Princess of St. Vincent

Chapter 30

"Come here." Davide said, for what seemed like the millionth time that weekend. Vada sighed and dropped what she was doing as she wandered over to where Davide was sitting by the sofa.

"Yes?" She asked, standing and looking down.

"Here." He said, holding something out to her. Vada didn't take it, she just looked.

"No?" He said, taking another drag. "Come on, it's good."

Vada stared.

"I don't do drugs." She said, turning to walk away.

"Well, today you do." He said, reaching out and pulling her towards him. Vada sighed as she let him sit her on his lap.

She didn't say a word, she only watched. She'd been struggling with a headache since she'd fallen over at the club but she'd refused to say it.

Davide hadn't missed how she was covered in bruises the next morning. He tried to shrug it off but as the days passed, they became darker, a sign that they were about to clear up. Still, he hadn't realized he'd been so rough with her. If it hadn't been for that idiot, Armando, he never would have acted out that way either.

Vada sat awkwardly, watching as Davide took another drag and then held the small joint to her lips. She sighed, taking it from his fingers and inhaling softly, knowing he wasn't going to let her walk away otherwise.

"Good girl." He said with a grin, one hand around her waist as he took it back and placed it on his lips once more. Vada exhaled, feeling immediately a bit more relaxed. He held it out to her again, but this time she shook her head and he shrugged, one more hit before putting it out.

"You did surprisingly well for a first time." He said, turning to look at her. Vada lifted her brow.

"I'm 18 years old and I grew up in New York- do you really think that was my first time smoking pot?" She asked. He chuckled.

"You did say that you don't do drugs." He said.

"I don't but I've tried it." She said. Davide shrugged, sinking back against the cushions he was sitting against.

"Well, in that case, I don't really do drugs either." He said.

"But you buy them?" She asked.

"When I need them." He said.

"Need them?" Vada asked, thinking he sounded like a junky. Davide looked at Vada and chuckled.

"I'm not an addict if that's what you're thinking. How's your head?" He asked. Vada frowned about to reply that it hurt like hell but then she realized that suddenly wasn't true.

"It's actually much better." She said. He nodded.

"Good. Why don't you just take a break and I'll make dinner tonight?" He said, lifting her legs off of him and getting up.

Vada stared at him as he moved into the kitchen.

Could it be that Davide had specifically gone out to buy that because he knew about her headache? She watched as he stood by the counter, flipping through his phone and then suddenly the apartment was filled with music... good music. Davide put his phone down and turned, taking things out of the fridge and beginning to prep.

What the hell was going on? Whatever it was, Vada felt extremely relaxed and for the moment, she decided to take advantage of the strange mood swing. She closed her eyes and felt like she could almost drift off to sleep but the sound of Davide's singing made her eyes snap open. She sat up and turned in his direction, his low and out of tune voice came across as bad... but still surprisingly pleasant.