26. Vinnie

26

VINNIE

T his dude is bigger than a pro linebacker. Damn.

He looks at me like he wants to tear me in half, and I’m betting he could. I’m a tall and broad guy, but I’m dwarfed in comparison to this man. He’s several inches taller than I am, and he must live in the gym, based on how big the muscles on his shoulders and chest are.

But he doesn’t touch me.

He simply looks at Raven. “You okay?”

She nods. “I’m fine. Thank you for not…interrupting.”

I walk around Jared.

Raven follows me. “Vinnie…”

“I have to get back. My mom will be coming out of recovery soon, and?—”

“And I’ll be right beside you when she does, no matter who tries to tell me not to be.”

I cock my head. “What do you mean? I’m the only one who’s told you to stay away. And you’ve made it clear that you won’t.”

She pulls out her phone and shows me a text.

Stay away from Gallo.

My heart pumps directly into my throat when I see the words. “Fuck,” I mutter.

“Do you know who sent this?”

“Who do you think? My grandfather, most likely.” I lower my voice. “You should take the advice.”

“No.” She grabs my arm, squeezes my bicep. “I know how much your mother means to you, Vinnie. I won’t leave you alone.”

She’s so damned stubborn. Hers is the kind of persistence that wins wars. And right now, she’s the kind of woman who isn’t going to let a mob boss’s threats keep her from standing by my side in my time of need.

I look at Raven, really look at her, and find a strength within those dark eyes that both frightens me and ignites a spark within me.

I gently brush her hand off my arm. “I can handle this. You don’t need to put yourself in danger for me.”

“It’s not about what I need,” she replies, tucking her phone back into her pocket. “It’s about what you need.”

“You’re impossible,” I mutter, rubbing my temples as if that could somehow rub away the inevitable headache this situation was bound to cause.

“I prefer ‘relentless.’” She smiles. “You don’t have to do this alone.”

Before I can respond, her phone chimes with another text. Her face hardens as she reads it. Then she turns the screen to show me.

Stay away from Gallo. This is your last warning.

“Fuck,” I mutter.

“We’ll work this out,” she says softly.

“We?” I grab her shoulders forcefully. “There is no ‘we’ in this, Raven. This is my life, my family, my problem.”

Her dark eyes don’t flicker in the face of my outburst. Instead, they harden as if cast from steel. “Your life became our life when you told me you love me. I’m not backing down now.”

I gape at her, momentarily struck dumb by the steel in her voice. Then, with a deep breath, I compose myself, letting go of her shoulders. “Raven, you don’t understand. My grandfather is dangerous. He doesn’t make idle threats.”

“He’s not the only one who can be dangerous, Vinnie.” She crosses her arms defiantly. “I’m not one to be scared off by threats.”

I swallow. “And what if he decides to make his point a little clearer next time? What if he tries to hurt you?”

“We’ll face this together, Vinnie.” She places a hand on my cheek. “That’s what people who love each other do.”

“We’re not normal people, Raven,” I reply bitterly, “and this isn’t a normal situation.”

“No,” she agrees. “But we are two people who care for each other deeply. And I swear to you —”

“Vinnie!”

I look up to see Savannah rushing toward us.

My heart races again. Something must have happened.

“Is she okay?”

Savannah grabs my hands. “Thank God I found you. Yes, Mom’s out of recovery. She’s been transferred to her room in ICU, and we can see her now.”

I wrangle out of Raven’s grasp. I look deep into her eyes. “Please go home. I don’t want you here.” Then I turn, unable to look at the sadness that is no doubt covering her face at my words.

Savannah’s jaw drops, but she says nothing, simply leads me back.

“Have you seen her?” I ask Savannah.

“No, not yet. The doctor says you and I can go in together.”

“All right.”

She nudges my arm. “Vinnie…”

I shake my head. “I can’t talk about that. I absolutely can’t. So don’t ask.”

Savannah gulps and simply nods.

We find a nurse who leads us back into the ICU wing into our mother’s room.

“She’s still asleep,” the nurse says. “But her vitals look good for now. She may be out for another couple of hours. Even after that, she’s going to be groggy.”

“The drugs last that long?” Savannah asks.

“Not so much the drugs. Although yes, they will make her groggy for the next twenty-four hours or so. But remember that sleep is the way the body heals. This has been traumatic on her body. She’s had her chest cut open, her sternum cracked and split, her heart?—”

“Please,” Savannah interrupts. “We know the details. We don’t need to hear them again. It’s just so difficult to think of my mother that way.”

The nurse nods. “I understand. But please don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions.”

“We won’t,” I assure her.

“I’ll give you some privacy then. I can only let you stay for a few moments. Like I said, she’s asleep, but she will probably be able to sense your presence. Feel free to talk to her. Reassure her that you’re here and that everything’s okay.”

Once the nurse leaves, Savannah turns to me. “You should go first, Vinnie.”

“Why me?”

She scratches her arm. “Because we both know how Mom feels about me at the moment. She’s not my biggest fan.”

I lay a hand on her shoulder. “Sav, she nearly died. However she was feeling about you has no bearing now. She’s alive, and she loves you. In fact, I was just thinking about how close you two were when you were a kid. How she would take you to do mother-daughter things.”

