Page 21 of Alive and Kicking
Cain’s lips roll in. “Umm, yeah…”
“Well, this is awkward,” Zane says, rocking back and forth on his heels.
“No more awkward than you’ve already made it,” Nox tells him with a disapproving glare on his face.
“How do I know you?” Vin asks, ignoring the other guys.
I roll my eyes at them and elbow my way through them all. “This is Cain Price. He helped arrest your family.”
Complete silence is what I’m met with. Then Vin throws his head back and laughs. I glance at Nic, who is looking at his brother like his head has just done a 360.
“I think I broke him,” I say softly.
Vin slaps a hand on Cain’s shoulder. “That’s great. Can I shake your hand? Better yet, can we take a photo together? I want to send it as a postcard to my grandparents.”
“Is psychological divergence a family trait you inherited from your mother’s side? Honestly your dad seems pretty normal at this point,” Cain says, looking at me.
I shrug my shoulders because I have no idea what he’s talking about. My dad is crazy. Did he forget the whole promising me to a rapist thing? I’m not anywhere near as bad as him. Or maybe he just forgot about all the horrible things the FBI haven’t been able to prove my dad did.
“So, are you dating one of these guys?” Nic asks, keeping his eyes on Zane.
I don’t blame him. If someone threatened to stab me, my eyes would be glued to them too. “They’re mine,” I tell him firmly.
Nic does a double take. “They?”
I smirk at him. “Yep. Plural. They’re mine.”
I turn a glare on one of the girls who had been surrounding the twins, and who now has her attention on Cain. She’s twirling her blonde hair around her finger, and she’s close to losing it if she doesn’t stop staring at him. Her hair and the finger. Cain turns a disinterested glare on the girl and she shrinks in on herself before quickly muttering an excuse to leave. Cain smirks at her retreating back, making me start to wonder if he just gets off on being an asshole.
“Sooo… You’re into a cradle robbing, pig?”Vin says in a droll voice.
Cain turns a glare on Vin, who has now switched from his buddy buddy vibe of a couple moments ago to the mafia leader he is.Well, this is going to end badly.
“Stop being an asshole. He hasn’t even used his twenty-four hours yet,” I tell him with a roll of my eyes.
I’m actually pretty upset by that fact. I kind of expected Cain to jump at the opportunity to have me for a full twenty-four hours all to himself. He’s kind of left me hanging at this point, and I’m starting to feel a little rejected.
“His twenty-four hours?” Vin questions.
“That’s not really relevant,” Nox cuts into the conversation, ending that line of questioning.
They’re quiet for a moment as they look between us suspiciously. Vin’s got a strange expression on his face as he steps forward, lowering his voice, “I honestly don’t give a shit who Viviana allows into her bed, but if any of you step out ofline or do anything to endanger or harm her, it won’t just be the Rossi family you’ll have to keep an eye out for. We will come for you. And I can promise you that you’ll wish to be dead long before you are.”
Zane smiles over at me. “I kind of like him. We should invite him over for French toast with Enzo.”
“That man is like fucking bloody Mary, say his name too much and he’ll appear,” Nic says, looking over my shoulder. I glance over to find Enzo pushing his way through the crowd, his eyes locked on Vin and Nic.
“You have our numbers. You can always call if you need anything,” Vin says, pulling my attention back to him and his brother.
Vin leans forward and places a soft kiss on my cheek. “Seriously, call. We were worried when we heard about what happened in Minnesota.”
A smile curves up the corners of my mouth and I wrap my arms around his waist, even if he isn’t a huge fan of hugs. When he pulls away, Nic wraps his arms around me and presses a kiss to the top of my head. “Be safe and remember to call Ava sometime. She misses you.”
I grin at that. I really do miss that girl too.
Vin and Nic slip into the crowd and are gone by the time that Enzo makes it to our group. “Where did they go?” he demands.
I shrug my shoulders. “Probably back to their guarded and armored brownstone where they’re safe from you.”
