Chapter Twelve

Vincent Luciano (P.O.V.)

"Vincent, what are you waiting for?" I heard Liam ask as I stared at the door Riley had just exited through, my mouth hanging a bit.

For the first time in a while, I was left speechless. Not only from the insult of her words, but also from her fierceness. No one had ever spoken to me like that. Not even my best friend. And the hair flip? Was it really necessary? 

"Vincent," Liam repeated, a hard edge in his voice. 

Turning to him, I cleared my throat and sat up in my seat a little straighter.

"W-what?" 

His eyebrows lifted a little, but he quickly schooled his featured into a disapproving look.

"Why are you just sitting there? Go after her." 

Go after her?

"Why would I do that? You heard what she just said to me—" 

"Have you even been listening to yourself all night?" he interjected.

"Seriously, Vin. I knew you were ignorant, but I had no idea it was this bad." 

I tried to think back and remember what I said. None of it seemed outrageously offensive to me. Maybe I could have worded a few things better, but I did not mean to sound cruel. I was just being honest.

"How is it my issue if she gets offended by the truth?" 

Liam let out a small sigh.

"Vincent, I know you are not used to being around people like Riley and I know you take pride in your honesty, but you need to think more before you speak, around her at the least. Yes, she is poor, but she is working hard, and I am sure that she does not like that one detail about her to be rubbed in her face. Especially by people like us. Every time you opened your mouth tonight you mentioned it. She is a kind girl and you have been a complete a**hole to her all night, whether you realized it or not. Go apologize to her." 

Seeing as Liam never swore, it made me think maybe I had been a little too rude to her. But if she did not care about my words the last couple times we were together, why did she care now? Or maybe it was that she had managed to keep it to herself, and she actually thought I was rude all along. Maybe the alcohol influenced her decision to finally snap. 

I stared down at her empty plate. A few choice comments of mine to her floated around my head and I felt the unfamiliar feeling of guilt. I did not like it. Liam started to stand up and I looked at him.

"What are you doing?"

"There is an attractive drunk girl in a dress in heels - that she is not used to - wobbling around New York City right now with no way home, where do you think I am going?" Liam spat, rolling his eyes at me.

Throwing my napkin off me, I stood as well.

"I will go find her." 

"I am coming with you," he insisted. 

I found myself starting to say no before I realized it. He gave me a funny look and I avoided his gaze. Why did it matter if Liam came or not? It was not like I wanted to be alone with Riley. If she disliked me this much already, I would not want to impose on her anymore. I had been right in inviting Liam along tonight. Maybe he could help calm her down. Even if I suddenly wanted to be able to do that by myself. But even I knew I lacked the skill and compassion to do so easily. I can't even remember the last time a girl was mad at me.

I usually did not hold a conversation with them long enough for that to happen. 

"Let us go," I said, tossing down some bills to cover the check.

"She could not have gotten far. She is like Bambi in those heels." 

"While I am at it, you should seriously reconsider what you think a date means," Liam said as we passed by the other patrons.

Sam waved at us, and I gave him a quick wave back. 

His words surprised me. Most of the other women I had brought out like this had thoroughly enjoyed it.

"What do you mean?" 

"Forcing your taste of clothing on her? Inviting your best friend? I know you two are only pretending to date, but she is still a girl, and you should at least treat her right." 

"The other women I have dated—" 

"You did not date those girls, Vincent. You spent one night with them and moved on. This is different," he cut me off, grinning a bit.

"You have a lot to learn about the dating world. Especially since it is with Riley. She is not like anyone you have ever met." 

I flattened my lips, choosing not to respond. Why did Liam think Riley was so special? Why was he on her side so quickly? Was he attracted to her? Was it because she was so different than me? Anyone with eyes could see she was attractive, but there were many attractive women. Liam and I met them on the daily basis. Although not many attractive women would speak like that to me. 

I tried to quiet the voice in my head— even though it was right. I had to admire her courage. There was no trace of Riley in the building as we hurried down the stairs and stepped into the street. The temperature had dropped considerably since we had entered the city and I momentarily wished I had bought her a jacket. Even if the city stayed warm at night due to the constant bustle, eventually it did cool down. And when we returned to Philadelphia it would be quite a bit cooler. 

"We should split up," Liam suggested as he looked both ways down the street. 

