart.

And Gannon could be enough for you too. Only an idiot would deny that.

He’s like this perfect puzzle piece that fits against you seamlessly.

I could see it even before you forgave him.

Two peas in a pod, the two of you. If you want him, really want him, I’m not going to stand in the way of that. ”

“But I want you, too,” I said, the words breaking on a sob. Was he breaking up with me? “It’s so selfish —”

Vinny growled, leaning forward to nip at my bottom lip roughly. “You have me, you stubborn girl. I’m not going anywhere. How many times do I have to tell you?”

Frowning, I tried to swipe at my cheeks, but his hands were still in the way, holding me right where he wanted me.

“Stop.”

I dropped my hands and he leaned forward, licking the tears from my face and leaving soft kisses in their place.

“Want me. Want Gannon. Hell, want us both at the same time, and I’ll make sure we’re both on our knees for you—”

My breath caught at the image that conjured in my mind.

Vinny’s lips twitched, reading my dirty thoughts on my face. Sometimes he made me wonder if Eli wasn’t the only one with mindreading abilities.

“Hell, Elias Bristol could offer you the world, kingdoms and thrones, for fuck’s sake, and if you want that, too.

..” He trailed off, staring at the ceiling above my head, then shook his head.

“Nah, scratch that. I’m not going to let him have an easy shot at you.

I do have some limits. He can work for it. ”

I laughed, the sound still bordering on a sob.

“But hear me when I say this, Jacqueline, if being loved by me and Gannon, and even some arrogant fucking asshole like Elias Bristol is what puts smile after smile after beautiful goddamn smile on that face I can’t get enough of?

” He paused, searching my eyes. “Then I’ll bring them to you on a silver platter. Just say the word, sweet girl.”

“Oh, Vinny.”

“Don’t get all soft on me now, I’m not promising that one of them won’t have an apple in his mouth on that platter, but—”

I surged forward, claiming his lips in a fierce kiss, melting into his embrace and fitting against his body so perfectly I wondered how I could have room for anyone else. In my life or in my heart.

But then someone knocked on the door, and my pulse leapt with joy at the prospect of seeing Gannon, and I realized that maybe I had enough love in my heart for both of them.