Victor's Vow, page 16
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Samantha stated she was going to do the dishes and everyone else could
leave, but Vinny stayed to help her clear the table.
“So where did you learn how to cook like that?” he asked, scraping
the plates he’d brought to the sink. She took them from his hand and
loaded the dishwasher.
“Our cook,” she said, not looking up at him. “I loved her fried
chicken. It was one of my favorite dishes when I was little. She used to
tell me it was about the only thing I would eat for the longest time.”
“Your father didn’t mind?” She stopped and looked up at him.
“Jessie sort of mentioned the two of you have some money and what
he’s like. I figured he wouldn’t like his daughter hanging out with a
cook.”
“For the most part, he didn’t know.” She finished the plates and
went back to the table for more dishes. Handing them off for a rinsing,
she went on. “He and my mother didn’t really pay attention to what I did,
unless it affected them, or I should say, him. By the time he found out I
was in the kitchen cooking, I knew how to cook almost everything she
did. Cooking sort of helped me, you know?”
He handed the glasses off and nodded. “You felt like you belonged.”
“Yeah. That house is more like a huge showplace than a home.
Boarding school felt more like a home, but it was as cold as hell also.”
“So why would you want to come here?” She stopped loading and
looked up at him again. “Really?”
“Everyone I’ve ever been around has this golden spoon in their
mouth. Yeah, I have a trust fund like the rest of them, but I don’t belong
in that world. When I learned who she, my mother was, and how she’d
left other children like me, I think I felt like I might belong somewhere
after all.”
Tears filled up her eyes. Vinny grabbed her, pulling her in close. She
didn’t cry really, but he could feel the wetness on his shirt. “You can
keep your spoon and still fit in here. We don’t care about money, unless
it’s time to pay the bills.” She laughed slightly against his chest. “Then
the old saying about money-talks hits.”
She sniffed and pulled away, going back to the table for the rest of
the dishes. Vinny picked up on the distance she was putting between
herself and others. It bothered him.
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“Has it only been Jessie who’s been there for you?” he asked, taking
the last bowl and rinsing it out.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean you seem a bit aloof. Has no one ever been there for you
when you needed them, besides Jessie?”
She stopped, and he saw she was thinking about it. “Guess not.
Why?”
“It shows on your face. I can see the loneliness in your eyes. You’re
not alone, Samantha.”
“Sam.” She smiled. “No one ever calls me Samantha.”
“Okay, Sam.” He smiled back. “You’re not alone, and with me and
Amanda, you’ll never be again.”
“Thanks.”
They finished cleaning up, and she headed up to bed. Vinny was
tired, but he doubted he’d get much sleep. He wanted to go to the
hospital and check in on Charlie. Being gone for the forty-eight hours
felt more like years to him. Around one in the morning he did go up to
his room and ended up crashing on top of the covers in his clothes.
The sun woke him up. Vinny sat straight up in the bed, looked
around while his brain cleared and then dodged for the bathroom. He
took a fast shower, dressed, and was hopping down the stairs as he tried
to put on a shoe. At the bottom of the stairs his nose picked up the scent
of cinnamon and eggs, a very nice combination.
“God, that smells good,” he groaned, walking into the kitchen.
Samantha was at the stove, stirring a pan full of scrambled eggs. Next to
her was a plate full of cinnamon rolls with the frosting still sliding down
the sides.
She smiled, finished what she was doing and turned around with her
hands out to him, full of goodies. “I fixed you a take along bag. Sort of
figured you’d not want to sit down and eat, that you’d want to get to the
hospital as fast as you could.”
“You read my mind.” He sighed, taking what she offered.
“Egg sandwich and a roll.”
“You know this confirms that you’re my sister.” He smiled. “You
cook like me.”
She turned with her cheeks a bit redder and fixed up another
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sandwich with some rolls.
“Who’s that for?” he asked.
“Dozer,” she answered. “He’s coming by to pick you up. So give
him this, please.”
“Don’t start spoiling him now.” He took the food and started for the
front door. “You won’t get him to go home.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
He walked past the stairs just as Jessie was coming down. “Ah,
Sam’s cooking again.”
“She’s going to spoil us,” Vinny stated.
“She just might. You heading over to the hospital?”
“Yeah, Dozer is coming for me.”
“Let her know we’re looking forward to meeting her.”
“I will.” Vinny waved at him and finished his walk to the front door,
stuffing his face with the sandwich Samantha gave him. He had it done
by the time Dozer pulled up. “Here.” He shoved the food at Dozer.
“What’s this?” Dozer asked, unwrapping the sandwich.
“Sam fixed you breakfast.”
