Page 49 of Bastard Prince
“Yes, please,” she moaned, reaching for her small duffel bag. “Thirty hours on a bus is not a pleasant experience. Would you believe that I was the least smelly person on there?”
Leading her back to the cab, I introduced her to George, who bowed low and tipped an invisible hat.
“Welcome to Sin City, pretty girl,” he said, making her giggle. Reaching for her bag, he said, “Allow me to help you with this.”
“No!” Rosa practically shouted, clutching the bag close to her chest. “I mean...thank you, but it’s not that heavy. I’ll just hang on to it for now.”
George and I stood side by side and watched as Rosa climbed in the backseat, her bag hugged to her chest like a lifeline. We exchanged a look, one bushy eyebrow climbing high up his face, before he shook his head and went to start the car.
I got in beside Rosa and pointed out the sights as George drove us the long way to the house.
But even as I chatted and smiled and said all the right things, I watched.
Because something wasn’t right about this situation. I could smell it; like the rotten funk of a dead body, it hung in the air, tainting everything. There was trouble brewing, and I was going to figure it out before anyone got hurt.
Especially Rosa. We may have been brought up in the same family, but we were nothing alike. And I, for one, was glad about that. I loved seeing Rosa’s innocence and wide-eyed wonder whenever she experienced something new; it was refreshing to see someone from the Life could actually still be sweet and genuine even though we were surrounded by darkness.
“It’s so different here,” Rosa murmured, her face turned out the window as we neared theLake Las Vegasgates. “The land just seems to go on for ever. Not at all like back in the city. I’m not used to seeing the sky and the horizon at the same time.”
“Wait until tomorrow morning,” I said, drawing her eyes back to me. “The first time I woke up in the house, I felt like I was at the edge of the world.”
Rosa gave me a strange look, then a small smile and turned back to the window. The rest of the drive was made in silence, and when we pulled up outside the house, George whistled.
“Damn, dollface. It didn’t take you long to move up in the world, hey?”
“I’m just a victim of circumstance, George,” I replied, handing him some cash and a hefty tip. “But the pool is pretty sweet.”
George chuckled as he got back in the car. “I got a feeling that you ain’t ever been anyone’s victim, dollface.”
I led Rosa up to the door, and when I noticed Rock’s car parked in the driveway, my heart leapt knowing Vinnie was home.
“Hello?” I called when we entered the house, not wanting to surprise anyone with our presence.
“That you, boss lady?” Rocco called, stepping out of the kitchen. “Listen, I hope you weren’t gonna be serving those leftover potato balls or whatever they were,” he mumbled, his mouth full of last night’s gnocchi. “I finished them.”
“Potato balls?” Rosa said, giggling.
“Well, I mean, what would you call ‘em?”
“How about gnocchi? You know, what they’re supposed to be called.”
Rocco frowned. “I think potato balls is a much better term. They taste like potatoes,” he said thoughtfully. “And they’re shaped like balls.”
I smiled. “You know what, Rocco? I think you’re right. Potato balls it is. And I’m glad you ate them. I would have hated for them to go to waste.”
“Your food will never go to waste, Francesca,” Rocco groaned. “It’s the best food I’ve ever tasted. You haven’t cooked a single thing I haven’t liked.”
I could feel my cheeks heating. “Thank you, Rocco.” Clearing my throat, I tried to change the subject. “Where’s Vinnie?”
“Who’s Vinnie?” Rosa asked, looking around.
“Vinnie is...my man,” I answered carefully.
“I thought his name was Enzo.”
“Oh!” I chuckled. “Oh, no. Vinnie is not my husband. He’s—”
“I watch her back,” came a voice from behind us. We all turned to see Vinnie moving, albeit slowly, toward us from the direction of the guest rooms. I ran my anxious gaze over him, but aside from the small butterfly bandage across his forehead, he seemed whole and hale. Letting out a relieved breath, I lifted my head to smile at him, but he wasn’t looking at me.