"Right," I agreed, rolling my sleeves up to my elbows.

"I will head this way. Call me if you find her." 

"Same to you," Liam replied and quickly hurried away in the opposite direction. 

I set off at a quick pace, taking a look at my watch. It was almost midnight. I passed another restaurant that had a group of drunken men in front of it and a feeling of unease washed over me. Riley was so tiny. She could be easy to overcome. Would she be able to fight off someone if they tried to abduct her? 

I pulled out my phone and found her contact and pressed the call button. She did not answer, and I called her again.

Nothing.

I was caught between being annoyed and worried. Was she not answering on purpose? Or was she unable to answer because she was in danger? I ran a hand through my hair, pausing to peer into the CVS on the corner of the street. It was empty. Maybe she had already called a cab. Would she be able to afford a cab all the way back?

I pulled out my phone again and decided that even if she did not want to answer my calls, she would at least read my text message.

Do not spend money on a cab. You would not be able to afford the whole drive home. Where are you? Call me. 

From the corner of my eye, I caught the glimpse of a long black dress, and I jerked my head around, only to see a young woman with short, cropped hair in said dress. Not Riley.

I sighed, putting a hand over the crick in my neck that my sudden action had just caused. 

It would be pointless to walk around the city to try and find her, especially since she could have already left or ducked into another restaurant or bar.

I started back toward my hotel. Why was I going through the trouble and wasting my time? She left on her own. She was an adult woman... who was only five-foot-three and could easily be hoisted over the shoulder. Who was also wearing a dress that would be easy access to whatever scum who might come across her. And judging from what happened between her and that guy at Michelangelo's... 

I pulled out my phone again and jammed my finger on the call button. It rang twice and then I caught the sound of a standard ringtone. When my call went to voicemail, the ringing stopped. I hit call again and it started. My eyes shot to the ground, and I saw a phone screen lighting up a little bit up the sidewalk. I quickly grabbed it and saw my own name flashing on the screen. It was Riley's phone. My heart skipped a beat and I found myself frozen. There is no way Riley could have gotten into trouble in this short span of time. That was impossible. But why was her phone on the ground and she was nowhere to be seen? 

"Hey!" a sharp, very high and very familiar voice cried. 

I clenched the phone in my hand and turned. That was definitely Riley's voice. And she was close. I looked around— how had I missed her walking by? The group of businessmen were still standing on the sidewalk as I passed them again and I slowed my pace, listening hard for her voice again. 

"Do not touch me, I am fine!" 

I stopped dead in my tracks. Her voice had come from the middle of the group. 

"We are just trying to help," one of the men said.

He was bald and I could not see his face because his back was to me. He bent down and as he straightened up, Riley appeared in front of him, her hair disheveled. 

"Let go," she demanded again, her voice as small as her. 

What did they think they were doing? My jaw clenched and I stepped forward.

"Excuse me."

Riley's wide eyes shot to me. The guy holding her arm also turned to me and I stood my ground, keeping my lips pressed and my eyebrows narrowed. I noticed he was wearing a nametag.

Bob C.

"What?" he said. 

I pointed to Riley.

"She is mine." 

The bald guy— Bob, I had to remember his name— opened his mouth to say something, but Riley beat him to it.

"Wait, what? What am I? Your property now?" 

Her attitude caught me off guard. Did she not see that I was rescuing her? Deciding it was best to ignore her and not argue back, I stepped closer to the bald man.

"Let her go." 

"Do not let me go, that one is out to get me," Riley said quickly. 

My mouth fell open. She was making me into the bad guy. I was not the one who had her surrounded!

"Do not listen to her—" 

Bob pushed Riley behind him. She stumbled to the side, her face twisting in pain.

"Ow." I moved forward.

Acting out or not, I would never let this guy hurt her.

"I am not a patient person. Let her go." 

"Who are you?" he shot back at me, making sure to stay between Riley and myself. 

"I am her... boyfriend and I will call the cops if you do not let go of her," I warned him, trying to keep my voice even.

He was larger than me in every way and I knew I could not take him in a fight if it came down to that. 

"She does not seem to think you know her," he responded, squaring his shoulders. 

