Page 89 of Playing for Keeps

“I’m okay,” I told him. I lifted my free hand, showing him the bandage on my wrist. “They drugged me in your apartment. When I woke up, I had zip ties on my wrists and was tied to the boat.”

As Vinny listened, I recounted, for a second time in a matter of hours, everything that had happened. How they’d barged into his apartment, killing Brendan, chasing me and Levi, and tackling me to the floor. How I’d been so happy to see Rhys before I realized he wasn’t good. I told Vinny how Aaron had tried to protect me, how he’d warned me to be careful of Rhys and I’d all but written him off.

When I told him Rhys had taken Kelly and raped her, I knew I couldn’t tell him what Jim had tried to do to me. Not now. Not while he was in the hospital. That quiet beeping of his heart monitor went so fast, I was afraid the nurses would come into the room and make me go away.

Once Vinny was calm, I told him what Jim had done to him, and how I’d sliced the man’s throat while trying to get him away from Vinny. How I’d swam him to the boat. Done CPR until he could breathe. How I’d fretted over his absence when the doctors took him away.

A tear trickled down Vinny’s cheek, and I brushed it away with my thumb. “Shh, don’t cry,” I told him, my throat growing tight. His mouth moved, though no sound came out. I focused on the movement of his lips, then brushed away a tear of my own. “Of course, I saved you. I love you.”

His body shook and he sucked in a deep breath. His hand tugged at the hospital gown draped across his chest.

“What is it? Are you uncomfortable?”

Vinny shook his head, tugging again at his gown. His lips moved again, mouthing two more words.

“Your clothes?” He nodded. “They’re in the bathroom, drying. They’re completely soaked.”

A grimace cut his face. He moved his hand down to his leg, patting it gently before looking up at me.

Tipping my head to the side, I narrowed my eyes. Vinny let go of my hand and I rose from the bed. I grabbed his pants from the shower in the bathroom and brought it back to him. Gently, taking care not to pull or kink his IV, he searched through his pockets, then laid his head back against the bed.

“What is it?” I asked, then watched a smile dance across his face.

Vinny pushed his damp pants aside, then grabbed my hand, pulling me toward him. In his other hand, he held a little white box. His mouth moved once more, and I focused on the words that formed slowly across his lips.

I love you.

I’ve always loved you.

Will you marry me?

Movement in his hand drew my attention from his lips, and I sucked in a sharp breath as the words he’d mouthed suddenly hit.

Will you marry me?

The ring in the box was nestled in a bed of white velvet. The blue-green stone matched the necklace and earrings Vinny bought me when we were in the Bahamas. It was set in white gold, surrounded by diamonds, and my fingers itched to touch it as he held the box out to me.

“Oh, Vinny.”

With shaky hands, he took the ring from the box. With blood-shot eyes, his pale gaze drilled into me. His bottom lip was pulled between his teeth, and every ounce of emotion he was feeling played out upon his face.

“Yes,” I whispered, my trembling hand reaching for his cheek. “Yes,” I told him as I placed a kiss on his lips. “Yes, I’ll marry you. I love you. I’ve always loved you. I want to be with you, always and forever.”

The kiss he gave me as he slid his ring onto my finger was far from the kiss that I wanted to receive. But I could feel his pain in the flinch of his face, and I knew our kisses would be better once he healed.

Vinny rested his head against his pillow, his eyes drooping as his energy waned. His hand held mine, his fingers smoothing over the stone of my ring until he fell asleep. I dozed myself, my head against Vinny’s leg as I sat in my chair.

Footsteps slapping against the tile floor woke me. I turned my head to the door in time to see Vivian racing through it. Frantic blue eyes, the color of her brother’s, landed on me before zipping over to Vinny. She gasped, hands flying to her mouth, before racing to the bed. I jumped from my seat, stumbling backward out of her way.

“Vin.” Her slim hands feathered over the red splotches on his face, wavering in the air above the deep bruises on his throat. “Is he...”

“He’ll be okay,” I told her as Mitch swept in the door. “The doctors don’t want him to talk, and they’re worried about his lungs, but he’ll be okay.”

Mitch leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest as a small smile tilted the corners of his lips. In a flash, Vivian spun from her brother’s side and faced me. “You.”

I wanted to run, remembering the way she’d treated me at Frankie and Corey’s wedding just a few days before. The cold shoulder she’d given me as she acted like I was nothing more than gum stuck to the bottom of her shoe.

Before I could retreat, before I could move away from the girl, she lunged forward and I let out a squeak.