22. Vinnie

22

VINNIE

I sit at the airport, getting ready to board my chartered flight to Bogotá.

My stomach feels sick, and I’m racking my brain to think of ways to get out of this when my phone rings.

“Is this Vincent Gallo?”

“Yes, who’s this?”

“This is Officer Jett Davis with the Austin Police Department. I’m afraid I have some bad news about your mother.”

My heart drops into my gut.

My mother?

Did my Grandfather really take out his frustrations toward me on his own daughter?

Oh, God. Oh, God…

“Shit. What happened?”

“She’s had a heart attack. She’s been transferred to Austin General. How soon can you get there?”

I look at my watch. “I’m supposed to get on a flight in ten minutes. But don’t worry. Thank God I haven’t gotten on yet. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

I leave my luggage and hurry out of the airport, flagging down the first cab I see. Fred and my car are long gone. I give the cab driver the address and tell him to hurry.

Not fucking fast enough.

The whole ride I’m wondering what happened. My grandfather was just making veiled threats about my mother. I’m sure he has access to drugs or something that could mimic the symptoms of a heart attack.

But is he truly heartless enough to murder his own daughter?

He had Giacomo Puzo killed. A father of two.

Is a mother of three so different?

God, she could be dead. And this taxi driver is going the damn speed limit.

Savannah will be devastated. Should I call her?

No, she’s probably already been contacted. And she doesn’t need to hear from me while I’m freaking out.

Out of my hands.

Everything in my goddamned life is out of my hands, it seems.

My grandfather holds all the cards.

And maybe he’s played the one I never thought he’d have the gall to do.

I jump out as soon as the cab comes to a stop in front of the hospital and run into the emergency room.

“Caroline Gallo?” I gasp out to the receptionist. “Heart attack.”

“Are you family?”

“I’m her son. Vincent Gallo Junior.”

“Of course, Mr. Gallo.” She flags an orderly. “Please find a doctor. We need an update on Caroline Gallo.”

“Yes. Of course. Have a seat, Mr. Gallo,” the orderly says.

“No. I’m not going to sit down. Take me to my mother.”

She gently wraps her hand around my arm, a sympathetic look on her face. “We have to check and see what’s going on first. You can’t just go running back?—”

I break free of her arm and rush through the double doors.

The ER is busy tonight, and several people try to stop me, but I keep going. “Mom? Mom?”

Then I gasp.

Because behind curtain number three is…

My mother.

They’re using the fucking paddles on her.

“Oh my God, Mom!”

The doctor turns and glares at me. “Get him out of here!”

A large man in scrubs grabs my arms. “I’m sorry, sir. You can’t be in here.”

“That’s my mother.”

He guides me toward the doors back to the waiting room. “I assure you that we’re doing everything we can for her.”

“I want answers.” I grab him by the shoulders and shake him. “What the hell happened? Is she going to be all right?”

“The doctor will come talk to you as soon as he can.” The man wriggles out of my grasp. “But we can only do that if the area is clear. For now, we need you to wait out here.” He pushes me through the double doors.

I shrug free. “Keep your hands off me.”

He raises his eyebrows, taken aback.

Damned right. I know what kind of presence I look like. I know my effect on people when I’m angry, determined.

“Sir…”

“Don’t ‘sir’ me. I want some information on my mother.”

“I’ll see what I can find out. We’re doing everything we can. But please…have a seat.” He leans down. “I understand that you are upset, but it is an issue of safety for non-staff to be in the treatment area. If you come back there again, we’ll have no choice but to call the police.”

I don’t fucking care. They can throw me in jail if they want. My asshole grandfather will just bail me out. He’s going to force me to do his bidding until his dying gasp.

But the guy in scrubs was right about one thing. My getting in the doctors’ way isn’t going to help my mother. I finally let out a breath and move a few seats down in the waiting room, getting as close to the double doors as I can. The magazines on the table next to me are wrinkled and outdated.

Doesn’t anyone ever think to update the magazines in a hospital waiting room?

It’s always like this. Always.

Five minutes go by.

Then ten.

And all I can think about is my mother lying dead on the table. Without Dad. Without me. Without Savannah. Without anyone to hold her hand and give her comfort. Tell her that she’s loved.

I stand, pace around the waiting room, running my fingers through my hair.

Please.

I can’t lose my mother.

Then I laugh at myself. Hell, I went seventeen years without seeing her. Without seeing my father. Without having any contact with either of them.

I walked away from all of this. Perhaps this is my punishment now.

But if there’s a God in heaven, He ought to know I’m trying to do the right thing. Sure, I arranged Puzo’s death, but he was a derelict, a guy who deserved to die. I have to look at the bigger picture here.

The bigger picture of…

Shit. Puzo had kids.

Maybe he was a bad man, but he had two kids. Raven’s friend was their nanny.

And I took their father away from them.

And now maybe it’s only fair for me to lose a parent as well.

An eye for an eye.