Riley smirked at me from behind him. For a split second I thought about walking away but knew I could not. She was drunk and upset with me and apparently that made her immature— a good combination for reasoning her actions. However, annoying they were. 

"You be on your way, we will take care of this young lady," Bob said in a sugar sweet voice which immediately pissed me off. 

"Can I see your name tag?" I asked him. 

"What?" I stepped closer to him, peering at it.

"Ah, you work at this restaurant. What is your position? Manager? Certainly nothing higher, judging by your attire." 

The four other men who had been watching silently all became stony-faced.

"What are you getting at?" Bob demanded. 

"Just needed to double check your position and name for when I go to your boss. I am sure he will be interested to know his employee is harassing a woman," I said casually, tucking my hands into my pockets.

What I could not do with my hands, I could do with my words. 

Bob scoffed.

"Who do you think you are?" 

"A good friend of his actually." I searched my memory.

The restaurant name rang a bell in my head. They had tried to become part of our hotel. What was the owner's name?

"Damian, right? He is not a very patient person either." 

His face paling was my answer, and he lost his defensive stance.

"I am not doing anything wrong." 

I smirked a little.

"If you are not doing anything wrong then tell me why you are getting so nervous? I will ask you once more. Hand her over and leave." 

Kevin hesitated for one moment before reaching behind him and grabbing Riley. He shoved her toward me, and she gasped and tripped as I moved forward to catch her before she could fall. I looked up to snap at the a**hole because that was not how you treated a woman, but he was already walking away, swearing under his breath. 

"Let me go," Riley muttered but made no move to pull away from my chest as I set her on her feet again. 

"I pinned you as the clumsy type and I guess I was right," I said, a frown settling on my face. 

She winced as she stood on her own.

"Owwww." 

"Did they hurt you?" I asked, a sudden rush of anger coming over me. 

"No, I tripped and twisted my ankle," she complained, shifting all her weight onto her right side.

Then she started hobbling away from me. 

"Where are you going?" I called out to her.

"Away from you. Leave me alone. I am still mad." She said, as she continued to walk away aimlessly.

I easily kept up with her.

"How did that work for you last time? You got caught by a bunch of perverts." 

"They weren't perverts," she told me.

"I tripped in front of them, and they helped me up and you took things the wrong way." 

I stopped.

"What?"

 "You were pretty intimidating though; I will give you that." 

I felt a muscle twitch in my jaw. So, I had just made a fool of myself?

"I found your cell phone on the ground though." 

"I dropped it when I fell. Obviously." 

I grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop and pulled her back to me.

"Stop walking away from me when I am talking to you." 

She gave me a snotty look and shook her arm back and forth until I let go.

"I do not feel like talking to you right now. Stop ordering me to do stuff. I am not yours." 

"I admit my comment was out of line. You are no one's possession but Liam and I have been looking for you," I said and then remembered I needed to text him and let him know I found her.

Riley started walking away again as I did so.

"Riley. I will not let you walk around alone while you are inebriated." I ordered.

"Have Liam come find me then. I will go with him," she said.

"He at least treats me like a human." 

I tensed.

"But you are my date." I trailed off.

"Not anymore. I will refund your money, do not worry about it. I know you are very concerned about that." Riley said and rolled her eyes.

"You are coming with me," I told her and reached for her again. 

She moved away from my hand and finally turned to face me again, her eyebrows raised.

"Do you manhandle every girl you come across? You are so annoying. You are like a fly." 

I pursed my lips together. 

"What? Are you going to say something about me being poor again? Go ahead. It is not like I have not been dealing with it since I met you," she taunted me. 

"I was not going to," I snapped at her. 

"Unlikely." 

"I was not," I said. "I understand that I offended you. I suppose I could have been kinder with my words." 

She snorted.

"You suppose?" 

"I did not realize the truth would offend you so much." 

"The truth is not what pissed me off," she told me, putting her hands on her hips.

"I know I do not have a lot of money. That is nothing new. Believe it or not, I am okay with it. I am only twenty-four. We do not all get handed hotels from birth." 

That comment irked me, but I knew she was not finished so I let her continue. I deserved this at the very least. 

"It is the way you were saying it. Like you were looking down on me for being poor. Like you are a better person than me. Like that is the only thing about me that is interesting. Like I cannot do or be anything else besides poor. I am more than my income. Aren't I technically your employee? Do you treat all your employees like this? I need some respect for this to work, dude." 

