MAN

Veronica
“Veronica.”
His deep, low voice made a command out of my name. I stepped into the room and closed the door behind me, keeping my hands on the doorknob at my back.
He walked over to my desk and picked up the small snow globe. It was a Christmas motif. A family around a tree: mother, father and two little girls, all holding hands, forming a complete circle.
“Late in the year for this, isn’t it?”
I went to him to take it from his hands. When my fingers brushed against his, a spark of electricity jolted through me. I gasped, for a moment frozen. Blinking a few times, I finally found my voice. “That’s not yours.” I took the globe and set it down.
He smiled, moving a little to the side, blocking me between himself and the desk. He stood too close, his body too big. He used up too much of the oxygen, so all I could do was suck in gulps of air.
“But you are.”
His gaze searched my face, settled on my mouth.
“Mine, I mean.”
My skin prickled, every nerve ending alive, my body at attention. “Why?” I asked, unable to look away from him. His eyes, they held so much that I wanted to know, in spite of the warnings going off in my brain.
“Restitution.” His gaze remained steady, watching me process.
But he and my grandfather spoke in riddles, giving me bits and pieces of a puzzle I couldn’t put together without more information.
He stood so close. I picked up the scent of aftershave, alluring and treacherous and very, very wrong. Like him.
He smiled with one side of his mouth, and I flinched when he raised a hand. But he gave me a small shake of his head before tucking the hair that had come loose of its clip behind my ear.
“Soft Veronica. Pretty Veronica.”
He leaned in close, his chest touching mine, making me gasp. He inhaled deeply.
“Sweet, innocent Veronica.”
I shuddered, my nipples tightening, brushing against his hard chest. He stepped back, his gaze falling to the dark peaks I know he saw pressing against my white uniform blouse. I blinked, looking anywhere but at him, feeling too hot, sweat gathering under my arms, beading across my forehead. He was the opposite, collected and relaxed and fully in control of himself, of his body, while mine betrayed me, feeling things I’d never felt with anyone before.
I knew he was twenty-four years old. He was experienced. He was also a criminal, like his father. But one so charming, he’d fooled Sister Amelia into letting him into my bedroom.
“Boys aren’t allowed in this building,” I said stupidly, forcing myself to look up at him.
At that, his smile widened, reaching his eyes, as if he were suddenly, terribly amused.
“I’m not a boy.”
No. No, he was not.
He stepped back, but barely. “Do I make you nervous?”
“No,” I answered too quickly.
He reached to either side of me and placed his hands over mine. I realized I was white-knuckling the edge of the desk.
“No. Not at all,” he said.
I broke eye contact, and he took two steps away. When I looked up, he was reaching into his pocket to take out an envelope.
“I actually came to give you something.”
“What?”
He held it out.
“I don’t expect your grandfather to have been forthcoming, considering. Although you probably know that, given the fact he raised you.”
“He didn’t raise me.” Marjorie had.
He gestured for me to take the envelope. I did.
“What is this?”
He studied me. “Truth.”
A shudder ran through me. I glanced down at the envelope in my hand.
“He won’t miss me, if that’s what you think. You won’t hurt him by taking me.”
He studied me but didn’t reply to my comment. Instead, he reached out and took my hand, startling me. His eyes held mine, that smile remaining on his face as he twisted my class ring off my finger.
I shook myself out of my stupor. “That’s mine!”
He slipped it onto his pinky. It went about halfway down.
“I need it to be sure your wedding ring fits.”
Wedding ring. We were going to be married. Me to him. Him to me.
Every hair on my body stood on end at the thought of what he’d expect from me.
“I’ll be here to take you home with me after your graduation.” Stefan turned and walked to the door. “Make sure you’re ready.”
“It’s not home. Not for me.”
“And your grandfather’s house is?” he asked with barely a glance in my direction.
“Can’t you forget what he owes you? What, you think I should repay?”
He turned to me.
“Forget the debt,” I added in a near whisper.
His eyes darkened. “Sadly, forgiveness must precede forgetting, and unfortunately for you, neither is an option.”
His gaze flitted over me once more.
“You should eat. You’re too skinny.” He disappeared out the door.
