Sempre (Forever Series #1)(131)

She said nothing, staring back out at the water.

Nicholas sighed. “I’m surprised to see you here.”

“I shouldn’t have come.”

“But you did.”

“I did.” She was quiet for a moment, debating what to say. “It was my birthday.“

“Really? Well, happy birthday.”

She smiled sadly before saying the words she had longed to say for days, ones she swallowed back whenever Carmine was near. “There’s nothing happy about the day I was born.”

44

Carmine stared at the darkened house, clutching his phone to his ear. He’d assumed Haven would go straight home, but he had clearly been wrong. “She’s not here.”

Dia sighed on the line. “She’s probably scared.”

“You think I don’t know that? She’s afraid of me, Dia. Of me.”

He couldn’t get the image out of his mind, the fear in her eyes as she ran from him.

“Doesn’t she know I understand how she feels?” he asked. “I lost my mom, too.”

“Yes, but you’re irrational when it comes to talking about your mother’s death.”

Her words made his temper flare. “Vaffanculo.”

“You’re proving my point,” Dia said. “Look, I’ll call you back. I want to check something.”

She hung up without awaiting his response.

Carmine just stood there until Dia called him back. “Any luck?”

“She’s safe.”

Relief washed through him so fast he nearly collapsed. “Where did you find her?”

“She’s down at the lake.”

He froze, grabbing the hood of his car as his legs went weak. Yeah, he was going to f**king collapse. “What do you mean she’s at the lake?” Dia didn’t respond, her silence all he needed for the truth to register. “Nicholas.”

“Calm down,” she said before he had a chance to get worked up. She knew him well, which meant she also knew her words wouldn’t work.

Carmine’s anger spiraled out of control. “Calm down? I’m tired of this bullshit. If this is how she wants to be, they can have each other.”

“Carmine . . .”

“This is why I never wanted to fall in love.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“Don’t f**king tell me what I mean!” Betrayal fueled his rage, and he threw his phone at the car, cursing as a lump formed in his throat. His vision clouded over as his hand clenched into a fist. He slammed it against the windshield, the glass on the passenger side cracking from the force of the blow. Desolation coursed through him as he did it again, the windshield caving as his fist broke through. Pain stung his knuckles, the jagged glass ripping the skin.

He took a deep breath as he went inside, his father greeting him in the foyer. The smile on Vincent’s face fell when he took in Carmine’s expression, his eyes drifting to his bloody hand. “What happened?”

“Nicholas happened.”

Vincent groaned. “How many times do we have to go through this?”

“Whatever. The Mazda took a worse beating than Nicholas did.”

“Your car? What happened tonight? Where’s the girl?”

“I already told you—Nicholas happened,” he spat. “And her f**king name is Haven. Haven. Use it sometime.”

Vincent stared at him, taken aback.

“And if you wanna know where Haven is, find Nicholas. They’re down at the lake somewhere.” An idea hit him the moment he said that. “You’re gonna go get her, aren’t you?”

Vincent pinched the bridge of his nose. “Her life is her own, Carmine. She can have friends, and you should respect that.”

“After what he did to me, you expect me to respect him? I’m supposed to like this?”

“I didn’t say you had to like it, nor did I say you should respect him, but you ought to respect her right to make her own choices, whether you like them or not.”

“I do,” he said. “I’m not that big of an a**hole. I tell her all the time to make her own decisions.”

“Well, you should see this as her doing that.”

Groaning, Carmine pushed past his father and headed for the stairs. “How come no one’s taking my side on this?”

Vincent laughed, the sound hitting a nerve. “This isn’t about choosing sides. I told you someday the real world would creep up on you.”

“Oh, I know it,” he said. “I knew it the moment she slapped me.”

Vincent grinned. “She hit you?”

“What’s so f**king amusing?”

“I’m pleasantly surprised,” he said. “Not saying she should’ve hit you, but I’m shocked she’d let go like that. She may make it out there in the world, after all.”

* * *

“Ever heard of Stockholm syndrome?”

Haven eyed Nicholas warily at those words. His legs dangled over the end of the dock, his pants rolled up and feet skimming the surface of the water. She sat cross-legged beside him, their discarded shoes scattered on the deck. “No, what is it?”

“It’s when someone gets mushy feelings for their kidnapper.”