10. Vinnie

10

VINNIE

I want to be shocked. I want to be as freaked out as Savannah and Raven are right now. Savannah is clinging onto Falcon, and Raven looks equal parts pissed and horrified.

The world isn't mourning the loss of Diego Vega, and I get that Eagle's not sorry. But there's still something that isn't quite gelling with all this.

"Keep going," I say to Falcon, keeping my voice steady.

"Once Vega was dead, the two minions nearly pissed themselves. They ran back to their truck and unloaded a fucking boatload of drugs onto our property. Then they drove off. Last we heard they were apprehended at the border and never heard from again." He swallows and slowly turns his gaze to his youngest brother. "I tried to get my gun back from Eagle, but he was in a trance or something."

"I had just shot someone," Eagle says dryly.

Falcon ignores him. "After the two others drove off, Eagle went running out of the barn, shooting like crazy. He even pointed the gun at me."

Raven gasps. "Eagle!"

"Go easy on him," Falcon says. "He was in shock. Hawk and I got him calmed down and got the gun away from him. We buried Vega and the drug stash under the old barn. At that point we thought it was over."

"Until you found out a cop had been killed," Raven says, her voice cracking.

"Right," Falcon says. "Apparently the cop was out hunting around the edge of our property, and Eagle got him in the shooting spree. Hawk and I made up a story about being out for target practice, and we didn't even know someone had been shot."

"You didn't shoot him," Raven says.

"No," Falcon says. "But my gun did. Eagle was only seventeen. I had to take the blame. I don't regret it."

Raven rises then. "I'm leaving."

"You can't leave now, Ray," Hawk says. "You know too much."

"You think I'm any kind of a threat to you?" Raven asks. "I'd give my life for any one of my siblings. I just can't think about all of this right now." She shoots daggers at Eagle with her eyes. "I can't believe what you put Falcon through, Eagle. I don't think I can ever forgive you."

"Raven." Falcon's voice is stern. "Sit down."

"Fuck off, Falcon." She whips out her middle finger toward all three of her brothers. "All of you fuck off."

I look at Raven. All of her. At the anger and fire in her. At her love for all of them. She'll forgive Eagle. She can't not. But she shouldn't be here, and neither should Savannah. "Maybe the ladies should leave."

Savannah crosses her arms. "I'm not leaving."

"Listen, Sav," I say, "if I'm going to help your future husband and his brothers, you may not want to hear what I have to say."

Raven sits then. "I've changed my mind. I'm with Savannah. I'm not going anywhere. The delicate little ladies can stomach anything you big strong men have to say."

"For Christ's sake, Ray, this has nothing to do with your sex," Falcon replies. "We're trying to do you two a favor. If anything goes south, you'll have plausible deniability if you don't hear what Vinnie has to say."

Savannah walks up to Falcon, throwing her left hand in his face. "Baby, the second you put this engagement ring on my finger, I was committed to you. You go south, I go south."

"Same goes for me," Raven adds, tapping her hip. "Your bone marrow runs through my body now, Falcon. You're literally a part of me. And I'm sure as hell not going to sit on the sidelines while you figure this shit out."

I say nothing.

I say nothing because I'm not sure what to say. This is a mess.

It's a mess because I know Diego Vega. I've known him since I was seventeen and I walked in on my father, grandfather, and Vega when we were still living on Long Island. He wasn't a lower-ranking drug lord then. He was a fucking boss.

And he was scary as hell.

* * *

It was a rainy afternoon, the kind that seems to drag on forever. The scent of damp earth and cedar wood wafted in through a window left slightly ajar. The men were huddled like vultures around Grandfather's mahogany table. They were talking in hushed tones punctuated by short bursts of laughter. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but I didn't need to. The tension in the room told me everything.

A big boss was here.

Diego Vega had a sort of dangerous charisma about him that managed to both pull you in and put you on edge. His features were sharp and pointed, as if they had been carved from stone by a sculptor inspired by the lethal elegance of a predatory bird, his eyes gleaming with the cold calculating gaze of a hawk ready to strike.

He noticed me then, standing hesitant in the doorway. His lips curled into a grin.

"This must be the little cobra," he said.

"Little cobra?" I asked.

"It's your legacy," Vega said. "Like your father. You should join us."

My father shook his head at me, but I ignored him. I'd be eighteen in a few months. I should know what was going on with us. I wouldn't run away. I was the little cobra, after all, though "little" was hardly a word that could be used to describe my tall stature.

Vega poured me a glass of whiskey, sliding the tumbler toward me. It slid a little too far, toppling over and spilling onto the mahogany.

"Damn it, Vinnie," Grandfather said. "Can't you pay attention?"

I leaned down to pick up the glass. Vega put an arm out to stop me.

"A cobra doesn't pick up after himself." He rang a bell, and one of Grandfather's housekeepers came in. "Susan, can you please clean up this mess?"

