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“Yeah, I wasn’t too original when it came to naming her, I guess. But if you ever decide you want to christen her, I’ll rename her after you.”
“What an offer.” I laugh. “I’ll think about it.”
“Now I’m thinking about it, so you better distract me.”
I could say the same thing. The car may be on the smaller side, but I’m more than certain we could figure out a whole slew of things to get up to in here.
“You said you run The Aces with your cousin. Why don’t you and your brother run it?”
“My brother prefers New York, while I’ve always loved this town. My sister loves the city too, but my cousin Alec and I prefer it here. I’m second to him, and we prefer our own little empire on the Jersey Shore to the chaos of the city.”
“I’m not a fan of New York, either. There are too many people, it’s dirty, expensive, and there’s no quiet. The casinos never sleep here, but you can still find quiet.”
“That’s why when I graduated high school, I came right down here to learn the business with Alec and my dad.”
“Oh, so it’s not just you and Alec? Your dad is here too?”
“No, he, uh…” Vinny scratches his jaw. “He died six, almost seven, years ago.”
“I’m so sorry, Vinny.”
“Thank you.” He nods solemnly. “He was killed alongside my uncle, Alec’s dad, in the city.”
“Oh, I, uh… I’m sorry, I don’t know what to say to that.”
“It’s okay.” He shrugs. “It is what it is. It comes with being a Carfano. We have stricter security protocols in place now because of it.”
“So, death is just imminent in your family?”
“We all have to go sometime.”
“Yes, but most like to avoid it until they’re old and have already lived a long, full life.”
“I can assure you, I plan on doing that.” He looks over at me. “How else do you think I’ll be able to keep you happy? I have to be alive for that.”
“What?” The word is barely audible, but Vinny hears me.
His eyes shift to mine and then back to the road. “You heard me.”
I clear my throat, needing to change the subject. “You have a sister?”
“I do. Mia.” He smiles when he says her name and I can tell he really cares for her. He doesn’t offer anything else about her though, because a few seconds later, he’s pulling into The Aces underground garage and stopping at a solid black gate. He punches in a code and the gate rises slowly to reveal another part of the garage that must be for just the family.
It’s filled with beautiful cars. Classics, a few motorcycles, and more sleek sports cars like the one we’re in. There’s also a row of blacked-out Range Rovers like the one he drove me to the hospital in.
“This is quite a collection,” I say, looking around.
“We like cars,” he replies, as if it’s such a normal thing to have a garage full of them to pick and choose from at a whim depending on your mood. “We have another level of cars in the garage at our building in the city, too.”
“You said that so casually.”
“I’m trying to impress you.” He smiles. “This life isn’t all about skirting death. We have fun, too.”
“Why does it sound like you’re giving me a sales pitch?”
“I just want you to see me, my life, and my family for who we are. Not through the lens of who you think we are.”
“That’s fair,” I admit, and when he pulls into a spot and turns the car off, he reaches for my hand and brings it to his lips, kissing my knuckles softly.
