If Henry cared for him like a brother then why doesn't he stop Vincent from selling deadly drugs to desperate people.

I knew from experience how dangerous Vincent was and I've had two months to think about how I was going to deal with his 'sleeping' problem.

I had a goal to kill him, and I had to accept that if I was going to complete the plan. Since I failed at killing him the first time, I definitely needed more practice if I was going to succeed the second time.

Nova was excited to see that I wanted to double up on practices since the night at the frat and we did things that we hadn't done since we first started talking about killing Vincent.

That included going to a shooting range and refreshing our memory on kendo. If Vincent injected himself with the 'Superman' venom then it would definitely be harder to kill him. However, I had to keep the people that I'm fighting for on my mental and remember that Vincent needed to be wiped from this earth immediately. Even if a sword had to do it.

I'd been studying him and it's almost like he has two personalities. The first time I was in his house, he cooked me dinner but it was right after he threw a glass past my head. The second time I noticed was the night of the frat party, Vincent was in the middle of butchering me but then stopped. It had to have something to do with his lack of sleep.

I took Henry's advice to heart because I was going to stay out of Vincent's way...for now. He threatened Nova's life and it pissed me off.

And made chills run down my back. I tightened Henry's jacket around my body and completely forgot to give it back to him.

I knocked on Vincent's door and a few seconds later the maid from before opened the door just enough so I could see her face. I remembered her name being Linda.

"You need to get in here," she pulled my arm and I was dragged into the mansion.

She locked the door behind her and turned around for me to see the damage that was done to her uniform.

It was covered in blood and her arm was dripping from a long cut.

There had to be one explanation.

"Where the fuck is he?" I asked lowly.

Linda pointed toward a swung open door with her uncut arm.

I pulled my knife from under my skateboard and made my way to the unfamiliar door that I didn't notice the first time I was here.

I was surprised to feel Linda grab my wrist to stop me.

"He's in his sleep state."

"What?"

"I know you've noticed his symptoms and you know about his condition. I've known Vince since his parents hired me to be his babysitter. Please...don't kill him," she pleaded with teary eyes.

"I'll do whatever I have to do," I continued to walk to the door and thankfully her grip on my wrist was loose.

I stood at the top of a staircase and I could hear tin being thrown at the floor and the walls.

I ran down the dark stairs but slowed when I got to the last step. The scene I saw in front of me had my blood boiling.

Claire was climbing on top of a steel cabinet filled with vials and Vincent was dragging her down by her ankle.

There was glass on the floor from the shattered cabinet and blood tinted the sharp crystals. That's probably how Linda got hurt.

"Let go!" Claire screeched as she held on tightly to the edge of the cabinet and I could see that she was losing grip.

"Come down here before I slit your throat!" Vincent seethed darkly.

Based off what Linda said he was asleep. There's only one thing to do to break him out of it.

"She said let her go," I ran toward Vincent. He turned around to grab me but I took his arm in my hands and flipped him over my shoulder.

I quickly went on top of him to dig my knee into his stomach.

"Wakey, wakey," I dragged the knife beneath his breast bone and his screaming made me want to go deeper. So I did.

This is the perfect chance to get what I wanted. Just a few more inches up and I could puncture his heart.

"Amari, stop!"

My knife stopped and an irritated groan escaped my lips when I turned around to see Claire now on the floor.

"You can't kill him-"

"And why not?"

"He's the only one who could save me! The only one who could stop this."

She showed me her arm and I saw black lines running underneath her skin. Almost like dark spiderwebs replaced her veins.

I rolled my eyes and reluctantly snatched my knife out of him. His green eyes were wide with pain and confusion.

"Finally, you m-made it," he gasped with a relived smile on his face.

I pushed my knee deeper into his stomach and he started to cough up blood.

"Amari!"

Claire yelled again and I came back to my senses.

"Since you are unfit, tell me what I have to do," I gritted through my teeth.

"There's a syringe on the table, I need you to put it into the vein under her ear, and don't hit the carotid," his words came out fast.

Faster than I could process.

With one last glare down at him, I wiped my knife off on his dress shirt before tucking it into my back pocket.

I got up and looked behind me to see Claire sitting on the steel table with the syringe in her hand. A ghost of a smile framed her face and I realized this was more scary for her than it was for me.