Susan nodded timidly. "Yes, Mr. Vega." She grabbed a rag out of her apron and got to work.

Susan was Grandfather's maid, not Vega's. It was a bold move for him to order her around as if she were his own employee.

Susan got to her feet, the empty glass in her hand. At least it didn't break. "Will that be all, Mr. Vega?"

"I don't know." Vega looked to Grandfather. "Will it, Mario?"

Grandfather nodded slowly. "Yes, that will be all, Susan."

"Thank you, sir." Susan placed the empty glass on the counter.

"Good girl." Vega slapped her ass as she scurried out of the room. He poured another glass for me and slid it across the table.

This time I caught it.

Vega grinned. "You are young." He sat back in his chair and steepled his fingers before him like some mob-movie caricature. "But cobras grow."

He looked at me then. Penetrated my gaze, and something rose within me.

"I'm not afraid," I said. My voice didn't waver. I made sure of it.

For a moment, my words hung heavy in the room. Then Vega laughed—a resounding, belly-deep sound that had an edge of menace cloaked in amusement. "So the snake shows his fangs. Good."

My grandfather refilled Vega's glass. Beside him, my father was silent, a muscle pulsing in his temple.

I didn't break eye contact with Vega. His gaze was intense, but I refused to look away. This was a test of some sort—I could sense it—and I would be damned if I failed.

A few heartbeats later, Vega finally leaned back, chuckling as he lifted his refilled whiskey glass. "To the little cobra, then," he said.

I stopped my hand from shaking as I reached for my glass, raised it to the sky with the confidence of a man twice my age.

"Drink," Vega commanded, raising his own glass in a mock toast.

I followed suit, the whiskey burning a path down my throat, its taste sharp and bitter. It was hardly my first taste of alcohol, but it was the first that mattered. This was my first small venture into the family business. My first real taste of it.

Vega looked at me like he wanted to eat me alive. "Cobras have their pride," he said. "And their territory."

My throat tightened. Territory. He was talking about my family. Our home, our business, and our lives. It was a thinly veiled threat. A loaded statement.

Diego Vega was a man to be feared.

I would show no fear.

"My family's territory is not up for negotiation."

"Bold words, little cobra," Vega said. "But bold words need bold actions to back them up."

"I'm ready for it," I replied, willing my voice not to shake.

Both my grandfather and father were glaring at Vega, and truth be told, I couldn't believe they'd let this conversation go on between Vega and me as long as it had.

Vega rose, finishing his whiskey and setting down the glass. "Mario, Vincent"—he turned to me—"little cobra. It's always a pleasure." He lowered his voice. "Remember. Pride comes before a fall."

Once he was gone, the air thinned and I was able to draw a deep breath. "What was that about?" I asked my father and grandfather.

"Just a test," Grandfather said. "One you passed, Vincent. One you passed."

* * *

Savannah has gone pale, and Raven?

Her hands are shaking, but the look on her face is one of quiet countenance. She obeyed her brother. She sat down.

She did not heed my advice, though. She's still here.

I am at once annoyed at her obstinance and impressed—not to mention a little turned on—at her fearlessness.

"I always knew you were innocent, Falcon," she says.

"Listen, Ray," Falcon says. "What you just heard does not leave this room, do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand," she says. "I'm not a fucking moron."

I see her strength again. Inside that body, despite its fragility from her illness and treatment, this woman exudes a strength that I'm not sure her brothers appreciate.

But I appreciate it.

More than I can ever let her know.

"You okay, Sav?" I ask.

"Yeah," my sister finally says. "I knew some of this. I just didn't know the whole story."

Falcon's youngest brother, Eagle, says nothing. Clearly this is something he doesn't allow himself to think about. Perhaps he made peace long ago with the fact that his brother took a fall for him, but now it's dredged up again.

I don't know whether to feel sorry for him or to kick his fucking ass.

I settle for neither.

"So then…what do you need from me?" I ask.

"It's pretty simple," Hawk says. "My father wants to demolish that old barn and excavate that portion of the property. And we all know what he's going to find when he digs through that soil."

"It's been eight years," I say.

"Yeah, but they can still identify Diego Vega from his dental records." Falcon runs his hands over his face. "Plus the drugs are still there. This will all start again. There will be a murder investigation, and again, the bullet inside Vega is from my gun. Shot by Eagle, but my gun."

"I see." A thousand thoughts run through my head.

"What we're thinking," Falcon says, "is that maybe we can get a stay of execution. Have some nonprofit organization file for an EPA assessment or something. Maybe based on the Clean Water Act."

"You got wetlands around that area?" I ask.

Falcon simply sighs.

"If there'd been a problem with the Clean Water Act," I go on, "the barn never would've been built in the first place." I get out my phone and do a quick search. "Looks like the Clean Water Act went into effect in 1972. Do you guys know when the barn was built?"

