Page 72 of Playing Hard to Get

Vinny frowned and leaned forward. Those eyes picked me apart, piece by piece, as they slid across my face, my shoulders, my hands.

“I'm sorry she let you down,” he finally offered. “Frankie isn't used to good things happening to her. And these accusations, had they been true, could have ruined her.”

“That's no excuse.”

“No, it's not. And I don't plan on giving you excuses for her.” Vinny took a sip of his scotch, swallowing it down slowly, like his sister would. “That's not what you're here for though, is it?”

My head shook as I blinked hard. “You heard from Viv?”

Vinny pulled his head back and raised a blond eyebrow at me. “Not recently. Why?”

Throwing back a gulp of scotch, I dove into the hidden truth. “Something's wrong. She's missing.”

He shook his head, giving me half a smile. “I thought you were seeing someone.” He didn’t wait for me to speak, just forged ahead, oblivious. “Besides, I told you, she disappears when things get to be too much for her. After that blow up at Frankie's party? This is expected.”

My eyes pleaded with him to understand as I leaned forward and told him, “Not this time, Vinny. She promised me she wouldn't. Promised to stay in touch.”

With his head tipped to the side, his eyes widened and a smile crept across his face. “No shit. You and Viv? Why didn't she say something to me?”

“Nobody knows. She wanted it that way. The only one who's seen us together is Anna.”

“Damn.” The smile dropped from his face. “Is that why…?”

“She went fuckin’ crazy? Yeah, that's a good chunk of it.”

Vinny’s eyes dropped to the table in front of him. He lifted his glass to his lips but set it down without taking a drink. “How long?”

“Couple of months,” I said. “That's why I’m telling you, Vinny, something’s wrong. She’s been responding to everything up until four days ago. Then nothing. No texts, no calls, her voicemail’s full. I don't know what to do.”

Vinny tossed back his drink and rose. Was at Frankie's desk before I had a chance to ask where the fuck he was going. By the time I got behind him, his fingers were flying across the keyboard. Screens popped up and disappeared before my mind had a chance to comprehend what they meant. Finally, he stilled. On the screen was a map, a tiny red dot pinned to the middle of it.

“Her cell was in New York two days ago. Hadn't moved for two days before that.”

Running a hand through my hair, I grabbed hold. Let gravity do what I didn't have the energy to manage, pulling at the strands.

“She disappeared four days ago. Phone’s been going straight to voicemail for two. What the hell did you just do?”

Without a word, Vinny turned to the computer. His hands flew faster than a hummingbird. Every so often he paused. Read words that flashed across the screen before zipping off and typing some more.

Never once in my life had I felt old. But seeing the speed at which Vinny attacked the computer made me feel ancient and inept.

Without looking at me, without pausing his fingers on the keyboard, Vinny said, “Got someone heading over there right now. We should know something within the hour.”

It felt like someone slapped me across the back of the head. I pulled a hand across my face as my eyes crossed.

“You got someone heading where?”

He turned to me, but my eyes were still on the screen. The screen that was now blackened and dead. Those piercing blue eyes took me by surprise. There was a fierceness I’d never seen in the man before. Never before had he reminded me so much of his twin. Every ounce of determination I saw in Vivian, every inch of fiery passion, flashed through his baby blues.

“To the bar she was last at.”

“Bar?” I shook my head as Vinny crossed to the table and grabbed his empty glass. “Wait. Four days ago, she was supposed to meet her friend at a bar for drinks.”

Vinny paused on his way to the door and turned to me. His eyes flashed across my face, as fast as his fingers ran across that keyboard. “Which friend?”

“Jill-something?” I search my memory, try to remember what Viv told me.

“Jillian Banks?”