But even if I deserve this, Savannah doesn’t deserve to lose her mother. My father doesn’t deserve to lose his wife.

Fuck. I’ve got to get out of here.

I’m going to go slowly crazy?—

“Anyone here for Caroline Gallo?”

I jerk and turn toward the sound of the man’s voice. He stands by the double doors.

I stride quickly toward him. “I’m her son. Vincent Gallo.”

“Mr. Gallo, I’m Dr. Fife.” He shakes my hand. “We’ve been able to get your mother stabilized, but she’s going to need a triple bypass surgery.”

“So she’s not… I saw the paddles…”

He nods. “Yes, her heart did stop, but we were able to get it going again. We’re going to keep her under observation, and if she remains stable, we’ll be operating on her first thing in the morning.”

“How did my mother have a heart attack? She’s active, and she eats right.”

But does she? She and Dad always ate a lot of pasta and cheese.

“Heart issues in women are more common than most people think,” he says. “In the meantime, she was asking for her husband. Is he here?”

Nope. He’s locked up. “He can’t be here at the moment. May I see her?”

“Yes. I’ll take you back. We’ll be moving her to the ICU as soon as we can.”

I hold myself steady as I follow the doctor back.

My mother is still hooked up to all kinds of machines, and her eyes are closed.

“She needs her rest,” the doctor says. “Like I said, we’ll be transferring her up to the ICU as soon as we get a bed ready.”

I swallow and nod. “Thank you. Thank you for saving her.”

“She’s strong. She should recover well after surgery.” He gives me a smile—I can’t tell if it’s forced or not—and turns to the door. “I’ll give you a moment.” He whisks out of the area.

“Mom?” I say gently, tugging on her arm.

Her eyes open. “Vinnie? Savannah?”

Crap. I haven’t called Savannah. “She’ll be here as soon as she can, Mom.”

“What about your father?” She blinks heavily. “I need to see…my husband.”

She is delirious.

“You know he can’t be here, Mom. He’s…”

“Yes, I know.” Her eyes close again.

There’s not much else I can say to her, so I’ll let her rest. I’ll stay with her until they get her transferred up to the ICU, and of course I’ll be back for her surgery in the morning.

In the meantime, I have to call my grandfather. Tell him I didn’t get on that plane.

Not looking forward to that one. I punch in his number and hold the phone to my ear.

“Shouldn’t you be airborne about now?” his voice says.

“Hello to you too.”

“That’s not funny, Vincent. What the hell is going on?”

“You may have to take care of this Colombia thing yourself. My mother—your daughter—has had a heart attack.”

No response.

Not that I expected one. Why should he care? It’s only his daughter. His only child.

“You have anything to say, old man?”

His voice is steady. “Where is she? What hospital?”

I relay the information.

“I’ll be there right away.”

I don’t particularly want to see him, but so be it. She is his daughter. If he wants to see her—which I doubt; I’m sure he has some ulterior motive for coming—I won’t stop him.

A few orderlies enter the curtained-off area. “We’re going to take Mrs. Gallo to the ICU now,” one of them says.

“Thank you. I’m her son. I’ll be coming along.”

“Of course. We found a private room, and you’re welcome to stay with her if you’d like.”

Perhaps I should. But she’s in good hands.

Several minutes later, when they’ve got my mother transferred and hooked up to all the machines in the ICU room, I finally call Savannah.

“Vinnie?” Her voice is hoarse. I probably woke her up. “Is everything all right? It’s awfully late to be calling.”

“Don’t freak out, Sav, because she’s going to be all right, but Mom had a heart attack this evening.”

She gasps, and I hear the phone clatter to the floor.

“Vinnie?” Falcon’s voice.

“Is she okay?”

“She’s in shock, I think. What happened?”

“Our mother had a heart attack. They had to revive her with the paddles. But they got her back. She’s scheduled to have a triple bypass in the morning.”

“Oh my God. We’ll be there right away. What hospital?”

“Just be here for the surgery in the morning. It’s scheduled for 9 a.m. You guys don’t have to come now.”

“I don’t think I can keep Savannah away.”

“All right. Have it your way. But she is in the ICU. I don’t know if they limit the number of people we can have in the room with her. I’ll have to check.”

“All right. We’re on the way. Call us when you know.”

“Of course. I’ll step out if I must to let Savannah have some time with Mom.”

“Of course. And Vinnie?”

“Yeah?”

“You and I need to have a talk.”

* * *

My grandfather doesn’t show up. Big surprise.

But two hours later, Savannah, in tears, sits with our mother.

And I follow Falcon out into the hallway.

“We need someplace private,” he says.

“There’s an alcove at the end of the hallway on the other side from the elevators. With vending machines and all.”

“It’s late enough that we can probably be alone there,” he says.

I lead him to the alcove, take a seat, and gesture for him to sit down across from me.

“What is it?” I ask.

He frowns. “Raven came clean.”

“About what?”

“About the two of you, Vinnie.”