I dropped onto my bed, clutching the envelope he’d given me, my heart pounding. Footsteps and laughter broke into the quiet, and Cathy and Mary pushed the bedroom door open.
“No wonder you’re not interested in the party!” Mary said.
They had no idea.
——
Stefan
They think I’m the monster. The beast who would steal the innocent girl, when all along, they’re the animals. He’s the beast who would sell her to save his decrepit neck.
I gave Sister Amelia a wink as I left. Outside, I climbed onto my bike, glancing up as I started the engine. Two faces peered out of Veronica’s window, but neither belonged to her. Shifting into gear, I sped off the grounds and toward the city, needing the long ride. The freedom of speed. The danger.
The last was one of the few things that cleared my head.
Veronica had lost weight since last I saw her. Her face looked thinner, her uniform looser. It was expected, though. I imagined she was more than a little anxious about her future.
At least I wasn’t a liar, though. At least I was up front about who I was. She wasn’t going anywhere worse than her home. Maybe even a little better. With me, she’d always know the truth. Life with me would not be easy, but it would be honest.
Another week to wait. Then I would leave this place. Go home.
Home.
Fuck.
What was that even? Where was that? Could vengeance be home? Because that fit. That was about all that fit.
I’d spent the last six years of my life behind bars. I’d killed my father with my bare hands. Although the ruling was overturned and the act declared one of self-defense, I knew better. I’d killed the man who should have protected us, who should have laid down his life to protect my mother, my brothers. Me. I killed my own fucking father after he destroyed us, after he set to flames the only good in our lives.
Between mine and Veronica’s upbringing, we had great fucking family values. Almost made me understand my brother, Damon’s, choice of vocation. Almost.
But that was neither here nor there.
Sadly for Marcus Kingston, I didn’t rot in jail. And now that my life was saved, I would destroy theirs.
See, there was one thing prison did to a man. It gave you time. And in that time, I figured out my priorities. The things that mattered. Used to be family for me. But that was ash now. Now, my priority was punishing those who had been the catalyst for what had happened. For what had led to the fire that destroyed anything worth living for.
But for all Marcus Kingston’s pomp and circumstance, he was a weak man. A coward. He’d all but offered up his granddaughter. Maybe he never thought I’d go through with it. Or maybe he just didn’t give a fuck about her. But he did give more than a fuck about the money. I’d be taking a hefty share of the precious Kingston fortune, and I’d determine what the hell happened to the winery.
My mind wandered back to Veronica. She was innocent. I knew that. And if I had any humanity left, I would have felt for her. For her predicament. All her life, that man had been using her, abusing the trust as her caregiver and legal Kingstonn. Hers and her sister’s. And she didn’t have the first clue.
I knew he not only lived off the money that belonged to her and her sister-his allowance wouldn’t afford him the kind of luxury he was accustomed to-but he was outright stealing from his grandchildren. What in hell he planned to do with that money, I had no idea. The man had to be close to seventy by now. He couldn’t live long enough to spend it. Although snakes like him never seemed to die.
I knew Veronica was as much a victim as me, but she’d have to endure her future. Her fate was sealed the day mine was six years ago. And ultimately, I was the one who’d paid the heaviest price. Who’d lost so much. I was the one who’d had to live among violent, raging men who would rape you or kill you and eat their dinner off your broken body when they were done. Thank God, it had taken exactly one time, one incident, for them to learn not to fuck with me.
I accelerated and shook off my thoughts.
That was all in the past now. I never had to go back there again.
And if I didn’t sleep, not even the nightmares could touch me.
I arrived late to the graduation ceremony.
I could have waited for her to go home with her family. Given her a few precious hours with her sister. But I didn’t want to.
Veronica’s grandfather and sister sat in the second row behind the students. The sun beat down on me, the sky clear, the June heat stifling. I didn’t mind the warm temperatures. It was the humidity I could do without.
Tuscany would be hot, too, but not humid, not like Philadelphia.
Veronica glanced back to wave to her sister, but her smile faltered upon seeing her grandfather. I wondered how much her sister knew. She knew we’d be married. But had Veronica confided the details of this unholy union?
Had Veronica read what I’d given her, or had she’d buried her head in the sand, unable or unwilling to face and understand the reasons for her fate?