Page 65 of Salvatore
Looking at anything that reminded him of his father was hard. Looking at any other made man in the family was hard. Looking at his girlfriend, Lake, was hard. Hell, just looking at his reflection in the mirror was hard. But worst of all, looking at his bosses, Dante and now Lucca, was the hardest of all.
He should have been labeled as a betrayer and killed right alongside his father, yet he hadn’t. Dante, Lucca, Nero, and everyone else in the family had shown him forgiveness, because they’d said there was simply nothing to forgive. Telling him that they themselves hadn’t known the extent of Vinny’s betrayal, so how could he have known? But he should have.
Vincent was dumb.
Naïve.
Talkative.
Idiotic.
Charming.
He was a funny yet endearing kind of person who joked way too much in life,but not anymore.Nothing in life was funny, or a joke, and he was, most of all, no longer a charming, naïve, talkative idiot who was dumb enough to miss the obvious.
Now, as he ran miles around downtown, in dangerous places, hoping for someone to give him a reason to kill, after months, his prayers had finally been answered.
So, imagine his surprise yet again to find them to be answered right in the Casino Hotel …
Valerie had been internally screaming for help as she was forced to leave the Casino Hotel, knowing Edmond had a trained gun right at her back. Without her bat or a weapon of her own, any false move meant she’d be dead. If it hadn’t been for the crowded casino, she’d at least tried to fight back like she did with Gerard, but she hadn’t been comfortable risking the lives of bystanders.
She’d kept her head forward while her eyes scanned the casino for anyone she knew who could help her, but with not a single made man in sight, or a customer willing to even look up from their slot machine, she’d known she was shit out of luck.
Trying to desperately think under pressure of what to do, she had devised her best plan of taking Officer Daniels and Sal’s advice of running like hell. Sure, she’d probably get shot, but she’d have a better chance of it not being fatal or paralyzing her from the waist down.
As soon as she’d crossed the threshold of the Casino Hotel door’s, she had planned to run, but that plan had gone to hell in a hand basket when a man in a gray hoodie, who had been drenched in sweat, bumped into her and sent the gun at her back pinching into her skin with no doubt of it going to leave a bruise.
The strong man had caught her from falling, making Valerie practically curse out loud. She would have preferred that, as it could have given her enough of an element of surprise to take the gun from Edmond. But, as the man had held her steady for only a brief moment, Valerie had caught that baby blue gaze under his low hood that was unmistakable.
Vincent.
And in that second, her gamer brain had known exactly what to do.
“Sorry.”
Vincent had muttered harshly once he’d grabbed a hold of the woman to steady her. He had almost thought it was a boy at first, only deciding to catch her once he realized he was a she. He wanted a reason to fight someone, but he drew the line at women and children.
His hood had been so low from his run out in the cold that he didn’t bother enough to look before he jogged through the open door. Nor had Vincent bothered to even look the woman fully in the face. It wasn’t until he felt the rigid woman in his arms that he finally decided to give her a real look.
It was Valerie, the girl he had met yesterday at Sal’s place. If he hadn’t already met her, he would have thought nothing of the frightful look she gave him. He thought the obnoxious gamer held anything in her but fear.
He almost said her name, but then her lips mouthed a quiet word to him that made him realize something was really, really wrong.
Immediately, he picked up the strange man at her back, and his instincts let her pass right beside him as if he didn’t know her. That was when he noticed the outline of a gun through the man’s pocket at her back.
He walked only another foot before he turned, certain it was safe to watch them leave the safety of the Casino Hotel. He watched them carefully through the glass as they slowly crossed the street, buying himself time before he thought it was safe enough to follow behind.
Valerie Monroe was in serious trouble, but luckily for her, Vincent had been waiting for a fucking day like today.
The only problem?As he took his headphones out of his ears, he could only hope he had understood what she had mouthed correctly …
Sal and Kent entered the casino, trying their best not to look suspicious as they headed for the elevators in not too much of a rush that would draw attention to them. They had no idea if Edmond was working alone or not, so they had to play it carefully. If her old boss knew he was about to be cornered, he didn’t doubt, like any deranged animal, he would bite. However, knowing Valerie was running out of time with each passing minute, he slightly picked up his speed.
“Her office was on the tenth floor,” Kent announced as they were almost to the elevators.
Sal nodded, not caring how Kent knew that at this point. He only knew that he somehow trusted the untrustworthy man where Valerie was concerned. He only hoped that both of their instincts were correct that she would have taken him to her old office.
Turning the corner sharply into the hallway that held the elevators, Sal ran right into a man with a gray hoodie. It wasn’t until the man turned his head that Sal instantly recognized him.
