Page 50 of Bastard Prince
No, he was staring at Rosa, who was gaping right back at him with her mouth open like a fish.
Narrowing my eyes, I said slowly, “Rosa, this is Vinnie. Vinnie, Rosa, my cousin.” I waited for him to look at me before I continued. “Myseventeen-year-old cousin.”
His eyes widened before he dropped his head, clearing his throat and muttering, “Nice to meet you, Miss.”
“Yeah,” was all Rosa managed, and I rolled my eyes.
“Rosa will be staying with us for a few days, so I’m gonna get her set up in the other guest room. Now,” I began, moving into the kitchen and opening the massive fridge. It had been empty when we first moved to the house from the apartment, the cavernous space echoing like a tomb, which kind of broke my little Italian heart. But after some time spent with a grocery delivery app, it was now stocked full of all the best things. “Who’s hungry?”
“I had some fries at a truck stop in a place called Green River, Utah,” Rosa responded, and I wrinkled my nose.
“Well, that won’t do.” Reaching in, I began assembling the ingredients for a spaghetti carbonara. “Give me twenty minutes, and I’ll whip something up for you.”
“Sorry, boss lady, but that’ll have to wait,” Rocco cut in, looking disappointed as he said it. “As much as I want to let you feed me, I have orders. You’re coming with me.” He raised his eyebrows pointedly. “Enzo wants you with him while he does that thing at that place he went to.”
“Oh,” I said, mildly confused. Then, as realization dawned, my smile grew. “Oh! Yes, alright. Okay. Just let me, um...” I stared dumbly at the pancetta in my hand.
“Frankie,” Rosa said, standing beside me. “I’ll cook. You go do what you have to do.”
“You can cook?” Vinnie asked, looking like a desperate puppy dog.
“I mean, yeah.” The blush on Rosa’s cheeks was adorable. “I do okay.”
I watched as one corner of Vinnie’s mouth turned up in a grin.
Oh, boy.
“Vinnie, will you be alright if I leave for a bit?” I knew he’d been cleared of any kind of concussion, but I still worried.
“Of course. I’ll probably just turn in early anyway.”
“I’ll just make a quick dinner and then I’m going to bed, too,” Rosa said quietly.
I looked between the two of them, considering. I trusted Vinnie with my life; surely, I could trust him with my cousin.
“Alright. I’m just going to go change real quick, Rocco. Then we can head out.”
“Sure thing,” Rocco said, his head back in the fridge. He came out with a container of chocolate mouse, his eyes bright. “I’ll wait here.”
I ran upstairs to put on something else but realized when I got to the bedroom that I could really use a shower, so I twisted up my hair and jumped in, scrubbing down quickly. Then I put on some black jeans and a dark gray tank top with a cropped leather jacket that Lexi had picked out. It had a banded collar and heavy silver zippers, giving it a tough, badass look, but the leather was soft and buttery. I added some low heeled ankle boots and refreshed my make up a little, then grabbed my weapons and I was ready to go.
Making my way back downstairs, I saw that Rosa had also showered, and was now slicing the pancetta while Vinnie hovered nearby. I kissed Rosa’s cheek, telling her to get some rest and that we would talk in the morning, then nodded at Vinnie to follow me out.
We joined Rocco where he leaned against his car, cigarette in hand as he thumbed through his phone.
“That shit’ll kill you. You know that, right?” I said with a nod to his smoke.
“You know,” he began and chuckled, shaking his head, “I used to not give a shit about that, but lately, I’m thinking you might be right.” He took one last drag, then tossed the rest of the cigarette, grinding it into the driveway with his heel. I was about to say something else, but he bent down and picked up the butt, stuffing it into his pocket, then rounded the car and climbed inside.
“Vinnie,” I started, turning my back to the car and talking over the rumbling engine.
“I know, Frankie,” he cut me off. “Hands off.”
“Well, I mean, yeah. But that’s not all.” I frowned back at the house. “I think there is more to her visit than what she’s letting on. Rosa is sweet and kind, but she’s also innocent and a bit naïve. And she’s not at all the type of girl to hop on a bus and travel for fifty straight hours if everything was fine and dandy.”
“You think she’s in trouble.” It was a statement, not a question.
“Yeah,” I sighed. “So, keep an eye on her for me, will you?”