“Oh, now that I’m liking.” Dozer smiled big. “She can cook and is
easy on the eyes.”
“Hey, that’s my little sister!”
“How do you like it?”
“I don’t.”
Dozer grinned at Vinny for a few moments, ending with a snort.
“Shit, man, you know she’s too young for my kind. I like them older and
much more experienced. Your little sister is ripe, but I’m not plucking.”
He turned around and headed back out of the driveway, heading for the
hospital.
“Damn, Dozer, you make it sound so cold.”
Dozer chuckled and went silent, eating the sandwich. When they
reached the hospital Vinny could hardly contain himself. He had to see
for himself that Charlie was doing better. Before Dozer even had the
truck shut off, Vinny was out, speed walking through the doors and up to
the elevator, where he was forced to stop. Dozer caught up.
“What room is she in?” Vinny asked.
Dozer snickered and shook his head, pushing the up button. “Second
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floor.”
The elevator door opened, they went in. Vinny knew Dozer was
messing with him. He had to know more than what he told Vinny, and
that had Vinny about to jump him.
They reached the second floor, doors opened, and Vinny was out,
only to stop short. He didn’t have a clue where to go next. Dozer
snickered at him again and motioned to follow down the hall to the right
of the elevators.
“Why are you screwing with me?” Vinny asked.
“Because it’s fun,” Dozer answered.
“You’re a dick.”
“Yep.” Dozer nodded. “And don’t forget it.”
They went all the way down the hall to the very last room. Vinny
pushed past Dozer to get there first. He opened the door and wanted to
drop to his knees. Charlie was awake in the bed, her leg still held up in
the air, but she was awake. When their eyes locked, a tiny smile tugged
on her lips, and Vinny was a goner. He rushed up to her, dropped to his
knees, and had her once more in his arms.
“God, I’ve been so worried,” he mumbled in her hair.
“You’re hurting me,” she mumbled back.
“Oh, sorry.” Vinny pulled back, but he didn’t let go of her
completely. Gently, he took hold of her face and kissed her softly,
lingering as long as he could before pulling back.
“Please don’t do that with me in the room.” Dozer sighed, sitting
down in a chair at the end of the bed. “Makes me sick to my stomach.”
Charlie’s face reddened, and she smiled at the same time.
“How are you feeling?” Vinny asked her.
“Tired, but the doctor said I will be for a couple of days. The drugs
they used to keep me knocked out are slowly leaving my system.” She
rubbed his arm, and the simple contact eased so much worry for him.
“Rumor has it you beat Levi up. Is that true?”
“No.” Vinny took hold of her hand, brought it up to his lips and
kissed it. “Someone else beat me to it.”
“You were arrested for it.” She frowned. “Dozer said the deputies
took you from the hospital.”
“They came to question me, and I got a bit pushy with the one is
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all.” He brought one hand up. “See. There’s no way. I’d have bruises on
my knuckles if I beat the shit out of him. At least as bad as what he
received.”
“How bad is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“He’s in a coma,” Dozer answered her. Both Vinny and Charlie
looked over at him and he shrugged. “I used to date one of the nurses.
She gave me the information.”
“A coma?” Charlie gasped.
“Yeah, he took one hell of a beating to the head. Might even have
some brain damage, but they don’t know for sure yet,” Dozer added.
“Okay, I don’t want to talk about Levi,” Vinny said, turning his full
attention back to her. “How long have you been awake? I can’t get over
how alert you are today.”
“He didn’t tell you?” she asked, nodding in Dozer’s direction.
“Tell me what?” Vinny frowned.
“Oh, yeah, I forgot,” Dozer said. “They had her awake yesterday,
the morning after you were arrested.”
“Dozer,” Vinny groaned his name, irritation hitting him, big time.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You wouldn’t have been a good boy in jail if I had.” Dozer
smirked.
“Don’t start.” Charlie tugged on his hand and smiled. “Tell me about
your sister. Dozer hasn’t told me anything, expect she can cook.”
“When did he tell you that?”
“Last night. He called to say good-night.”
Vinny turned to Dozer. “Remind me to kick your ass later.”
Dozer chuckled. “As if.”
“Please don’t start fighting again,” Charlie pleaded.
“He should’ve told me you were awake when I got home. Hell, he
was at my house eating, for Christ’s sake.”
“Doesn’t matter. You’re here now.” She smiled again, but her smile
faded. “How bad do I really look? Be honest, please. Dozer’s lying.”
“I say great and like hell at the same time.” He reached up, moving
some hair on her forehead.
She nodded. “It’s what I thought. He did a good one on me.”
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“You remember everything he did?” Vinny wished she’d forgotten.
