I trusted him. He’d saved me twice now, and he’d keep on saving me.
We slept together in my bed that night, his arms wrapped around my body. I tumbled into the blankets and sheets, buried in the pillows, and felt his warmth, his strong arms. It was exactly what I needed, and the night passed with no dreams, no nightmares. In the morning, he was still there, still beautiful.
I got up, dressed, and went to find Mona. I wanted to find out what was going on, and if maybe we were finally safe. The only thing I wanted in the world was to leave Philadelphia, get far away from Chicago, and go somewhere safe, somewhere I could start over with Ren by my side.
But instead of Mona, I found Vincent.
He sat with his feet up on an ottoman in one of the side sitting rooms. His face was drawn and pale, and I saw him in profile as he swiped at something on his phone. For one wild second, I thought I could pull back and leave without him noticing, but he looked up and met my eyes, and he smiled.
“Hello, Amber,” he said. “Good timing. I was just thinking about you.”
I didn’t know what to do. The last thing I wanted was to talk to this man. “I didn’t know you were back,” I said.
“Discharged a couple hours ago. It’s nice to be home.”
I smiled the best I could. “I’m sure Mona’s happy.”
He adjusted himself to face me better. “Come inside. Talk to me.”
I hesitated, but stepped into the room. It was painted a muted brown shade and a tiki bar covered one far wall. There was a couch and a large projection screen, and there was a vague beach and island theme going on that made me slightly uncomfortable.
“Mona’s none of your concern.” The edge in his tone made the small hairs on my neck stand on end. I wanted to say something sharp back but couldn’t find a good enough line. “Sit down.”
“I’d rather stand.”
He grunted. “I don’t care what you’d rather do.”
We stared each other down for a few seconds before I gave in and walked over. I flopped down into a chair and glowered at him. I felt like a little girl getting scolded, and I hated myself a little bit for sitting there and taking it—but I had to admit that I was afraid of Vincent, and I didn’t want to mess things up for Ren’s plan by pissing him off.
“What do you want?” I asked finally.
“You’re going home.”
Those words sent off a complicated chain reaction in my head. At first, I felt elated: I was getting what I wanted. I hated Philadelphia and hated being stuck out here without my family or my friends or any support at all. But then I stopped and thought about what that meant, and I felt dread slowly replace the excitement.
“My father wants me back?”
“Your father has no say in this shit,” he barked. “You were a pain in my ass to begin with and you’re still a pain in my ass, but at least now I can spare a couple guys to escort you back to Chicago.”
“I don’t understand.” I felt hollow and was afraid I’d tip the chair back over and tumble onto the floor.
“The war’s pretty much over. We have Felix, thanks to you and Ren, and now it’s time for you to get the fuck out of my hair.”
“But things are still hot back home, aren’t they?”
“Not my problem. I took you on thinking you’d be easy, but you’ve been nothing but a pain.”
I stood up suddenly. “You can’t do this.”
“I can and I’m going to.” Vincent half-turned to look over his shoulder. “Trey, get in here.”
A thick guy in dark clothes with a shaved head and an ugly sneer came into the room and glowered at me. “Yeah, boss?”
“Escort Amber back to her room. Make sure she’s packed.”
“I’m not going back to Chicago,” I said, staring at him. Trey came forward, but I stepped out of his grip and grabbed a tiki mug from the bar, brandishing it like a weapon.
Vincent waved Trey off. “You’re taking the first flight back. Trey’s going to escort you the whole way. Isn’t this what you wanted?”
“No, it’s just— I don’t know what I wanted.”
Vincent leaned forward. I saw a sheen of sweat on his forehead and realized he must’ve been in some pain. “You thought Ren would come with you, isn’t that it?”
“No,” I said, and felt stupid for lying.
“Good, because Ren’s gone. That fucker did what I needed, and now he’s never going to complicate my life ever again.”
“Wait, what?” I felt like my head was spinning. “You threw him out? Ren saved your ass. He won you this war.”
“He did well, I’ll admit it. But he’s a backstabbing traitor.”