Dante leaned back in his chair. “Well, Ms. Turner, I have to say I never expected to see you again.”
She watched Mr. Vitale set a drink down in front of Dante, giving her a warning look behind his back. She quickly looked back at Dante.
“I-I’m sorry. I was just curious about something which has to do with our agreement. I’m afraid Vincent isn’t keeping me in the loop, so I was hoping I could talk with you about it, Mr. Caruso.”
He took a sip of his whiskey. “Sit down, then.”
Lake took a deep breath then sat in the chair beside Vincent’s dad. Why does he always have to be here at the worst times?
Trying to calm her nerves, she spoke in a somewhat even tone. “I went to work today for Sadie to tell me I no longer work there. She told me my debt was paid, but I don’t understand how that’s possible.”
“He didn’t tell you?” Dante took another sip of his drink, seeming amused. “Vincent came in here a month ago and paid your whole debt off.”
He did what? She shook her head, not believing it.
“If that’s true, then why have I been working down there for a month? Vincent has been giving you money for all the tips I’ve made every week so I could pay you off faster, hasn’t he?”
“No, I can’t say I have received any money. I allowed him to pay off your debt as long as you continued to work for me for one more month. Unfortunately for you, you had made a big impression on David, and he is—was—my biggest customer. I’ve been giving your paychecks to Vincent. I assume you haven’t received them, as well.”
She shivered when he emphasized the word was, knowing he meant it as a dead. Also, knowing she had been forced to work down there because of David’s infatuation with her made her skin crawl even more.
She shook her head. “No, he hasn’t given me any paychecks.” She couldn’t believe Vincent had been keeping this a secret from her to the extent that he had been retaining all her money.
Dante looked her up and down. “For a girl who learned she is a free woman, you certainly came to the wrong place.”
Lake swallowed, unmoving.
“Has she been paid for her last week?” Vinny questioned.
Dante looked over at him. “No, I haven’t given it to Vincent yet.”
“Keep it.” Mr. Vitale set his drink down and reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out money then quickly counting out some and holding it out for her to take. “This should cover it. I advise you to take it and run off to college, anywhere that isn’t here.”
She had to use the chair to support herself enough to stand. Sliding the money out of his hand, she went for the door while she still had the chance.
“Ms. Turner, I wouldn’t walk back through my door again if I were you,” Dante’s cold voice warned her.
She gave a quick nod before she left the room, closing the door behind her. Slamming her eyes shut, she tried to keep her breathing under control. Everything was hitting her like a ton of bricks—all the things Vincent had done and not told her about along with the fact that they had flat-out told her to run.
Lake wasn’t stupid; she knew when to run the hell away. Especially from a whole family of psychopaths.
Waiting for the elevator door to open, her mind was going a million miles an hour, wondering where the hell to run. One thing was for sure: she was heading straight home on a bus and packing up a bag of her shit. Lake Turner was finally going to do what she had always dreamed of, but she had never expected the mixed feelings of it all.
She had been preparing herself to leave her dad and Adalyn behind for months, but leaving Vincent stung the worst. She didn’t understand why that was, since it was clear to her more than ever that he was a lying, man-whore asshole who was totally fucking deranged.
A part of her wanted Vincent to appear when the elevator door came open, to talk her out of it, and to somehow make everything better while her judgment of him was still cloudy.
The elevator door opened with a ding.
Goodbye, Kansas City.
* * *
Vincent impatiently waited for the elevator to come to a stop, hoping Lake was going to be on the other side of the door when it opened.
However, when it finally did, Lake wasn’t there.
Quickly, he moved down the hallway, through the security room, and hastily knocked on Dante’s door then swung it open before the word ‘come’ came out.
Dante raised his eyebrow. “You knew she would come here, didn’t you?”
Vincent smoothed his hand down his hair, praying he had made it in time. “Where is she?”
Dante took his time lighting a cigar before he spoke, “Luckily for you, your father was here and gave her money to scram.”
Vincent turned to try to catch her.
“You’re about an hour late. I assume she’s already somewhere that’s not worth the fucking time to find her.” He took a long hit, thinking about what he wanted to say next. “Lake is like a cat; she was born with nine lives. Sooner or later, however, she’ll be faced with her ninth and final one. Something tells me she’s more than halfway there, considering she just wasted another one with me.”
Fuck, Lake. Vincent nodded in understanding before going back out the door to leave and attempt to catch her before she could run too far away.
“If you find her, I better not see her fucking face. Beat some fucking sense into that girl, or I will.”
Vincent ground his teeth. “Yes, boss.”
Closing the door behind him, he headed straight for the elevator, pulling out his phone in a desperate attempt to call her. It went straight to voicemail, though.
“Motherfucker!” he screamed when the elevator closed behind him.
The thought of losing Lake was already too strong, but Vincent had made up his mind.