No one should have to remember something as bad as this kind of
beating.
“All of it until I passed out,” she said with a deep sigh. “I’ve never
seen him so angry before. It was like he turned into someone else, and
when he realized he couldn’t get an erection—well, the rage hit him
then.”
“Whoa.” Dozer sat forward, his hand up. “Levi couldn’t get it up?”
Charlie nodded. “That explains so much then.”
“Huh?” Vinny frowned at him.
“The abuse,” Dozer went on. “Why he’s so abusive to the girls he
goes out with. If he can’t get it up—”
“Then he has to do something to get a release,” Vinny finished for
him.
“Okay, you two have lost me here,” Charlie said.
“Some guys use violence to get a hard-on,” Dozer said.
“Yeah, well, he wasn’t hard when he was beating on me,” Charlie
stated in a dry and detached tone. “He just kept getting madder and
angrier.”
They all went quiet for a few minutes. Vinny broke the silence. “So
when are they going to let you come home?”
“Not sure,” she said. “I’ve got two cracked ribs and my new best
friends for a few weeks.” She touched her leg with a not so happy smile.
“Oh, and let’s add the face. My jaw was dislocated, so I shouldn’t be
talking too much.”
“Hurts?” Vinny asked.
She nodded. “Everything is starting to hurt now.”
“Call the nurse for the pain meds,” Dozer told her. “Don’t sit there
in pain again.”
“Again?” Vinny asked, looking at Dozer first, then at her.
“Yeah, she didn’t want to bother the nurses so she sat here suffering.
By the time I was here they had to give her a shot instead of the pills, the
pain was so bad.”
Vinny reached over and got the call button and pushed it for the
nurse. “I agree with Dozer. There’s no need for you to suffer.”
The nurse came in. They told her Charlie was hurting. She left, came
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back with some pain medication, and within thirty minutes Charlie felt
better and fell asleep. Vinny moved from the bed to a chair moved up
close. He kept hold of her hand as she slept. Around lunch time Vinny
and Dozer got kicked out of the room. They were going to bathe Charlie,
check her wounds and change the bedding. So they went down to the
cafeteria for a bad lunch. When they came back up Charlie was once
more sleeping. The nurse had given her more medication for the pain
after she’d eaten some soup.
She woke up a couple of times, they talked, and she fell right back
to sleep. Around six Charlie told them both to go home and relax. Vinny
hated to leave her, but she did need her rest and seeing her awake made
him feel ten times better. Getting her back home would be perfect.
Dozer drove him back to his house, and for most of the trip, Vinny
sat back being quiet, lost in his thoughts. Thinking things through,
knowing he didn’t want to lose her, he turned in the seat, facing Dozer.
“Dozer, I think I want to marry Charlie.”
Dozer slammed on the brakes so hard so fast, Vinny flew forward
into the dashboard. “What?!” Dozer yelled.
“I don’t want to lose her. I already told you how I feel about her.”
Dozer’s fist came fast, hitting Vinny on the side of his face. Again Vinny
went flying into the dashboard. “What the hell!”
“You’re talking about my baby sister. No one, not even you are
good enough for her in my eyes. I saw what you did to her four years
ago.”
“You’re not going to bring that shit up again, are you?” The fist
came again, hitting the same spot. “God damn it!”
“Don’t interrupt me.” Dozer huffed. “Now, where was I? Oh yeah. I
know I’m not going to be able to tell her who she can be in love with, if
what she even feels for you is love, but I can make myself very clear
with you.”
Dozer grabbed the front of Vinny’s shirt and jerked him close until
they were almost nose to nose. They had a stare off. Vinny had his eyes
open wide, waiting for Dozer to start beating the hell out of him. Dozer
had his eyes narrowed so much Vinny couldn’t really see his pupils.
“I’m not going to put up with any bullshit from you. You make her
happy, or I’ll make you hurt. Understood?”
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Vinny swallowed hard, and then cleared his throat. “Understood.”
“Good, now make sure she has a nice ring. Charlie should have a
nice ring.”
“I can do that.” Vinny nodded. “Um, Dozer?”
“What?”
“Can you let me go now?”
Dozer shoved him back in his seat. “Oh, what the hell.” A third hit
came, this one harder than the other two.
“What the fuck?” Vinny cried out.
“Welcome to the family, if she’ll have your sorry ass.”
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Chapter Thirteen
Charlie was in the hospital a few more days before they released her
to come home. They wanted to make sure her shoulder was strong
enough for the use of crutches and her ribs had to heal also.
Vinny got into an argument over who was going to go and pick her
up from the hospital the day she was released. He lost, which pissed him