I watched her as she spoke. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were narrowed, shining under the light of the restaurant. She shook a little and I wondered if it was from the cold or from speaking to me like that. Was she scared of me? Or just not used to speaking up for herself? When she did not speak again, I cleared my throat, shifting on my feet.

"I understand." 

"Do you?" she challenged. 

"I admit I can be a little ignorant as Liam has pointed out many times. I usually speak before I think. Hearing you, I know I have misspoken multiple times." 

"And?" 

"And I should not speak to you or about you the way I have been all along since we met. You are correct. You are more than your income. You are also an employee of mine. The respect should be mutual," I continued, and I could feel my palms becoming sweaty.

Why was she staring at me so hard? It took a lot to make me uncomfortable, but she was having no trouble. 

"Do you understand how you hurt my feelings?" she asked. 

I nodded, feeling much like a child being scolded. 

"So?" she hedged. 

"I am sorry," I said, lowering my head.

"I apologize for offending you and for hurting your feelings." 

"Fine." 

I straightened back out, looking at her a bit startled.

Fine? That was all I got?

After I apologized to her and admitted my mistakes? 

She stared back at me, with a bored expression on her face.

"What? You want to be forgiven?" 

"That... would be nice?" I responded.

Was that not a given? It was the reason for apologizing in the first place. 

"Well, you will have to earn that," she said. 

"Earn it?" I echoed.

She should be happy I even apologized. I rarely did. 

She nodded.

"I cannot forgive you for being a d*ck to me just because you said that you are sorry. Who knows if you will go back to making the same comments as soon as we get into your car?" 

I pulled at the tie around my neck.

"What else do you want me to do?" 

"Figure it out," she retorted.

"And while you are at it, refigure your idea of a date. Fake or not, this sucked. I felt like I was intruding on you and Liam." 

"I invited Liam, so you could feel more comfortable," I told her. 

"Because being around two strange men is better than being around one? I am going to give you a second chance Vincent," she said, hobbling toward me.

She stopped right in front of me and jammed a finger into my chest.

"Mainly because I need the money you are offering. But keep this up and you will have to find yourself a new girl." 

I held up my hands defensively.

"Okay, I understand. It is never my intention to hurt someone's feelings. I will be more aware." 

She squinted at me a bit, bringing her face closer to mine. I held my ground, resisting the urge to pull away.

"Alright," she began, "I believe you. Do not test me though. I can always get back at you." 

Was she trying to threaten me? Her?

I began to smile. It was kind of cute. Little Riley trying to be all threatening all the while reminding me of a lion cub trying to roar for the first time. 

"Do not smile with your stupid handsome face," she mumbled. 

"You think I am handsome?" I asked with a smile lingering on my face in amusement.

"Do you not own a mirror? Let us go home. I might be sick," she said, backing away from me. 

I eyed her warily as she winced while testing out her heel. She bent down and began prodding at it. I did my best not to look at the sudden expanse of skin she was showing me. She seemed to notice my gaze and stuck her leg out a little more. If anything, Riley was definitely interesting. I admired her audacity. Just then a man walking by wolf-whistled at Riley's bent over form and I whipped around to glare at him while Riley straightened, a blush crossing her face. 

"Let us go," I said.

No one needed to be checking her out but me.

I grabbed her hand and pulled her back towards my hotel. 

"Ow, ow, hold on. My ankle." 

Pausing, I debated for a moment. I really did not want to stand here and wait for the cab, but I also did not want to hurt Riley by forcing her to walk. I could carry her, but that was below me. 

"Ow," she complained, wrinkling her face. 

I sighed and squatted down.

"Get on." 

"What?" 

I motioned for her to get on my back.

"Get on before I change my mind." 

"Yeah, I think I will pass—" 

"Riley." I deadpanned.

"Do not feel me up," she warned, and I felt her climb onto my back and wrap her arms around my neck. 

I pushed myself up with surprising ease. I knew she was a small girl, but I did not expect her to be so light. Her thighs were warm on my forearms, and I tried really hard not to think about them. She struggled for a moment to rearrange her dress so it would not ride up. I could feel her heart beating frantically against my back. I let out a small breath and hoped she could not feel mine beating just as hard.