Sempre (Forever Series #1)(107)

His words were met with a vicious laugh from Salvatore. “After what happened when . . . well, you know . . . I don’t think your opinion can be taken at face value on this.”

“It’s not the same,” Dr. DeMarco said.

“Yes, it is, Vincent. You know the dangers and risks. You can’t let her loose without someone taking responsibility for her, and you’re in no frame of mind to do it.”

It sickened Haven to have her fate being discussed as if she weren’t there, but equally as shocked that Dr. DeMarco intended to let her go. She couldn’t fathom why the man would go through the trouble of paying for her if he planned to let her walk away.

“Maybe she should come with me,” Salvatore said. “She’d be taken care of in my home.”

“No way,” Carmine said. “If you need someone to take responsibility for her, I will.”

Salvatore shook his head. “You can’t do that when you’re not a part of this. Besides, I’m not positive that’s the right course of action.”

They were at an impasse when another voice chimed in, quiet but forceful. “I’ll do it.”

Everyone’s attention turned to Corrado.

“What?” Salvatore asked.

“I’ll vouch for the girl,” he said again.

Salvatore looked as if he’d been struck. “Are you sure you want to?”

“It’s not a matter of want,” Corrado said. “If it’s necessary, I’ll do it. I trust Vincent when he says she won’t talk, and if she does, I’ll handle her. Simple enough.”

* * *

The guests departed around six in the evening, and Carmine opened presents from his family. Feeling bad for having nothing to give him, Haven watched longingly as others bombarded him with an array of gifts. Afterward, they put on a movie, but Haven couldn’t focus on what was happening.

About halfway through, she told Carmine she was going upstairs, wanting a moment alone. She headed to her bedroom and climbed into the cold bed. Pulling the blanket over her, she snuggled into a pillow and drifted off to sleep. She was awoken later when the bed shifted, and she blinked a few times as she adjusted to the darkness.

Carmine slid in beside her. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Her voice was thick with sleep. “What time is it?”

“Midnight,” he said as she snuggled up to him. He was warm and smelled like a mixture of cologne and smoke. “We watched Scarface. Go figure.”

“That’s nice,” she said, although Scarface sounded like a horror movie to her. It reminded her of monsters, and a flicker of hers flashed in her mind. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly to ward off the image of mangled skin. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get you anything for your birthday.”

“I have all I need, Haven. We can be together now.”

“Did they really mean that stuff about me?”

Carmine buried his face in her hair. “Yes.”

The confirmation sent her emotions surging. “It’s that easy?”

He sighed. “I wouldn’t call it easy. The hard part is ahead of us. But you’ll be able to do whatever now: go to school, marry me, make a houseful of babies if that’s what you want. Could leave my ass, too, if you wanna do that.”

She was stunned he’d think that. “I’ll never leave you.”

“That’s good to hear, colibri. I’m just saying you could.”

“What does it mean when someone vouches for you, anyway?”

He said nothing. Sleep nearly took Haven under as she figured he wasn’t coherent enough to answer. He finally spoke, though, his voice barely loud enough for her to hear. “It means they guarantee your loyalty. Slaves aren’t the only ones who pay for others’ mistakes, Haven. Corrado just swore if you made one, he’d pay for it with his life.”

She blanched. “But I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of me.”

“Corrado knows what he’s doing,” he said. “You may not trust them, but you gotta trust me when I say this is the only way, baby. It’s the only way you can be free.”

Free. She once looked up the word in the thesaurus Carmine had given her and memorized the words on the page: unrestrained, emancipated, independent, individualistic, liberated, self-directing, self-governing, self-ruling; antonym: bound, enslaved. That had been her—enslaved—but not anymore. Now, because of Carmine, she knew what the word free meant, and soon, she realized, she could know how it felt.

36

Carmine was in a fog as he dragged himself out of bed the next day. After washing the sweat and grime from his body, he gazed at his reflection in the mirror. He desperately needed a haircut and a shave, but otherwise he looked like the same Carmine DeMarco. Same person he had seen every day for years, but he didn’t feel the same anymore. It wasn’t because he was older or wiser—far from it. It was because of her.

He smiled when he saw Haven in the library, her fingertips grazing the spines of a row of books. She pulled one off a shelf, her brow furrowing as she studied the front cover. He chuckled at her expression, and her eyes snapped in his direction. “I didn’t hear you come out of your room.”

“You aren’t the only one who knows how to be quiet, Ninja.”

She replaced the book on the shelf. “Hmm, well, maybe we should get you a bell.”