The next few hours really are like something out of a dream. I lose track of how much he spends on me, and I quickly realize that money really means nothing to him. His cocky smirk never falters and he doesn’t stop pulling me to his side protectively every chance he gets. He even sneaks into one of the dressing rooms in a busy store and fingers me until I cum so hard I have to clap a hand to my mouth to avoid making a scene. By the time the sun is setting, my cheeks hurt from smiling so much and I feel good. Better than I’ve felt in a long time. Even knowing I still need to find a way to tell Aria I’m okay and find a way to fix things with my dad, this feels really good. In the back of my mind, I feel a creeping sort of sadness, an almost grim certainty that something this good can’t last, that it won’t last. I look at him as the red light of sunset catches all the perfection of his features and know that I can’t keep him. He may think he wants me now, but he’ll get bored, or whatever happened in his world to supposedly make me safe will fall apart.
“What is it, doll?” he asks as we both eat cheeseburgers from Bill’s Burger Bar in the Rockefeller center. I was surprised when Vince suggested it, because I assumed he must be on a really strict diet to look so good. Apparently he just has good genes. Not fair at all. But I’m definitely not complaining.
We’re outside, sitting on a bench as crowds of people mull by, some hand-in-hand as they take in the sights and others are just going from point A to point B. The sunset brought a chill with it, so I’m cuddled close to him and enjoying the warmth of his body. I feel strange knowing that the bags beneath the bench have thousands of dollars worth of clothes inside, but I doubt anyone is going to dare trying something with a guy like Vince around. I just want to make sure we don’t forget them.
“It’s nothing,” I say. I try to sound convincing. The last thing I want is to scare him off with some self-conscious bullshit about my insecurities, even if they are probably spot-on.
He frowns, setting his burger down in the styrofoam container. He thinks for a moment and then smirks, sliding his arm around me as easily as if he had been doing it his whole life. I lean into him, feeling a sudden rush of emotion that I wish I could push down. When the sex was all that drew me to him, I could really think about walking. Now he’s starting to get to me in other ways, too. I could just sit like this all night, enjoying his closeness and the way he only has eyes for me, even when beautiful women in revealing outfits pass us. A few women have even tried to get his attention, but he brushed them aside like gnats. The way he has an ease about him, like the rules and limitations of mere mortals don’t apply to him, like money is just some arbitrary thing regular people have to worry about. It would be so easy to fall into this life, to blind myself to what he really does and who he really is.
“How about this,” says Vince. “I’ll let you ask me one more question, but you’ve got to answer my question first.”
I look at him skeptically. “How do I know you’ll answer?”
He looks genuinely offended. “I keep my word.”
I bite my lip. “Fine. Go ahead and ask. But you had better answer my question.”
“What’s wrong?”
I can’t help laughing a little. “That’s a pretty broad question. Where do I even start?”
“Wherever you want.”
“I just…I don’t see this lasting. We’re too different. You’re too dangerous and I’m too…me. It feels like we’re walking on the edge of a cliff, like one wrong step is going to get both of us killed.”
He smirks. “That’s all?”
“What do you mean that’s all? I’m saying this is scary. I don’t know how it’s going to end.”
“You’re not supposed to. That’s the point.”
I shake my head. “It’s not that simple.”
He pulls me close until his breath rasps in my ear. “It’s me, and it’s you. It’s that fuckin’ simple.”
I still don’t think it’s that easy, but there’s a certainty in his words and a finality to them that brings me at least a little comfort. It’s also sweet that he used his one question to find out what was bothering me, not to pry for his own curiosity.
“Ok, my turn,” I say.
He leans back, threading his fingers behind his neck. “All right. Let’s get this over with.”
“What do you really do? For a living I mean.”
“I knew that was coming. Well, I do a lot of things. You saw plenty when we first met. I take bets, make them, enforce payouts, skim off the top, you name it, really. I’ve got a nose for money and I’m smarter than the suits who try to pin me down on charges. That’s pretty much it.”