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16. Vinnie

16

VINNIE

T here’s nothing I’d like more than to give Raven the rest she deserves, but I need to make sure her parents know she’s safe. After what happened at their home…

They must be freaking out.

Her eyes are closed, and she looks so peaceful, so serene. I feather my hands over the contours of her beautiful face. So creamy and smooth.

“Raven, baby?”

She opens her eyes. “Yeah? Did I fall asleep?”

I kiss her cheek. “You need to go home now.”

Her lip quivers. “I want to stay with you, Vinnie. You make me feel so safe.”

God, those words… If only they were true. There’s nothing I want more in the world than to keep this woman safe. This amazing woman whose life I care for more than my own.

But the fact of the matter is that she’s not safe with me. She’s in danger with me.

“Your parents are going to be worried about you. Especially in light of everything else that’s happened. But I don’t want you driving home alone.”

She frowns. “I made it here, didn’t I?”

“You did, but it will be dark soon. So what I need you to do right now, Raven, is to call your mother. She’s probably been trying to reach you. Let her know that you’re okay, and then I will drive you home. My driver, Fred, will follow us in my car. Then he’ll drive me back.”

She squints at the time on the alarm clock on the nightstand. “But it will be so late when you get back here.”

“That doesn’t matter, Raven. What matters is that you’re safe. I don’t want you driving all that way alone. You shouldn’t have done it today.”

“But Vinnie, I had to see you.”

I inhale slowly, run my fingers through my hair. “God, Raven. This is so hard for me. Why are you doing this?”

She drops her jaw, and I immediately regret my words.

I hold up a hand. “No, I’m not blaming you. It’s not your fault that you’re so wonderful and beautiful and I fell head over heels in love with you.” I sigh, looking down. “If only we hadn’t met.”

She gasps. “You don’t really mean that, do you?”

I blink for a moment before responding. “Of course not.”

Because in reality I don’t, but how can I explain it to her that part of me wishes we hadn’t met? Because then she would be safe. Safe to recover and live the long life she deserves. We would be blissfully unaware of the life-changing passion we experience with each other, and we wouldn’t be drawn together despite every lethal threat that she faces.

If I could keep her safe, I would. But as long as my grandfather is still in control of the family—and he knows my feelings for Raven—she’s not safe. You’d think, after what was done to his true love, Serena, he would hesitate to put his own flesh and blood through the same thing.

But that’s not how Mario Bianchi lives his life. He lives his life through fear and manipulation. It doesn’t matter if you’re his own flesh and blood. That’s how he gets what he wants.

I suppose the one thing he couldn’t have was Serena.

So instead of learning from that mess and becoming a good man, he let it eat away everything good inside him. All that love he had for Serena has now been turned to snakelike evil.

Raven wipes a tear from her cheek. “Please don’t ever say that again. Because I swear to God. I love my life. I do. But I’d rather live one moment of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special. And you, Vinnie, are wonderful.”

She’s killing me.

I place my hands over hers. “Raven, my feelings for you will never change. Tell me you believe that.”

“I do. Mine for you will never change either.”

I nod. That’s not what I’m after.

I grab her hands, remove them from my face. “I’m glad to know that, but it’s imperative that you remember that. That whatever happens, you remember that I love you. I will never stop loving you. Whether we’re together or not.”

She opens her mouth but closes it abruptly.

Was she going to argue with me? Has she now decided to accept what I’m saying?

Finally she speaks. “You were wrong to leave me the other night, Vinnie. You were wrong to leave me alone in my bed at my place.”

I nod slowly. “I know that. And Raven, I don’t want you living alone. Not until your safety can be guaranteed.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I was at my own home that night,” she says. “What if I was the target? What if the hit on Brick was meant for me?”

For the first time, I allow myself to think of that possibility.

More like a probability.

Especially with the note that was left.

I haven’t told Raven that Cobra refers to my grandfather. Or to me.

Only three people know I was once called Cobra. One is in prison. One is dead, buried under the Bellamys’ old barn.

And the third one?

My esteemed grandfather.

I haven’t had the chance to confront him about Brick Latham’s death. Perhaps there’s something I don’t know. Perhaps Brick was on some kind of hit list.

But I doubt it.

Even if Raven wasn’t the intended target, Brick’s death is a message to me.

A message that my grandfather is still in control, and that I’d better play the game by his rules.

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