I shuffled toward her and took the syringe and analyzed the dark burgundy colored liquid in it.

"How do I know where the carotid is?"

"You'll just know," his vague answers were coming back and I glanced to see that he slid himself against a wall holding his wound.

I blew out a breath and went to hold the side of Claire's face with my left hand and balancing the syringe in my right.

"What happens if I hit the carotid?" I stalled.

"Then they'll have to recast Claire in the film since she'll be dead."
Claire's eyes were filling with tears and she looked to me.

"You can do it," she whispered and pulled her lip between her teeth.

I focused on the painful mark that was already below her ear and could only imagine Vincent shoving a needle there to create the bruise.

With my eyes switching from Claire to her neck, I finally stuck the needle under her neck as gentle as I could and shot whatever was in the syringe into her neck.

When seeing the last of the liquid disappear from the syringe, I took the needle out and searched Claire's face for any signs of discomfort.

Her eyes shut tightly and she bit her lip even harder. A wail escapes her mouth and tears began to roll down her cheeks.

"What's wrong? What's wrong with her?" I yelled at a bloody Vincent who's face was blank.

I saw the dark webs in Claire's arm disappear gradually and her screams quieted down.

"Are you okay?" I asked her worriedly.

"Yeah, I think so," she breathed out and grabbed my shoulder to pull me into a hug.

"You said to let you know whenever he did this again. Thank you for being here."

"It was nothing," I smiled.

We leaned back from the hug and she hopped off the table whilst picking up her purse from under it.

"I'll be off. See you losers on set next week."

Before she walked out the door she turned to Vincent.

"And Vince, thanks for not killing me this time you son of a bitch."

Then she was off and back to her normal self.

I looked at Vincent and saw that his face was draining of color and he was trying to keep his eyes open.

"Why aren't you healing?"

I walked over to him and examined his still very opened wound.

"Because I'm human, princess," he groaned.

"I know that dumbass, I thought you had 'mega healing super powers' too."

"Those who have the serum have 'mega healing super powers'," he chuckled painfully.

"Why haven't you given yourself the serum? Don't you think it could help your sleeping problem?"

"That's the problem. I have to know that it can help my sleeping problem. I can't take it because based on my statistics I will never go to sleep again," he spoke fast.

He noticed the confused look on my face and continued to laugh dryly.

"Think of it as a drug that takes problems away. With you it was your asthma. You no longer have to take your pump again. With Claire it was her heart. And for me it would be my sleep. I'd lose the ability to sleep and the drug would make me live without it," he wheezed.

I nodded my head in understanding and he started to cough again.

I rolled my eyes because I couldn't let him die since Claire would literally die without him.

I cut him really deep and if I waited for an ambulance to get here he'll bleed out. After yelling up the stairs at Linda to call an ambulance, I threw my fro into a low puff.

"Do you have a first aid and sewing kit?"

As if she heard my thoughts, Linda came down the steps with two boxes in her hand and gave them to me. I noticed that she wrapped up her arm with a big white bandage.

"Hey, you need to stay awake," I lightly slapped his face when I saw his eyes fluttering down.

I cut open his shirt with my knife to examine the damage that I did to his torso.

"Mmm I like your hands on me and everything but do you know what you're doing?" He mumbled attempting to keep his eyes open.

"Before becoming a performer my mom was a nurse," I took out a needle, some thread, and alcohol.

I poured the alcohol over his torso and when he winced in agony my heart squeezed uncomfortably.

"Sorry, forgot to tell you it's gonna hurt like a bitch."

Without trouble, I threaded the needle and I was soon stitching him back together.

"Stay with me, Vincent," I chimed when I noticed him drifting off.

I finally finished the last stitch with bloody fingers and I lightly slapped his toned stomach.

"You're all done."

There was no snarky comment. I couldn't even hear him wheezing anymore.

"Vincent. Vincent!"

I held his pale face in my red colored hands and tapped his face.

His lips were white and chapped like he wiped them on sandpaper. I don't know why in that moment I recalled our time in his kitchen when he first had a genuine conversation with me. That guy was genuine. That guy wasn't a devil.

