Chapter 109 Partners - Lily

Chapter 109 Partners - Lily
My hands are itching to create something, but I spend the day with Fiona instead, who is feeling way worse than me. We eat junk food and take a nap in the movie theater, gentle shaking waking me up, and I look up into Vincent's concerned eyes.
"Can I talk to you for a second?" He whispers, and I get up from where I'm lounging on one side of the couch, careful not to wake Fiona.
I follow Vincent to our bedroom, who looks uncharacteristically nervous when he rakes his hand through his dark hair. "Frank said you took some pain killers, how are you feeling now?"
I clench my buttocks, and the deep ache is still there. "I've been better."
"Listen, I'm sorry about last night, I should've known that idiot would try to pull something like that."
"What are you going to do about it?" For fuck's sake, we're the mafia, one of the most feared organizations in the world. "You can't let him go around and do shit like that on our territory no less."
Vincent's eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "You're talking real mafia now."
"Well, if you can't beat them, join them or some shit." I spit out. "What if things went differently last night? What if Fiona had a bad reaction, or even worse? We could've gotten raped and wouldn't have had an idea what happened."
"I know." Vincent sighs. " I'm on it."
"What are you doing exactly?" I cross my arms. "He should've been reported missing by now and his body found from an apparent drug overdose. The man is fucking evil!"
"He will get what is coming to him soon, I promise." Vincent steps closer to me and takes my upper arms into his hands, his eyes burning as they look into mine. "Nobody hurts you and gets away with it, trust me."
Only, I have been hurt before, by his own people apparently, and the culprit hasn't been caught yet. It makes me feel unsafe under the very roof I'm supposed to be protected in.
"Do you remember the safety security box at the bank?" He asks, making me frown.
"Yes, why? Are we in some kind of danger that I should know about?" I stiffen in his hold. Why would he need to bring that up unless I have a reason to flee?
"No, I just want you to be prepared." His eyes soften, confusing me more.
Vincent and I argue, we fuck out of anger most of the time, and I can't say that I don't enjoy it. But this new side of his, this vulnerable side he's letting me see is making me nervous.
"I want a passport for Fiona." I demand. "If something happens, I'm not leaving her."
I don't know why I feel such a huge responsibility to protect her, but I do. She may have been paid to accompany me here, but I truly think of her as a friend now.
"Okay." He pulls me into his arms completely and opens his hands on my back. "Remember what I said, we're in this together. Think of us as partners and not enemies."
"Partners."
God, so many things have happened in the few months I've been here, forcing me to grow up, going through things other girls my age don't ever have to. Do I embrace what Vincent is suggesting, or do I continue kicking against the ceiling?
He let me go to school like I wanted, and I sort of fucked that up. He even let Fiona go to school, just because I asked. Maybe he's not that bad, and me continuing to fight him is not doing any one of us any good.
"Partners, yes." He says into my hair. "We're going to have a lot of enemies in this lifetime, let's not fight against each other, please."
"Are you saying you don't like my sparkling personality?" I like arguing with him.
"I love your sparkling personality."
A pang goes through my heart at his words. He didn't exactly say that he loves me, but it sure feels like it. Papa and Nana are the only people who have ever told me they loved me, and even that was sparse. Love is not the word that was being used frequently in my family.
I clutch Vincent's damn black shirt in my fists, the walls I've carefully built around my heart starting to crumble again as he shows me the man he showed me when we went to the lake house.
"Will you come home tonight?" I try my hardest not to sound needy with that question. I don't want to wear my heart on my sleeve. If I give him everything of me, what will I have left?
"Yes." He kisses the side of my face before stepping away from me. "I'll be home for dinner."
He seems reluctant to leave, and I wonder what mafia business he will attend to, and I pinch myself that I'm even interested.
Asking your wife to be your partner in the mafia is unheard of. We're usually shoved to the side.
So what exactly would being Vincent's partner entail?