Chapter 119 Everything is different - Lily

Chapter 119 Everything is different - Lily
I look at Vincent as he drives us back to the city, a sense of melancholy resting in my chest.
The weekend was perfect, the kind of weekend little girls dream about when they think of their husbands one day. We did exactly what he said we would. We fucked, we ate great food that he cooked, we slept, lounged on the couch in front of the fireplace, and then we fucked some more.
I loved it.
"What's wrong?" He asks, feeling that I'm looking at him.
"I don't want to go back." I tell him honestly.
Being alone with him at the lake house, bickering and even in the quiet moments where we were just comfortable around each other, felt like I belonged with him. It felt like that was what my life is supposed to be like. Vincent never said I couldn't be me, or tried to make me small.
But going back feels like going back to everything that is wrong. Pressure to have a baby, all his time spent managing the mafia businesses where he comes home so late, I never even get to see him.
His hand lands on my jean-clad thigh, squeezing lightly. "We can spend the night in my apartment then. I never got to show it to you."
That doesn't really solve anything, because we're gonna have to go back tomorrow morning. I'm not stupid, I know him being away the whole weekend was a lot, and that he has to work.
The apartment is clearly prime real estate. It's new, modern, and much more Vincent's taste than the house. I like it too, although I'd put more color throughout.
"Is this where you sleep when you don't come home?" I walk to the large windows in the living room, folding my arms across my chest, thinking of all the nights I was alone in that bed, all the dinners spent with either his father or Fiona.
It was exactly the kind of marriage I feared.
Lonely.
"Mostly, yes." I feel him stopping behind me. "It's closer to the clubs, and the hotels. It has all the amenities I need like a gym and swimming pool, and it's just easier when I have an early morning. Plus, it was easier to stay away from you this way."
"Why would you want to stay away from me?" I frown, turning around to face him. "Was I so shitty that you couldn't stand spending time with me? You sure spend a lot of time when Amber was there."
That's definitely why I don't like the house. He was there with Amber, and how many girls before her? I don't feel like it's my home.
The only place I've ever felt was my home, was when I was living with Nana on the farm.
"Are you jealous? And for the record, I wanted to stay away from you because you were making me crazy, and I craved you way too much." His hands land on my hips, and he smirks, knowing full well that I'm extremely jealous. Of a dead girl. "It's not going to be easy to move. We have a system in place at the house with guards and everything."
I pull up my nose. "Can we at least spend more time here?"
"Okay." He bends his head down and kisses me softly. Yeah, I could get used to this. "We could maybe be here when my schedule is not so hectic. What do you want for dinner?"
The evening is surprisingly normal. We get Thai delivery, and eat it in bed, and watch TV. Vincent likes crime dramas, no surprise there. The weekend was just pure perfection, and I really don't want it to end.
Elio is waiting for us at the house the next morning, though, a frown on his face. Of course things just can't be perfect in this world.
"Have you checked the news this morning?" He asks Vincent as soon as we get out of the car.
"No, why?" Vincent from the weekend is gone, and back is mafia Vincent.
"Scott Anderson is all over the headlines, apparently he has been sleeping with underage girls." Elio sighs. "Was this you? You know they're gonna retaliate if you leaked that shit, and they were just about to opt out of that real estate deal."
"Well, that's no surprise." I comment drily. Anderson was a slime, anyone could see that who only spent five minutes in his company.
"You know that's not how I roll." Vincent clenches his jaw. "But I might have an idea who would expose him."
"Who?" Elio asks. "Because you know it's a bad idea to get involved in shit like that. You expose them, they expose you, and we don't want any unnecesary attention on us right now, especially not if we want that deal."
"I told you it wasn't me." Vincent sighs. "Why the hell would I do that when I've been gunning so hard for that property. It was Bella."
"Bella?" It looks like the blood drains from Elio's face. "What the hell does Bella have to do with this?"
"You know she's been working for me on the down low. She was very upset about the footage we uncovered about Anderson, and thought that we should take it to the police."
"Bella is not that stupid." Elio scoffs. "If you told her to keep it under wraps, then that is what she would do."
"Her and Jimmy were the only ones who had access to that footage, that Jimmy uncovered by the way." Vincent cocks his head to the side as he looks at Elio. "You don't think Jimmy leaked it, now do you?"