The night in his kitchen he was vulnerable. Then and now I see a boy who was put under so much pressure that his own brain turned on him. His curly hair that lacked gel was evidence that he was going through something dark because Vincent was a 'keep clean' kind of guy who gelled his hair back to be out of his face.

He reminded me of me when I had no shoulder to cry on when my mother died because Jaden was with his parents for the summer and my father was off doing God knows what. He needed help...I wanted to help him.

"Wake up," I whispered with a surprisingly pained heart. "Please wake up."

"Amari!"

Over Linda's holler I heard the sirens of the ambulance and I knew that it was time to go.

I slapped Vincent so hard that it whipped his head to the side. But he was awake.

"Come on."

I threw his arm over my shoulder and lifted him up which was much easier than the first time since I was familiar with his weight. Déjà vu kicked in when I realized this same scenario happened two months ago only this time he wasn't drunk.

He was drunk from the loss of blood.

Leaving behind my sacred skateboard, precious knife and the wreckage of the basement, I heaved Vincent up the steps and walked to the front door where Linda was trying to hold back a paramedic.

"The owner of this house does not feel comfortable with strangers in it! I suggest you step back young man!"

I covered a giggle due to her mannerism and dragged Vincent to the door.

The medic pulled out a gurney for Vincent and I laid him on it so they could wheel him to the ambulance.

"I'm sorry Miss but if you're not related to the patient in any way we can't let you ride in the ambulance," the paramedic said.

Vincent must've had electricity shoot through his veins when the other medic stuck an IV into his arm because he shot up and grabbed the man by his collar.

"She's close enough. Now get me to a fucking hospital," he growled and I saw sweat fall down the young doctor's forehead before Vincent released him from his hold.

After nodding a goodbye to Linda, I hopped in the back of the ambulance and sat beside Vincent who scooped my hand into his.

All the while, his thumb kept circling my palm making my stomach twitch.

* * *

"You are a lucky man. If it wasn't for this young lady stitching you up I'm not sure you would be alive right now," a friendly voice said. "You've got someone special."

I stirred in my sleep and I silently groaned from the pain in my back thanks to the incredibly uncomfortable armchair.

"I've got someone that I don't deserve," Vincent mumbled.

I cracked my eyes open to check if I was dreaming and before Vincent turned his head I saw him looking at me weird. His eyes were warm and the corners of his lips weren't turned up in a snarky smirk.

"I'll be back soon to check on you again." The doctor smiled at both of us before exiting the room.

"You got stronger," he said whilst sipping water from his straw.

"Yeah. What about it?"

He gave a lopsided grin as if he was recalling something.

"What's going on in that sick head of yours?"

"Oh nothing." He snickered with a smirk on his face.

I rolled my eyes and got up so I was standing next to his bed with crossed arms.

"Now you have to tell me."

"You're too cute when you're angry." He sat up hastily. "I just remembered when you were in my house and forced me to let you stay even after I threw a glass that was meters away from your head. Why did you stay?"

"I wanted to kill you, remember?"

"You are correct." He bit his lip in concentration. "Do you still want to kill me?"

"Yes."

My blunt answer seemed to turn his face blank and made his jaw clench.

"That reminds me, you're flying with me to Italy."

"What? No, I'm flying with Henry since I'm his assistant and not yours," I exasperated.

"You're flying with me and that's final. He doesn't get to have you all to himself."

"What happened to your assistant? Kourtney?"

"Fired her."

"What—and why would you do that?"

My mouth was agape and I drew my eyebrows together.

"She sucked," he said in an obvious tone and his mouth quirked up.

"What now?"

"Your sweet mind won't understand, Princess. You're too innocent."

I was having a hard time contrasting Vincent from his alter self but I couldn't tell which was which. In both he is cocky and a dick.

"Cut the shit, Passaretti."

"Oh but you do have a dirty mouth."

I scrunched my lips and proceeded to put on Henry's jacket and walk to the door.

"That looks a bit too big for you," Vincent said and made me stop at the door.

"Yeah doesn't it? It's my boyfriend's," I smiled when I saw his chin lock and a snarl replaced his grin.

"I hope you have a great explanation for Henry when he asks why I'm going to Italy with you instead of him. Feel better lunatic."

Then I left.

Damnittttt. All of my stuff is at his place. Including my phone. And my ride.

