Chapter 6

Vincent pulled up and parked in front of Rebecca's apartment. He sighed thinking about the fact that she hadn't woken up the entire drive and he was more than likely, going to have to carry her the whole way to her apartment. He opened his door and ran around to the other side. Opening the door, he barely caught her head before it hit the sidewalk. He took a deep breath as he lifted her head up before picking her up bridal style. Kicking the door closed and cringing at the thought of seeing a dent in it when he came back down, he made his way towards the door of the building. He nodded his head to the doorman who opened and held the door for him with a confused smile. Probably the state she was in but the man didn't question him.

Vincent had to push the elevator button with his elbow as he adjusted Rebecca in his arms. She wasn't really that heavy looking but she was dead weight from drinking too much and Vincent would bet everything he owned that to Enzo who he was a thousand percent sure, had slipped something into her drink.

Stepping off the elevator on what he really hoped was her floor, he looked down at her and a thought that scared him ran through his head. "She's really beautiful when she sleeps." Stopping mid-step he shook his head as if that would erase the fact that he even thought it. "What is wrong with you Vince?" He asked himself out loud before continuing to her door.

He adjusted her in his arms again while he tried to unlock her apartment door. Walking in he looked around for the door to her bedroom, realizing that there was only a set of stairs that must lead to a loft where her bed was. Taking a deep breath, he looked at the couch and thought for a second that he could just leave her there, before shaking his head and climbing the stairs.

He laid her in her bed, shaking out his arms from carrying her for so long he wondered if he should change her clothes before thinking better of it. It had never taken advantage of a woman in this state and would never put himself in a position to be accused of doing so. He removed her heels though before pulling the blankets over her and tucking her in. He stood over her looking at her sleeping face for a second. He felt a smile spreading on his face, so he forced himself to quickly look away.

Running his hands through his hair and on his pants, he looked around. Walking to the two doors on the wall he looked in one to determine which was the bathroom and walked in. He walked to the medicine cabinet, opening it, he looked for some aspirin. Finding it, he poured three into his hand and put the bottle back. He walked back to the bedroom and laid them on her bedside table and looked around again. In his bedroom, he had a mini fridge that held water bottles. It came in handy since he had a tendency to either work up a thirst or wake up with a nasty hangover, sometimes both. Sighing, he determined that she didn't have one in her room and hoped that it was because she didn't participate in the same late-night activities that he did. "Get a hold of yourself," he growled out loud looking at her when he realized it was louder than intended. She didn't even stir. "Fucking, Enzo."

He turned to the stairs and walked to the kitchen that he remembered passing when he entered the apartment and looked in the fridge finding her a bottle of water. As he turned to head back upstairs, he noticed a notepad sitting on the counter. He scribbled her a note before heading back upstairs. He laid the note underneath the aspirin and the water bottle beside that. He then noticed her purse on the floor beside the bed and grabbed it. He had been raised by his mother to never go through a woman's purse, but in this day and age, women seemed to always be lost without their cell phones. Pulling hers out, he looked to the bedside table again for a charger. Finding it, he plugged it in and set it beside the other things he had left for her when she woke.

Feeling accomplished in doing the right thing, he switched off the lamp on the bedside table before he turned to leave. He had only reached the second step down when he heard her whimper in her sleep. He turned around and walked back to look at her and realized she may not like the dark. Walking over to the bathroom again, he switched the light on and closed the door to a crack. He couldn't sleep unless it was completely dark, but that didn't mean that she was like that. After all, she was a woman living on her own in a city full of men that weren't always very nice, like himself.

He walked back to the stairs and quickly descended them. When he reached the bottom, he took a quick look around her apartment. It didn't seem like anything was out of place, besides the fact that it wasn't very personal. "Maybe she just moved in," he thought. The only things that gave any insight into her life, were two pictures on the end table beside her couch. One, was her and two sets of older couples. She was in a cap and gown, she looked slightly younger, it must have been her high school graduation. One couple was obviously her parents. Vince could tell which ones, she looked nothing like the blonde couple even though they looked proud enough that you would think they were. He picked up the other photo seeing her with a blonde. She looked like the one she had been at the bar with. Both were smiling wide at the camera. They looked excited about something. Looking at the blonde couple in the other picture, he noticed the other girl looked like them. They were obviously very close, probably best friends.