Savannah smiles at that. “Yeah. I remember this one picnic…” She shakes her head. “She was a good mother, Vinnie. Or she tried to be, anyway.”

“She was resigned to her place in the world. In the family,” I say. “I think part of her problem with you is sheer jealousy, Sav. You’re getting to live the life she didn’t get to live. A life on your own terms, with the man you chose, not one who was chosen for you.”

“Yeah, I get that, but shouldn’t she be happy for me? I’m her kid.”

I take in a deep breath, closing my eyes and running my hands through my hair. “I think in her own way she is. She just feels… I guess she feels like I came back for you. And she was just as happy to have me overseas. Where I was safe from our grandfather.”

“I’m not sure that’s the case.”

The voice sends chills down my spine.

Savannah and I both turn around. Our grandfather stands in the doorway. He takes a few slow steps into the room.

“And how is my daughter?” he asks, his voice solemn.

“You’d know if you bothered to come last night like you said you would,” I say to him.

He snaps his head in my direction. “Watch your tone with me, Vincent. You expect to gain my trust by being belligerent?”

“I’ve done everything you asked,” I say.

He leers at me. “If that were true, you’d be in Colombia.”

“What are you talking about, Grandpa?” Savannah demands. “This is our mother. You really think Vinnie was going to get on a plane when our mother?—”

“Be quiet, Savannah,” Grandfather says. “When I want your opinion, I’ll ask for it. And believe me, that day will never come.”

Instinctively, my hands curl into fists. I could break the motherfucker’s nose right now for talking to my sister that way.

But I hold myself in check.

“Sav,” I say. “Excuse us for a moment. Spend some time with our mother.”

I walk toward Grandfather, effectively pushing him out the door and closing it behind me. I walk with him to the alcove at the end of the floor.

“What the hell was that about?” I ask.

He scoffs. “What? About Savannah?”

“Of course not. I know exactly what that was about. I know how you feel about Savannah. You think of her as a second-class citizen, just the way you think of your own daughter. The woman who, by the way, gave you three grandchildren.”

He exhales sharply out of his nose. “That’s debatable.”

I cock my head. Did he just say what I think he said?

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

He smirks. “Read into it whatever you want, Vincent.”

“I can’t say anything about myself, but I remember my mother being pregnant with Mikey and Savannah. I remember touching her belly and feeling the baby’s kick. They are your grandchildren, Grandfather.”

His face remains stoic. “Yes, they are.”

What the hell is he trying to say?

I have no idea. But I do know what I need to get done.

“You need to stop texting Raven Bellamy.”

“You are not in any position to tell me what to do.”

I raise an eyebrow. “At least you’re not denying it.”

“Is that what you want? Fine. I haven’t been texting Raven Bellamy.” He scowls. “Why would I bother with Raven Bellamy? She’s of no consequence to me at all.”

I shake my head slowly. “That’s where you’re wrong. You know she means something to me, and you’re not one to let any kind of potential leverage pass you by.”

“She’s better off if she stays the hell away from you, Vincent.”

“Well, for once we agree on something.” I shove my hands in my pockets. “Just leave her alone. I’ve ended it. All I want is for her to be safe.”

“And she will be,” he says, “as long as she doesn’t interfere in things.”

“She hasn’t interfered in—” I stop.

We still don’t know who that Uber driver who told her to invite me over last Friday night was…

Who…

Cogs start to turn in my head. Brick Latham was killed, and… Isn’t it interesting that neither Raven nor her parents were home that night?

Perhaps my grandfather didn’t have anything to do with the Uber thing after all.

Or…

“Did that attorney ever do any work for you?” I ask.

“What attorney?”

“The one whose throat was slit at the Bellamy ranch house Friday night,” I say. “And don’t pretend you don’t know who I’m talking about. We’ve been through this.”

“ That attorney could mean anything, Vincent. I have many attorneys, and why on earth would I ever do business with an attorney who specializes in nonprofit organizations?”

“Why wouldn’t you? Nonprofit organizations are a great way to launder money.”

He presses his lips together, and I can see the tension in his face.

I’m on to something, and he knows it.

I point at him sharply. “Fuck it all. It was you.”

“Vincent, I am never one to not own up to what he has done,” he says. “And for once, it was not me.”

“Then who?” I pace around him. “Who the hell would want to get rid of Brick Latham? And who would do it at the Bellamy Ranch?”

“Whoever it was made sure that Raven and her parents were gone.” He takes a slow breath in and furrows his brow at me. “I’m surprised at you, Vincent. Think about it. Think about who might want to get rid of Latham, but who’d also want to keep the Bellamys safe.”

He’s right. My grandfather doesn’t give a damn if the Bellamys are safe or not. He was going to let Miles McAllister shoot Falcon in cold blood, and he didn’t blink when he told me to kill Raven.

So who is interested in keeping the Bellamys safe?

And who might see Brick Latham as a threat?

I mull it over for a few minutes. Raven. My grandfather. Brick Latham. Falcon and Savannah.

My parents.

Raven’s parents.

Then a lightbulb.

The answer comes to me…and it’s not pretty.