I try to read Falcon’s expression. He doesn’t look angry. He doesn’t look anything. Maybe he’s worried about his future mother-in-law. About his fiancée.

I’m not sure what to think.

“And?” I prod.

“And you already know what I’m going to say.” He takes a deep breath and looks me dead in the eye. “Right now…you’re not good for her, Vinnie.”

I let out an exasperated huff. “You think that’s something I don’t know? Look, I didn’t plan what happened between Raven and me. And as her big brother, you have every right to pummel me. Though I could do the same to you for my little sister.”

He doesn’t react.

Not that I expect him to.

“I understand.” He lets out a humorless chuckle. “And yeah, I kind of do want to pummel you. And believe me, I see the irony of the situation. But this isn’t about me wanting to protect my baby sister’s virginity.” He sighs. “I’m more concerned about Raven’s safety. She just got her life back, man.”

“At the risk of repeating myself, do you think that’s something I don’t know?”

He crosses his arms. “I just don’t know what you were thinking.”

“Thinking had nothing to do with it, on either of our parts. We both knew what we were getting into. She did as well as I did. She’s a grown woman, Falcon.”

“She is.” He casts his gaze to the hospital tiles. “I just… I need you to understand that I can’t imagine life without her. I already lost out on so much time when I was in the clink. And when she got sick, she had to start missing visitation as well. Do you know how that felt, Vinnie? To know my sister was literally dying, and there was nothing I could do?”

“You ended up doing more than anyone else.”

“You’re right. By some miracle, my bone marrow was a match for her. Over her twin sister. But that’s not even what I mean. They put her through so much chemo and radiation before they even considered the bone marrow transplant. Apparently her type of leukemia normally responds to traditional treatment better than bone marrow. I was a last resort, and thank God it worked, but she went through years of misery before that. And now that she’s got a second chance at living a normal, happy life, you come waltzing in with another series of threats to her wellbeing.” He closes his eyes and rubs at his temples. “The least you could have done was keep it in your pants.”

I poke him in the shoulder. “May I remind you that the only reason I returned to the States was to help your fiancée avoid marrying Miles McAllister. The only reason I met Raven was because I was trying to help my sister.” I sigh and lean away from Falcon. “I didn’t mean for anything to happen, Falcon. But you know just as well as I do that sometimes you can’t control how two people feel about each other.”

Falcon scratches the back of his neck. “Well, when you put it that way…”

I hold up a hand. “And I get what you’re trying to say. That you were behind bars and couldn’t protect her. But Falcon, there wasn’t anything you could’ve protected her from. Her illness… There was no way to reason with it. Beating it to death wouldn’t have helped. Trying to get it to see logic wouldn’t have helped.”

He rakes his fingers through his hair. “I know that. But still, I couldn’t be with her. Couldn’t come to her, comfort her…” He shuts his mouth.

“Protect her?”

He nods.

“Funny that I knew exactly what you were going to say. But didn’t we just have this discussion? You couldn’t have protected her from the illness.”

He narrows his gaze. “But the illness isn’t the problem anymore. I can protect her from you, Vinnie. From the life you lead.”

I hold up my hands. “Falcon, there’s nothing I’d like more than to protect her from myself. I mean her no harm, of course. I love her. I am completely and totally in love with her. Hopelessly in love with her. And because I love her, I’m trying to walk away.”

His eyes go wide.

“I’ve told her as much. In no uncertain terms. Apparently she hasn’t let you in on that.”

“No.” He meets my gaze. “But thank you.”

“I want you to think about something, though. Would you be able to leave Savannah? If it meant keeping her safe?”

“Christ, Gallo.” He closes his eyes, inhales slowly. “It would be the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but yes, I could do it.”

“Then you understand my feelings.” I stand, pace around the area. “I’ve done a lot in my life. And a lot of it was very difficult.” I stop and turn toward Falcon. “But nothing is more difficult than walking away from your sister, Falcon. Walking away from what may be my one great love. But I’ll do it. And I’ll do it gladly. Well, maybe not gladly . But I’ll do anything to keep her safe, even if it means letting her go.”

He sighs. “You’re a good man, Vinnie.”

I look down. “You wouldn’t say that if you knew everything I’ve done.”

“You don’t know everything I’ve done either,” Falcon says. “On the inside, you do what you have to in order to protect yourself. To protect your allies. Your cellmates. It wasn’t all pretty.” He takes another deep breath. “A lot of it I can’t think about. But you think I’m a good man, don’t you?”

“I wouldn’t let you be with my sister otherwise,” I say.

“And I wish I could let you be with mine.” He frowns wistfully. “Maybe someday.”

I nod.

But I know the truth.

Raven will never be safe with me.

I used to think that maybe once I take my grandfather down, there’s hope for us to have a life together.

But now I can’t push a nagging thought out of my head.

I’ll do what has to be done. I’ll put an end to the family.

But that may mean putting an end to myself as well.