He sighed and put the picture back down. Knowing anything about her didn't really matter, he turned and walked to the front door, turning off lights as he went, before turning the lock on the handle and shutting it behind him. He took a breath and walked to the elevator, pushing the arrow to go down.

A half hour later, Vincent was walking into his place and heading straight for the fridge. He grabbed a beer and popped the top off as he walked to his couch. Taking a seat and a pull of his beer he turned the television on. He began to think about Rebecca and zoned out and didn't even hear what was being said by the news reporter. He also didn't hear his front door open.

"Vince, Vince," Domenico shouted from the opposite side of the living room. He raised a brow. Vincent looked like he was in deep thought and that was a rare and never a good thing. Domenico walked over to stand in front of his cousin and snapped his fingers in his face, causing him to shake his head before looking up at him.

"Hey man," Vincent said, clearing his throat. "Everything go okay at the club after I left?" He got up to grab another beer while he tried to remember drinking the current empty one in his hand.

Domenico nodded his head, "Yep, we took care of Enzo and his boys. Told them, they weren't allowed back at the club," he said, taking the beer from Vincent's hand before he could even take the top off. Vincent rolled his eyes before grabbing another. "So, what the hell happened exactly?" Domenico asked.

Vincent took a long drink before looking at Domenico and shrugging, "I have no idea," he said in a tone that conveyed just how confused he was. "I don't really know why, Dom, but I felt this crazy need to protect her. Enzo put something in her drink, I am sure of it," he gestured with his hands to show how intense the feeling was.

Domenico raised a questioning brow and took a drink, "I wouldn't doubt it. Enzo likes his low blows. And some girl saying she got roofied at your club would be a blow when word got out." Vince nodded in agreement. "But man, that bella kissed me and I didn't feel anything when I saw her with Enzo. Well besides that I don't know what women see in him. Other than that, nothing. Are you feeling okay? Maybe you're coming down with something," Domenico raised his hand towards Vincent's forehead to feel for a fever, but he batted it away. Vincent felt a weird feeling in his chest with the mention of her kissing him, but he didn't know what it was for sure so, choosing to ignore it made things less uncomfortable.

He walked back to the couch and sat down, "doesn't matter anyway. None of us will ever see her again," he drank the last of his beer and sat it on his coffee table.

"Ahh. Slept with her, did you?" Domenico said with a smirk and a shake of his head. It was not a surprise to him. That is what Vincent did. Love 'em and leave 'em, nothing more nothing less. He wasn't interested in settling down no matter how much it would make his mother happy and that was why Vincent never slept with them more than once, with the exception of Milena. He wouldn't have anything more with her since she was Russian and that was frowned upon by his mother and most of the rest of the family.

"I took her home. Like I said, I am positive Enzo put something in her drink," Vincent answered in an offended tone.

Domenico raised his hands in surrender, "okay, Man. Sorry. Not like you to leave a girl untouched is all I'm saying. You sure you don't plan on seeing her at a soberer time?"

Vincent shook his head. He wanted to snap his cousin's neck but held himself back by digging his fingers into his palms, "no," he stated firmly, "and she is off limits to you too," he added pointing at him with a glare so he would get that he meant it. In case he didn't understand, Vincent glared harder and added, "I mean it, Domenico. Hands. Off."

Domenico nodded, "I like my girls darker anyway," he shrugged and tried his best to silence his chuckle. It was true that he preferred them much darker than the cute girl at the club that had kissed him out of nowhere, but his cousin never forbade him from a woman. Something was up. He decided that it was time to go so, he stood up. Vincent didn't get moody like this often but when he did, no one was safe not even his blood. "I'll see you tomorrow. Don't think too much about the girl. She was cute but, nothing to get too worked up about," he turned to head to the door, pausing when he thought he heard Vincent growl. Shaking it off, he left his cousin to his thoughts.