Vincent (Made Men, #2)(34)

Lake rolled her eyes. “Do you want me to kill you today?”

“Do it!” Vincent yelled before he slammed the car door shut.





Chapter Twenty-Three

We All Can’t Be Blessed



Lake had to admit, she was a little shocked to be having such a good time at the mall. The boys merely stayed behind, keeping an eye out on them, so she didn’t feel bothered by Vincent at all. Although, every now and then, she would look back and catch him staring at her ass. She would give him the I-see-you look, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t trying to hide the fact that he was.

Mostly, the girls were window-shopping without really finding anything they liked enough to buy. Lake figured it must not have been that long since the last time they had gone.

Giving up, they went to the food court and took a table just big enough for them to sit at. The guys brought them a bunch of hamburgers and fries.

“You know I hate it when you do that,” Nero told Elle, setting the food down in front of her.

“Sorry, there’s just no room for you to sit with us.” Elle smiled sweetly up at him.

“You’re going to pay for that later,” he warned before they went and found their own table close by.

Lake looked at Elle’s blushing face. “What does he hate?”

Chloe laughed. “He’s still a little wounded that she told him no when he asked to sit beside her for the first time in the school cafeteria.”

“You told Nero no?” Adalyn asked, her jaw dropping.

“Yep, and he reminds me of it every day,” Elle said before taking a bite of her hamburger.

“What changed your mind?” Lake asked curiously. Something in her wanted to know what had altered her opinion about a man like Nero. Or Vincent.

Elle spoke loudly so he could overhear. “I’m still trying to figure that out.”

That wasn’t the answer she was looking for, but it certainly didn’t let her down. Nero’s face made them all burst out in laughter; however, Elle’s chuckles didn’t last very long.

After they finished eating, they decided to try one more store before they left, not wanting to come out empty-handed.

Looking through the racks for the hell of it, Lake found a light and airy dress she thought would be perfect for the hot summer. Holding it up, she contemplated at least trying it on. For once, she did have cash in her purse thanks to the previous night, so she could buy it.

No, I don’t need it.

“Uh, you’re not going to at least try it on? It’s so pretty,” Maria asked.

Lake looked at all the girls staring at her. “It won’t look good on me.” She shrugged. “Here, you can try it. It’ll look better on you, anyways.”

Maria pointed her finger to the dressing room. “Quit being silly and go.”

She hadn’t expected her to say that.

Smiling, Lake headed toward the dressing room yet stopped in place when she saw Ashley and her friends.

“Just the person I wanted to see. Your mom wants you to come by the house to get your graduation gift. I’m sure my dad would love to congratulate you, as well.” Ashley clearly enjoyed telling her the last part.

*

Vincent, Nero, and Amo followed the girls to go find Lake.

He swore he heard his sister say ‘uh-oh’ when they found her talking to some girls. Knowing all too well where this could head, Vincent went to Lake’s side.

I am sick of all these fucking bitches…

Nero put up his hand, stopping him. “Maria can do a lot more damage than we can.”

*

Walk away before…

It was too late when the girls came up to find her.

“Oh, my gosh! Does my sister actually have more than one friend?” Ashley asked, pretending to be in shock.

“Step-sister,” Adalyn reminded her.

Lake wanted to disappear, knowing they were all witnessing her humiliation.

“I’ll go see her later today. Let’s go, guys.” She headed back toward the dressing room, not wanting anything to escalate.

Ashley forcefully grabbed the dress out of her hand. “This dress would look so much better on me. Don’t you think, trailer trash?”

Maria sounded strangely sweet when she spoke. “Oh, sweetie, you don’t actually think that would look good on you, do you?” She politely went up and took the dress from a shocked Ashley. “We all can’t be blessed with Lake’s body.”

Lake shook her head. “I-It’s okay. I don’t want it.”

“That’s okay. I wouldn’t want anything which had her hands on it, either.” Maria shrugged, hanging it back on a rack.

Ashley left with her mouth gapping open wide, her friends following right behind her.

“Thanks.” Lake smiled at Maria before her eyes returned to the floor in embarrassment.

“You’re welcome.”

“Adalyn, I, um … really need to get home,” she told her.

Adalyn nodded. “Okay, sure.”

Lake’s head came up when she noticed the boys standing there. She wished she could have at least taken back the last twenty seconds so her eyes wouldn’t water when she saw Vincent’s face.

She headed straight to the car and was grateful Adalyn did, too. The car was silent all the way back to the house. Lake liked to keep things to herself most of the time, and her best friend knew when those times were. When they reached the house, she quickly got out, telling Adalyn bye.