Let Them Finish
Dahlia
This book should have me completely enthralled. But tonight, I can barely get through a paragraph. My plans to give up all thoughts of sleep are being thwarted by a man doing semi-dangerous things.
One night. A few nights of beautiful sleep with Vex and my body rebels.
He’s not coming back until the morning. Now my eyes won’t shut, and my body won’t settle.
This is foolish.
Absolutely foolish.
I grab a nice, thick quilt and my laptop and trudge downstairs. Max is probably asleep after eating the cookies I brought over this afternoon. I’d be asleep if I drank all that bourbon.
That conversation was so embarrassing.
Why? Why couldn’t I have just ignored Adonis? Or better yet, have the nerve to ask Vex without worrying about what he’ll think.
There’s a distinct chill in the air. It was definitely a good idea to wear my warmest pajamas. I climb onto the lounge chair and curl up into my blanket.
This isn’t normal.
None of my life is normal.
Sleep should be easy.
Do I really think that I’m going to sleep all night in this chair worrying that Vex is in some alleyway hurt and alone?
None of this is logical.
“Hey there.”
Max’s voice startles me. “Hi.”
He takes a seat next to me.
“I didn’t expect to see you tonight.” And it seems I’m blurting out whatever pops into my head.
“I didn’t expect to be here tonight.” Max leans forward, steepling his fingers together. “Why am I here?”
How do I answer a question that I keep asking myself? I shrug.
“Shouldn’t the guy you like be here?”
Vex should be, but he’s out doing something moderately dangerous that he can’t tell me anything about. I shrug.
“What’s going on Dahlia? You know you can talk to me about anything.”
Can I? “The trouble I’ve been having with sleep isn’t related to being roofied… well, not completely related. It wouldn’t have happened if I wasn’t, but it’s only sort of the reason I can’t sleep. And I’ve been using you. I’m sorry.”
“Dahlia, slow down, take a breath, and explain that to me one more time.”
“Vex—”
“Yes, Dahl?”
What? Vex!?! I half-jump, half-fall out of the lounger. My laptop makes an odd splat on the brick pavers, but I don’t even have time to think about that.
Max grabs me so that my face doesn’t meet the ground the same way.
“What are you doing here? I thought you wouldn’t be back until tomorrow morning.” My voice comes out as this weird screech.
“The question that’s going to be answered is, why is Vincenti in your backyard after midnight? I don’t see a party and those look like pajamas.”
Vex’s voice is oddly controlled. Almost robotic in his intonation. That can’t be good. “Um. So, you weren’t coming home until breakfast.”
“We’ve already established that, Dahl. Why is he here?”
“Um…” To carry me to bed doesn’t sound like the answer Vex wants. To lock my doors after he puts me to bed sounds even worse. “Um…” Think of something. Anything. The dog eating my homework is a completely reasonable excuse for a sexy man spending most of the night with me. People don’t kill people they know, right? They said that on some television shows… it might work. “Um… Vex, this is my neighbor, Max Vincenti. He’s Hope’s dad. Max, this is um Vex—”
“Dahl, we know each other.”
What? How? “You do?” I turn to Max. “You mean this whole time you knew Vex?”
Max grins. “Yup. And if I knew you made whatever those bourbon cookies were, I’d have put up more of a fight—”
“Cookies. You made him cookies?” Vex’s voice is barely a whisper, but it feels like a roar.
“Prue, you need to step back now.” Max moves away from me.
“Huh? What’s going on?” I shift my gaze from Vex to Max.
“Back up before Vex hits you.”
“Vex would never hit me. I told you he’s a gentle, kind man who would never harm a woman.” Didn’t we just talk about that for almost an hour? “Vex isn’t like that.”
Max’s grin gets even wider as he moves back from me. “Vex would never hurt you on purpose. But in a second, he’s about to try to give me two black eyes… and neither of us wants you to get hurt. ”
“Vex isn’t going to hurt you.” I turn to Vex. “Right? You wouldn’t hit Max for being a good guy. Max found out that I was roofied, and he thought he was taking care of me carrying me to bed.” Oops. I slap a hand over my mouth and Max jumps away from me as Vex flies across the yard.
“No. Stop! It’s not—” An arm wraps around my waist and pulls me away from them.
“Don’t get in the way,” Talon says.
“But Vex is going to kill Max.” Doesn’t he know who Vex is?
“If Vex wanted Max dead, he’d be dead already.”
“How can you be so sure of that?” They’re literally on the ground pummeling each other.
The hollow sound of Vex’s fist smashing into Max’s side is only slightly less nauseating than the grunt Max makes in response.
“Because I do. Can I let you go? Or are you going to try to separate them and get yourself hurt?”
Um. “Someone should separate them.”
Talon laughs. “Max needs the practice. He hasn’t been challenged in a while.”
“So, we’re just supposed to stand here and watch while they tear each other apart?”
Talon nods.
“Men make no sense.”
“I won’t fight that comment, but just saying, you need to figure out your mind. Two men are fighting over you.”