"Damn," Hawk says. "We'd have to ask Dad."

"Yeah," Falcon says, "and Dad would want to know why we're asking. I suppose we could get the info from City Hall if the proper permits were pulled."

"The place is a wreck," Hawk says. "It's possible it's over fifty years old. Hell, it's possible it's a hundred years old."

"Not a hundred years old, Hawk," Falcon says. "We've got a shot at fifty. Plus with the Clean Water Act being so new, and with Dad's ancestors owning this land since the beginning of time, they could've easily built this barn without even worrying about any federal regulations or local permits." He frowns. "But again, the problem is there aren't any wetlands around that area. At least not that I can see."

"That may not matter," I say.

"No," Falcon says. "Not if you can get some organization to file a lawsuit and hold things up."

I nod. "One thing you guys need to remember. I just got back. I was away for seventeen years, and things have changed since then. Hell, I'd only been brought into the organization for a couple of months before I hightailed it out of here."

"But surely your father?—"

I hold up a hand to stop Falcon. "My father's in the slammer, remember?"

Falcon nods. "Yeah. And I'll say again how grateful I am to him for saving my life."

"He did it for me," Savannah says. "All those years, I thought the worst of him when he was trying to get me to marry Miles McAllister. But I should've remembered that he got me out of it not once but twice. And maybe in the end, he just didn't have a choice."

"Well, you got yourself out of that," Falcon says. "You were so brave, Vannah. So brave."

I clear my throat. "When is your father starting the demolition?"

Hawk sighs. "He's already filed the paperwork."

"And how long does that usually take?" I ask.

"Not long for Austin Bellamy." Hawk sighs again.

I draw in a breath. "I'll see what I can do. But damn, I'll have to talk to my grandfather."

"Why should you?" Savannah asks. "Hasn't he given you access to everything?"

"Are you kidding? He's thrilled I'm back, but I was gone for seventeen years, Sav. Mario Bianchi is not going to trust me with everything until I prove myself."

"Then do it without him," Savannah says.

I fix my gaze on my beautiful sister. "I came back for you, Sav. To avenge what Dad and Grandpa were trying to force you into. And to avenge Mikey's death. I want to take down the family, not participate in more breaking of laws."

Savannah's face falls.

Falcon simply nods. "I understand. Your father saved my life. Your family's done enough for me."

"Please, Vinnie!" Savannah bites her lower lip. "I can't lose Falcon. He already gave eight years of his life for something he didn't do. Please!"

"But Falcon didn't shoot the man," I remind them. "And this time, you don't have to take the fall."

Eagle is still trembling on the couch. He's a grown man now, not a scared kid.

Except to his brothers, he's still that same kid.

Probably to Raven as well.

And then I'm surprised as hell when Raven is the one who speaks next.

"I realize I don't have any say here, but my brother saved my life, and I don't want him to go back to prison. And Eagle? Eagle's my baby. He always has been. If there's a way to keep both of them out of prison, please, Mr. Gallo."

Mr. Gallo?

I don't want to hear the name Mr. Gallo from this woman's lips.

I want her to call me Vinnie. Vincent. You fucking stud. Anything but Mr. Gallo. In fact, all I can think about is getting her lips on mine. Such beauty. So beautiful that it's even hard to imagine how much more beautiful she'll be when her hair grows back in. She's a knockout. She could be walking a runway with no hair, and everyone would still think she was the most beautiful woman there.

It hits me then.

I'll do this.

I'll fix this.

I'll fix this for Falcon and his brothers.

I'll fix it for my baby sister.

But mostly?

I'm going to fix it for Raven Bellamy.

I nod solemnly. "All right. I'll do as you ask. I'll figure something out."

Savannah runs into my arms and gives me a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you so much, Vinnie. I know you don't want to break the law, but this is definitely a case where the end justifies the means."

She has no idea what I'm going to do to bring our grandfather down. I talk a good game about not breaking the law, but I'm no saint. And I'm not na?ve either. I know I'll have to break a thousand laws before I can bring Mario Bianchi down.

And damn it, the end does justify the means.

"I agree with you," I say. "I'll find a way. First thing tomorrow."

After all, this is easy. If I can drink with Diego Vega and look him in the eye before my eighteenth birthday, I can do this. This is nothing.

When Savannah finally lets me go, Raven Bellamy comes toward me and gives me a gentle hug.

My cock responds.

I move away from her, a little embarrassed by my body's reaction.

Embarrassed, but not surprised.

She smiles, and my God she's beautiful. "Yes, thank you. Thank you for everything. Just…" She sniffles. "Thank you."

And in that moment? If Raven Bellamy asked me to end the whole fucking free world, I'd do it.

I hardly know the woman, but one thing is certain.

I will do anything for Raven Bellamy.