Double Blind Read Online Free PDF Page B

his face into his hands.
    Jesus.
    Nerves flutter in my stomach as I stand up and walk towards the completely still Vince. I’m almost afraid to touch him, as though he’ll jump violently or snap at me. My hand lifts to his dark hair and I tremulously lower it until the fine strands tickle my palm.
    He doesn’t move.
    I let it fall down his trim neck, to the slightly wavy bristles, and across his shoulder. I seize his shoulder muscle and I dig in hard with my thumb, trying to loosen him up. He finally responds, letting his hands drop and turning into my body. Still seated, he wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me closer, and his head rests on my chest. My skin tingles when I feel his fingers lightly stroking the exposed skin on my lower back, but it’s not sexual.
    For once, Vince seems vulnerable. Scared.
    Holy shit.
    “What’s wrong?” I ask, hating how reedy my voice sounds.
    “I haven’t been telling you the truth.”
    I pull myself away from him, starting to feel a sharp, prickling sensation over my skin. He can’t even look at me.
    “I need to ask you to do something,” he says finally. “Something that I promised I would never ask you to do again.”
    My mind runs, heart beating frantically. I think of gunfire smashing through the thick panes of glass at the restaurant, the loud cracks shattering the air, and blood. Thick pools of dark red.
    “ What? ”
    “They want you to work for them. As a dealer in a casino.”
    Is that all? My heart still thuds like I’m running a marathon. “Who?”
    Vince lifts his head and begs me with his eyes. “The Rizzo family.”
    The Rizzo family. The thugs who murdered my father and made my life hell. Heat flushes my face and I step away from Vince.
    “How could you ask me that?”
    He looks miserable. “Believe me, if I had a choice, you would never see them again.”
    “What kind of trouble are you in?” My voice rises sharply, bouncing off the ceilings. “I thought you said that everything was fine!”
    He lied.
    Vince’s mouth presses into a firm line. “It’s not. It was never fine. We almost all fucking died weeks ago, remember? That’s not going to go away because you or I want it to.”
    “So you decided to lie to me?” I rip my hand out of his grasp as hot anger bubbles in my chest.
    He stands from the stool. “I wanted to keep you the fuck out of it. That’s why I lied. I did everything I could so that I could protect you and I tried fighting against it, but I have no control over Tony. He’s determined to punish me, and this is how he’s doing it. You’re a small piece in this whole thing, but you’re the piece they want. They want you to work until you pay off your father’s debts. They won’t take my money.”
    “I can’t fucking believe this!” I return the angry look on his face. “Why should I be responsible for my dad’s debts? I haven’t done enough supporting my mother half my life? Why do we have to do this?”
    “Because if we don’t, they will kill us all.”
    I stumble back from the gravity of his words. I’m overwhelmed, I’m angry—
    “Jack is desperate for a truce,” he sighs. “Tony came up with these terms and wouldn’t compromise. I don’t really have a choice. They still don’t know about those two guys who showed up at your mother’s house.”
    Only Vincent’s hands running up my arms make me feel like my body is still capable of warmth. His fingers run over my arms lightly before they curl around my biceps. I can already feel my anger with him melting away.
    He’s right.
    “I don’t know—”
    “It won’t be that bad.”
    He leans in slightly and kisses my forehead. The heat of his lips makes my breath quicken, and then he does it again and I shudder.
    “It’s in a casino. It’ll be completely safe, unlike the bullshit we had at my card games.”
    Like anywhere is safe. “A mob-owned casino,” I remind him. “Might as well hold a billboard to the FBI.”
    “It’s not owned by—oh,