Figure out my mind?!? “What do you even mean by that? I have never been anything but a friend to your son. And I clearly told him that, even before I fell for Vex.”
“Then why is my son on the ground fighting?”
He expects me to know the answer to that question. “I don’t know. I love Vex.”
“What did you say?” Vex freezes with his fist cocked back, ready to meet with Max’s face .
Max takes the opportunity to sucker punch Vex in the gut. Vex doesn’t even grunt.
“What did you say?” Vex lets go of Max and stands up.
Like I’m going to repeat it.
“What did you say?” Vex stalks towards me.
“Don’t irritate me.” There’s no way I’m repeating the words.
“What did you say?”
“We have company.” It’s embarrassing enough that I said it once.
“Not for long.” Vex gives Talon and Max a look.
“Prue!” Hope runs into the backyard. “Prue, are you alright?”
And just when I thought the night couldn’t get any worse.
Hope flings her arms around me. “What happened? Is that the man that hurt you?”
Somehow, she’s now standing between Vex and I.
“Is that why my dad didn’t want me to see you? Are you a bad man?”
Vex freezes, staring at the little girl like she’s an obstacle in his way. One that he has no idea how to get around. “Max, handle your child.”
Max managed to get up while all this was happening. Even with what looks like it will end up being a massive shiner, he’s smiling.
Nothing about this is funny. Not one little thing.
“Hope.” I reach for the little girl’s arm before she hauls back and punches Vex. “Vex didn’t hurt me. He’s a good man—”
Max snorts.
Irritating man. “—that would never hurt anyone.”
“That’s not precisely true.” Talon steps into the conversation.
I turn to Vex to get a little support.
“I would never hurt an innocent woman.”
Close enough.
“Then why were you yelling, and why was he fighting with my dad?”
“Because they are two little boys solving their problems with their fists.”
“What problem? ”
Hope is way too curious. How do I answer that?
“Hope Vincenti, how did you get here?”
Max’s angry dad tone scares me, and I didn’t do anything?
“I…um…”
“What have I told you about going out at night alone?”
Uh oh!
“But this was important. I heard Prue scream.” The little nose wrinkles and head tilt don’t bode well. Are we going to see another fight? This time between father and daughter.
“Which is the exact reason you should be in the house with your nonna and not outside in the middle of the night running into a dangerous situation ALONE.”
Talon might be even scarier than Max when he’s irritated.
“I’m not some stupid child.”
Um, fighting back with them might be a little not smart.
“I brought a gun and my knives.” She palms one in the blink of an eye. “And I called Tito War and Tito Gabe.”
“The rule is you aren’t outside alone at night.” Max moves next to Talon, making a wall of stern parents.
“I’m allowed out in the backyard, so I climbed the fences and stayed in backyards until I got here.”
It’s like a debate rolled into a battle of wills and neither side is going to win… maybe.
“Where’s all the action?” War walks into the yard with a gun in hand and nothing but pajama bottoms on.
For an older man, he makes for some pretty viewing.
“Hope, I thought you said there was a fight?” A cross between a male model and a bodybuilder walks in. He’s got to be Hope’s uncle Gabe. When people write poems about the beauty of the male physique, they had to have this man in mind.
“He’s the only one that came without a weapon,” I whisper to Vex .
“I am the weapon, beautiful. But don’t worry, I came prepared.” Gabe pulls a gun out of the back of his pajama pants.
Did they buy the guns in bulk? They all look the same.
How did a quiet night at home turn into a party? One I could sell tickets to, but I’d really like to not be at myself regardless of the visually stunning company.
“Max, take your daughter home.” Vex has had enough, it seems.
“Wait, that can’t be it. I want to punch someone.” Gabe pouts.
He can’t be real. A man can’t be that pretty when they’re acting like a child about not getting to hit someone.
“I’m sure Max will let you use his chin for a punching bag.”
“Max is good like that.” Gabe tucks his gun into the back of his waistband and walks over to me. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Gabe Vincenti.”
“Prue—”
Vex steps between us. “And I’m the man she loves.”
Gabe looks between the two of us. “Good to know. Hope?”
“Yeah, Tito Gabe?”
“Next time you holler there better be something fun or she better be single.”
Hope grins. “Understood.”
“I’m going back to bed before Mom wakes up and worries.” Gabe saunters away like getting up after midnight to kill someone is an everyday occurrence.
The rest of the men start moving towards the front gate.
Before she can leave to doubtlessly get into trouble based upon the two glaring men, I turn to Hope. “Thank you for coming to save me.”
She gives me a big hug. “Any time.”
“Don’t do it again.”
“Huh?”
“Leave the guns and midnight escapades to the big men with guns.” If she was my daughter, I’d be having heart palpitations mixed in with pride right about now.
“You know that’s sexist, right?”
I shrug. “Don’t care. ”
“Let’s go, Hope,” Max calls from the gate.
“See you later, Prue.” Hope waves at me while glaring at Vex.
“Inside,” Vex bites out.
Uh oh.