Page 40 of Breaking Vincent

It’s not like I couldn’t go back and demand he tell me, well I could. But then what's the point? If he was going to tell me, he’s had plenty of opportunities.

He works with Nate. Nate, who is an active member at the club who I could try to talk to next time he was there, but it seems unethical to corner him for information.

Vincent and Nate seem to have a good enough work relationship. So, if Vincent ends up going to the collaring ceremony, I’m sure I could find him in the crowd.

Hell, I’m sure there are loads of ways to find out if the brat and Vincent are the same person. I could ask Jude or Jamie, or even William.

By the time I get into bed that night, my brain feels like mush sloshing around my skull. Tomorrow is my first night back into work, I just need to figure out where to go from here. Because If Vincent is my Masked Brat, then we are going to be having a very serious discussion.

Chapter 17 –

Vincent

It hurt, like physically hurt my chest, sending David away from the shop. I wanted to drop to my knees and beg him to let me explain who I am.

I still believe I made the right choice by leaving him the fuck alone, but seeing him in the flesh today was like a kick to the balls. He’s still as handsome as he was the last time I saw him, even if he did look a little tired. Dark circles stood out under his honey-coloured eyes and his facial hair looked to be left to grow out over the past few days.

My mood is grouchy for the rest of the day and the customers are the ones suffering my rath. After being snarky to the 4th person who walked through the doors, Nate is getting close to beating my ass.

“Vincent, get the fuck in here, now!” he shouts as soon as his last client leaves the building.

I roll my eyes and stomp towards his room. I know I’m the one in the wrong, but am I fuck taking accountability.

Nate nods his head towards his tattoo bed, “Sit.”

Sitting my ass on the bed with a huff, I look up at him and wait for him to scold me.

“Vincent, talk to me. What's going on? You’ve been grumpy for the past couple of days, and then it got even worse today.”

I roll my eyes, “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Well tough shit. Because until you pull your head out of your ass, I can’t have you treating the customers like this.” He folds his arms across his chest and gives me the stink eye, daring me to keep acting like a brat.

“The man who showed up before, David. I know him… and now, well, I guess I don’t.”

“Ok? I know him, too. He works at Williams club. What's the issue?”

“Remember a couple of weeks ago, when I told you about that guy I bumped into at the coffee shop?” I wait for him to nod his head before I continue on, “Well, we kept bumping into each other, and every time I treated him like shit. And then we hooked up at the club. And then we did it again.”

Memories of our time spent together flash through my head like a video, ones that I’ve overplayed until they started to burn through the disc.

“Whenever I went to the club, I wore a mask to keep my face hidden. Meaning he doesn’t know I’m the same person who's been messing with him. At first, I was just doing it to fuck with him, but then it turned into so much more. The connection we shared when he didn't know who I was, was unlike anything I’ve ever felt before.”

Nate listens to my story without interrupting me and I’m grateful for it, because I don’t think I could deal with him telling me what an awful person I am.

“So, then what happened?”

“Your brother happened,” I say with a snort.

Eyebrows creased he asks, “What do you mean?”

“When we were all hanging at your place the other day, William pulled me to the side to tell me that David wasn’t doing so good after our last scene went tits up. I’d rather not tell you what happened, if that's ok?” Nate nods his head. “Anyway, he said, David wasn’t doing too well and if I wasn’t interested in eventually wanting something serious with him, then I should leave him alone.”

Embarrassment floods my cheeks, even if I did want to build a relationship with David, he would never forgive me for purposefully deceiving him.

Nate doesn’t say anything for a while, probably putting all the fucked-up pieces together.

Finally, he says, “First of all, my brother was a jackass for telling you that. I understand he feels a certain responsibility for his workers, but he had no right saying that to you. Correct me if I’m wrong, but you took his advice and ghosted the man?”