Page 84 of Playing for Keeps

“Jen?”

My head whipped up. And up. And up. Lee stood before me with an assault rifle in his hands. The man’s green eyes flared as they swept across my bloody hands and down to my rumpled pants.

“You okay?” He lowered a thick hand down to me. I rose up on my knees, grabbing onto him with both my hands.

“I will be,” I told him, forcing my voice not to tremble and break. “Kelly’s downstairs. Rhys has her and I think... I think...”

“It’s alright,” Lee said, pulling me to him. He brought a knife out of his pocket and sliced through the plastic ties on my wrists before handing the blade to me. “My men are on board, clearing the boat. You stay here, Warren and I will go downstairs and get Kelly.”

“There are others there,” I called after him as he and Warren turned toward the steps. “A lot of them.”

He gave me a sharp nod, then descended the stairs.

I wrapped my arms around myself, doing what I could to keep warm. Above me, a thudding noise reverberated through the air. Looking up, I saw a helicopter circling the boat. Its rotors whipped the air, the cold wind swirling around me, freezing my skin. Yet the man staring down at me from the open door brought warmth to my heart.

19

Vinny

“Vinny? Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” The quiet voice broke through the haze of my heartache but did nothing to dull the pain. A gentle hand landed on my shoulder. I turned my face into the carpet, not wanting her to see my tears.

“She left me.” It came out a broken sob. Broken, like my heart. “I wasn’t enough for her. I’ll never be enough.”

Rose’s hand left my shoulder before her arms wrapped around me and she lifted me from the floor. The woman pulled me to her as if I were a child, cradling me against her chest.

“Don’t you dare say that, Vincent Marco Leonetti,” Rose scolded. “You always will be and always have been enough. For me. For your father and your sister. You are enough.”

“I love her.” It was just a whisper, but it stung like a wasp. Burned like a fire. Ached like a part of me had been stolen from my chest.

“I know,” she soothed. “I know you do. And she loves you, too.”

“She left me,” I cried as Rose ran a hand over my head. “She doesn’t love me. She doesn’t want me. She doesn’t—”

“Now you stop right there.” Rose pulled away, forcing my chin up with her hand. “That girl came here today with tears in her eyes. She left here crying like she was broken in two. Those weren’t tears of someone who doesn’t care.”

“Why’d she leave?” I felt like a child. Felt like I’d had this conversation a million times before. Only this time, it wasn’t about my mom.

“Vinny. Sweetheart.” Rose took my hand between hers, her warm skin heating my own. “I’m sure Jen has her reasons. Her world has been turned upside down. Her brother was just shot, and every time she walks in this house, she’s reminded of that.”

“What am I supposed to do?”

“What you always do, my boy. You pull yourself together and go after what you want.”

That long brown hair. Those long legs and delicate hands.

I told myself it couldn’t be her. That the girl Rhys Craigson pulled from the backseat of the car couldn’t be Jen.

I’d just got her back.

I couldn’t let her go.

Racing home had only smashed my hopes and dreams. Had left a gaping hole where my heart had been. I’d lost her to the very thing I’d been trying to protect her from.

And I’d lost Levi, too.

Pull yourself together and go after what you want.

With my phone gripped in my hand, I secured my headset in place and raced out of my apartment. “Angel? What’s Lockhart say?”