Chapter Twenty- One— Jamie
We hadn't done anything all day. Vinny lay next to me. I was halfway under his arm without meaning to be there.
At some point during the movie, I'd leaned into him. It wasn't even on purpose. We just seemed to gravitate to each other now.
The blanket covered both of us. My laptop sat on top.
The movie I convinced him to watch ended, but neither of us moved.
Vinny dragged a hand down his face slow. "I wouldn't have watched this shit with you if I knew I was gonna feel like this after."
I looked over at him. "Feel like what?"
His jaw tightened.
"Like calling my parents."
I sat up a little.
Vinny didn't talk about himself. Not really. Most of what I knew about him came from observation. The grief hanging off him like a second skin. The way he carried guilt around like religion. He definitely was not an open book, so I was surprised.
"You don't talk to them?" I asked carefully.
"No."
I watched his face while he stared at the screen like the movie was still playing.
"Haven't in years."
"Why?"
He let out a dry laugh under his breath. Not amused. Just tired.
"Because everything I touched turned radioactive after Sophia died."
Vinny rubbed the back of his neck before speaking again, like he already regretted saying this much.
"My parents had a normal life before Sophia died," he muttered. "House in Jersey. Family business. Spent holidays on vacation. All that shit."
I just listened.
"My mother liked hosting people," he continued quietly. "Always cooking. Always decorating for something. When I killed Bellamy's son…" He swallowed hard. "That was it for all that."
I stayed still beside him.
"They had to disappear because of me," he said. "Move. Change everything. People connected to me became targets."
I looked down at the blanket pooled over my lap.
"I don't even know where they're at."
He stared ahead when he shared that part.
"I made sure I didn't know."
Something twisted in my chest.
That kind of love was foreign to me.
Parents worth missing.
My father would've sold my location himself if the price was right.
"You lucky," I said before I could stop myself.
Vinny looked over slowly, confused.
I shrugged one shoulder. "To have parents who actually acted like parents."
Something shifted in his expression when I said it.
I hated quiet looks from men.
"So they liked Sophia?" I asked, mostly because I wanted the attention off me.
His entire body changed.
"Yes," he answered flatly.
"She must've been something serious for you to risk everything."
Vinny looked away.
I studied his profile quietly.
"Would you do it all over again?" I asked, softer this time.
"Yes."
"Tell me about her." I wanted to know what was so impressive about her that he would even give up his parents for.
Vinny went still beside me.
For a second, I thought he was gonna shut down completely.
Then finally:
"She was little."
I blinked. "That's the first thing you say?"
A faint smirk touched his mouth.
"She was always cold." His voice sounded distant now. Somewhere else. "Used to steal hoodies and socks from me constantly."
I smiled before I could stop myself.
"She sounds cute."
"She was, and it was annoying sometimes."
I watched him carefully while he talked.
The hard edges of him disappeared when he talked about her.
Like somewhere under all the violence and grief, there was still a man capable of loving somebody gently.
I looked away after seeing that. Feeling a tinge of envy.
Suddenly this all felt too personal. Too intimate. I tuned him out until he shifted beside me and I realized he had stopped talking about her.
"You asking a lot of questions tonight," he muttered.
I smirked a little.
"You started it talking about your feelings first."