Page 58 of Kept

“Get your fucking hands off her right goddamned now.” Vincent’s voice is dangerously calm. I see his gun press against LeBlanc’s sweaty temple. LeBlanc’s hands fall from my body and he steps back, wide eyes darting between me and the man holding the gun on him. The man that walked me to the bathroom swoops in from my other side and pulls me behind him, also holding a wicked looking handgun. He shuffles us back to the box and passes me off like a hot potato. He disappears back down the hallway to where we left Vincent.

Several minutes later, they both reappear, the guns tucked back in their holsters. Vincent holds his arm out, and I dart to his side. He hugs me and kisses the top of my head, whispering something in Italian. Our entire group starts towards the exit, back out to the alley. One of them makes a quick call in Italian, but it only lasts a few seconds. Once we reach the exterior door, the guys all draw their weapons again, and I try to keep my shit together. The first two seem satisfied with their inspection of the alley, and Vincent shows me into the idling SUV, the back door already open, Aldo in the driver’s seat.

This time, one of the others jumps in to ride shotgun. Vaguely, I wonder if that term is to be taken literally right now. Vincent makes a call. He’s speaking Italian, but I hear LeBlanc’s name mentioned, and what I think might be a curse.

Hanging up, he pulls me into his lap, sliding me easily across the leather seats. His chin is resting on my head, and I feel him take several deep breaths. Now is also the time where I realize I’m shaking like a chihuahua in a cold breeze.

“What happened, kitten?” he asks quietly.

I swallow. “The bathrooms have two entrances, and I got mixed up, so I came out on the far side. I was walking down the hall, and I heard a box open, and then someone yanked me by my hair and smashed me into the wall, and that’s about how you found me.”

“Do you know why?” he asks my head.

“I’m not sure.” I let out a sigh. “But I know him.”

Vincent’s body goes still. I swear I feel his heartbeat change pace. “How exactly do you know him, Sarah?” He spits the word out like it’s rotten in his mouth.

“What? Ew. He is a sponsor at the ballet, and he’s always coming onto me and trying to grab my butt when I walk by. The last show, he made a whole bunch of insinuations about how he was going to own me because he’s sponsoring me, and he knew creepy stuff like where my apartment was, so I threw my drink at him and cut up his face and ran away.”

Vincent’s body has relaxed, just a tiny bit.

I twist my head to look up at him. “That’s why Robert was taking me dancing the night you caught me, because I was so creeped out and disgusted after that sleazy jackass did that. Pompous jerk kept telling me how he’s such a ‘powerful man’.” I turn my head and make an exaggerated vomiting noise. “He gives Robert the creeps too, but the director says that the school needs his money, and he always insisted on talking to me after the shows and apparently implied that he would stop the money if I didn’t agree to be directly sponsored by him, which is fucking disgusting, and I told the director that he needs to remember that I am a dancer, not a hooker.”

I shiver, not one of the cold shivers, but the kind that happen and old ladies say it’s because someone must have walked on your grave in the future. “I hate him.”

Vincent tips my chin up and kisses my lips gently. “Thank you, kitten. Did he say anything to you?”

I sigh. “He just made a nasty remark about being involved with you.”

“Hmm.” Vincent nods, like I’ve just said the most sensible thing ever. “I imagine. He’s not a fan of mine.”

“Business?” I ask.

“Lack thereof. He’s a slimy bastard. Even the mafia has standards.” The corner of his lip quirks up, and I giggle, feeling some of the tension fall out of my body. I melt into his arms and lean my head on his chest. Vincent is rubbing gentle circles on my back.

“Sorry,” I tell him.

“I should have gone with you.”

“Vincent?” I ask, looking into his deep brown eyes.

“Hmm?”

“Thank you for saving me. Again.”

He leans down to whisper into my ear, his warm breath tickling down my neck, “Kitten, I’ll always save you. You’re mine.” Then he captures my lips with his for a soul-searing kiss that leaves me breathless.

CHAPTER 30

Vincent

When she hadn’t returned and I saw Leo knocking on the bathroom door, I felt the floor sink out from under me. I went straight through the ladies’ room, gun drawn, while he went around the side.

I may never get the image of LeBlanc choking Sarah against the wall out of my mind. Her panicked eyes, hyperventilating, his hand wrapped around her throat and covering her mouth so she couldn’t scream.

I’ve done a lot of bad things. I’ve used my gun many times. I’ve killed and I’ve retaliated. And nothing came close to what I felt right then. Fury, hatred, and terror boiling together. Only Sarah’s proximity to the bastard’s head kept him from getting shot then and there.

Only once Leo had Sarah safely around the corner did the higher-thinking portions of my brain start to kick back on.

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