I groaned internally as I stood in the hallway and walked back to his room with my head down.

"Back so soon?" He places his hand behind his blonde curly hair and flashed a smile his fans would fall in love with.

"Shut up, you're so ignorant gosh," I sat back down in the armchair and put my hand over my forehead.

I heard him take a deep breath before slowly letting it out.

"Let's play a game. I ask you a question about yourself and if I try to insert myself into the conversation...you get to have any portrait hanging in my home."

I furrowed my brows at his sudden interest in games and his prize to me if he lost.

"When I was drunk I saw the way your face lit up when you saw the pictures in the halls."

"So if you manage to somehow refrain from gloating about yourself in the conversation what do you win?"

He thought for a few seconds and then his grassy green eyes met my brown ones.

"Before you fly to Italy with me—"

"If I fly to Italy with you," I corrected him and he simpered.

"If I win, before our trip to Italy you have to come to New Hampshire with me to see my sister."

"Which one?"

"My twin. Violet."

She's the one who got away from the Passaretti brand. Meeting her could help me put the pieces together of how Vincent got like the way he was.

"Deal."

"Other than wanting to kill me, why did you want to work as an assistant?"

"Before I knew that you were in the movie, I auditioned for Kiana's part. Nova thought it was a good opportunity to work on the set even after I didn't get the lead."

"So you want to be an actress?"

I nodded my head.

"My mom was a Broadway performer while she was in med school so she could keep a steady income. People from around the world would come to see her perform in Chicago. I just want to inspire people the way she did."

He pursed his lips and focused his gaze on me which made me squirm in my seat.

"That night I lost control—you mentioned something about my family being 'wolves'. I have a feeling that you know more about them then you let on. Your wish for my death really...it really pained me."

"Pained you?" I took a breath to calm my nerves. "You really don't know why I want to kill you, do you?"

He shrugged honestly.

"Your drugs are the reason why my father is an addict. He's in jail because he was accused of trying to rape a white woman and everyone knows how that story ends. They didn't even need to look at his past visits to the courthouse because they had already looked at the charcoal that colored his skin. The judge knew my dad was a regular and knew that he'd been doing crack for years. It was only a matter of time."

I inhaled to keep my emotions at bay.

"Amari, come here." He commanded deep but soft.

When I got up and neared the bed he grabbed my wrist and gently pulled me down to sit on the bed facing him.

"Mi dispiace così tanto,  principessa," he whispered while running his thumb over my knuckles. It had been the first time that I heard him speak the foreign language and his accent finally matched his words. Although I had no idea what he said.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you had to go through this and get mixed in the trouble of my family. I'm not going to blame my family because I could've stopped it. I'm still part of the business, but I'm not dealing. I promise you that."

"Then what are you doing?"

"Remember how I told you that my mother can't work anymore because of her hands? Well that's why I started the trials. My father didn't know that I'd been selling his product to other companies in order to bring in money to fund my project. At least he didn't know until my brother told him. But he needs to know that the project was a success."

"So you need me in Italy with you to prove to your father that your trial worked?"

"Yes."

I looked down and bit the inside of my cheek in concentration.

"And you're not selling drugs?"

"Well I have to baby girl I have my successful pharmacy downtown. However I don't sell drugs intended to kill others, but rather to help them."

The new pet name whirled in the air and had me roll my lips between my teeth.

Nova and I had been going at this all backwards. Vincent was just a cocky, benevolent bystander who just so happened to be our target because he was the closest one to us.

We hadn't given any thought to who in the family sold and who didn't because we blamed everyone. And that was our fault. We let the thought of saving our loved ones cloud our judgement.

And a troubled man who just wanted to help his mother could've lost his life because of our anger toward his last name.

We'd been going at it the wrong way this entire time. But my target wasn't clouded anymore. It was crystal clear.

The man behind the puppet show and the cause of his children's destruction.

Vincent Passaretti wasn't the enemy. His father was.

"Please say something," he pleaded.

I stared at our tangled hands with a new found hope.

"I think you owe me a painting. Successful pharmacy? You thought I wouldn't catch that."

My heart skipped a beat when he raised my hands to his lips and planted a kiss on them. His stubble scratched my skin and I felt vibrations escape through my fingers as he chuckled.

"You're right, and I never break my promises."