The sound of bells chiming snatched my attention. I turned my head to see uncle Vincent walking inside with a carry bag in his hands. His eyes on us.

"What are you both doing?"

Ocean eyes had not moved even an inch away from me. If it were anybody else in his place, they would have stepped away from me so far, people would probably have to count the distance with an inch tape.

But not Ocean eyes. He did not move even a damn millimetre.

Aggghhh! Why is my life like this?

"Get off!" I snapped at him. Glaring at him and wishing like hell he does as I am commanding.

He did not.

Max's eyes went to look at Vincent and then he said,

"You mind if I keep her?"

"What the hell?" I cried out.

Uncle Vincent looked like he had just won a lottery.

Fuck no.

"You like her?"

Uncle Vincent ignored my freak out and came forward to stand in front of us like it was a normal, everyday thing for him to see his niece in an intimate position with some man.

"VINCENT!" I lost my mind under Max. I tried to push him off me but boy, his body felt like it was made of cement.

Max's eyes came to me and looked down at me like I was the cutest thing alive on earth who was bugging him. While in reality, I was glaring at him so hard I wished my glare turns into arrows and shoots him in the heart.

And not like love arrows that cupid throws or stupid shit like that. Like real arrows that dig deep into your skin and makes you bleed.

"Yeah, I like her." Max replied while looking at my attempts to get him off me with crinkle on the corner of his eyes like he wanted to laugh but was not.

"Then you can have her." Uncle Vincent replied with a smile, "I like you boy."

Only uncle Vincent could call Max 'boy'. From where I could see, with the way Max dressed, his macho as hell attitude and the ability to overpower me like I was nothing more than a cute cat in his lap, it seemed hard to call him just a 'boy'.

"YOU CAN NOT GIVE ME AWAY LIKE THIS!" I snapped at Vincent. What the fuck was wrong with the male species in Texas?

I turned my head to Max and said in an as sincere tone as possible and hoped like hell he would back off.

"I am here for just a few days. Then I am getting the hell out of this crazy city. Trust me, you do not want to get involved with me."

"I am already very involved with you, darling." Max chuckled.

I shook my head in disbelief and looked away after giving a humph of frustration.

He tipped his head down and rubbed his nose with mine so sweetly, I seriously started rethinking my decision of moving away.

He chuckled at my expression and finally got off my body. As soon as he was off me, I shot up from the couch. I seriously needed to get my head straight.

"I am going out for a while." I grumbled in a low tone and started stomping out of the room.

"You do not know the city, kiddo." Uncle Vincent chuckled behind me.

"I. WILL. FIGURE IT. OUT!" I replied with my teeth clenched shut so tight in anger, I thought I was going to break one or two of them.

I stormed out of the coffee shop and started walking on the almost empty street. It was mid day and the sun was shining so brightly over my head that I was getting whiplash.

Geez... what the hell was that I had just witnessed?

Is the whole male species nuts or is that just Texas men?

The day was hot so streets were almost empty. Vincent's coffee shop was on the main street of the city. Vehicles were running down the road swiftly.

I walked for barely ten minutes, looking at anything that would catch my attention but there was nothing at all.

I came to a roundabout where a restaurant was open. There were chairs and tables set outside for their customers.

I thought about going there to have my lunch but then remembered I had left my purse in the coffee shop.

Why is my fucking life like this, God?

I turned on my heels and started walking back to the coffee shop. Probably uncle Vincent had left me that hotdog he had gone out to buy.

I was walking with my head down, watching my shadow and the chipped off nail paint on my toes, when someone grabbed my arm and pushed me against the wall so hard, I felt like my bones were breaking slowly.

All the breath in my chest came out in an 'ooof' as my back collided with the wall and a body trapped me against it with his arm digging into my throat.

I could not breathe entirely. My eyes had shut close and when I opened them, I was faced with a thin and ugly face.

"You scream, I will break your neck. Got me?" He said.

Geez, get your fucking mouth out of my face first. You smell gross! That is what I wanted to shout. But I could not because his hand had stopped my breathing and it felt like I was going to die in the next second.

So I just nodded my head in acceptance as much as I could. He loosened his hold on my throat but still kept it pressed tightly there so I could not move.

"That her in the photo, Vix?" He asked out of the blue.

I got confused then my eyes went back up to look at the burly man standing behind the thin, gross man.

The burly man looked at the photo in his hand then at me and then spoke, "Ye. Thas 'er."

Thin man's cringy eyes stared at my body up and down once. Then he said,

"Pull out the car. We are taking her."