31. Raven

31

RAVEN

F alcon joins Jared and me in the waiting area.

“Mr. Bianchi still in there?” I ask Falcon.

Falcon raises an eyebrow. “He’s with his daughter and Savannah.”

“Vinnie left,” I say.

“He did?”

“Yeah. He said it was business. But if his grandfather is still here…”

Falcon shakes his head. “Anything can be business to those people.”

“Vinnie is not one of those people ,” I say adamantly.

Falcon rubs at his forehead. “I agree with you, Ray. But right now… I don’t want to even think about the kind of stuff he has to do.”

“I prefer not to think of it either.” I look over to Jared. “Could you excuse us for a minute? I want to talk to my brother alone.”

Jared rises. “I can go stand there by the hallway, but my eyes will be on you the entire time.”

“I understand.”

Jared nods and walks out of earshot.

“He knows everything, Ray,” Falcon says.

“He probably does. Sometimes I just want to talk to my big brother.”

“I’m all ears. What do you want to talk about?”

I bite my lip. “First of all, how is Mrs. Gallo?”

“She’s starting to come to, finally.”

“Why did you leave Savannah in there alone with her grandfather?”

Falcon takes a slow breath in. “Actually, she asked me to. Trust me, it wasn’t my idea. Savannah is kind of like you, Ray. She may look soft on the surface, but she’s a spitfire. Even though you were a homebody and you’d rather be helping mom in the kitchen than be outside with Robbie, the boys, and me, you always had a feisty side.”

“Falcon…”

“What?”

I lean in, my voice lowered. “I love Vinnie.”

He smiles at me wistfully. “I know you do, Ray. I’d give you shit about it—about how you haven’t known him long enough to be sure—but I can’t. It was the same for Vannah and me.”

I let out a short laugh. “Guess it’s in the Bellamy DNA.”

“One of the few perks that come with the namesake these days.” Falcon looks down the hospital hallway. “Damn. I still can’t believe what happened at Mom and Dad’s house.”

“Who do you suppose killed Mr. Latham?” I ask.

He frowns. “I wish I knew. I’d say Bianchi was behind it, but I can’t believe he would do that to Savannah. Or even to Vinnie. Let something like that happen on our property when he knows how much Savannah loves me.”

“And how much Vinnie loves me?”

He frowns. “ Does he know that, though?”

I scratch my arm. “Honestly, I have no idea. I believe Vinnie loves me. He’s asked me in no uncertain terms to stay the hell away from him for my own protection.”

“Which you should probably do, Ray.”

I glare at him. “Would you be able to stay away from Savannah for your own protection?”

“No, but that’s a little different.” Falcon points to one of the many scars on his arm. “And besides, you see where that got me. If not for Savannah’s dad, I’d be dead because I couldn’t stay away from her.”

“You weren’t with her when you went barreling over to the Gallos’.”

Falcon chuckles. “Gallows. That could have multiple meanings there, Ray.”

I rub the back of my neck. “Yeah, and I’m really glad it doesn’t have the second meaning. Thanks to Savannah and Vinnie’s dad.”

“That’s another thing I don’t understand,” Falcon says. “Mario Bianchi has all kinds of contacts. There’s no reason why his son-in-law had to go to prison.”

“Except that he took out the son of a rival,” I say.

“Yeah, but they were trying to ally themselves with that family. In fact, they still are. As I understand it, Vinnie is supposed to marry McAllister’s daughter.”

I cast my gaze to the cold hospital tiles. “I know. Belinda. He’s never going to marry her.”

“I don’t believe he will either. But I do believe that right now, Vinnie is dangerous. If Bianchi is here and Vinnie isn’t, then Vinnie’s doing business for Bianchi.”

I open my mouth to quarrel with Falcon over the statement, but then I close it.

In reality? He’s probably right.

Vinnie’s a good man.

In my heart of hearts I believe that.

But I also believe that to take down his grandfather—which he swore to do—he’s going to have to look the other way in some areas.

Areas I’m better off not knowing about.

But I already know that whatever he has to do, I will forgive him without question.

Because I love him without question.

I love him for everything that he is—everything that he wants to do. And ridding the world of his grandfather is a noble calling.

To make an omelet, you have to break some eggs.

I swallow. “Falcon? Do you believe Vinnie had anything to do with Brick Latham’s death?”

“I wondered,” he says. “But no, I don’t think so.”

“I don’t think so either,” I say, “and I hate myself for saying this, but I wondered as well.”

“You did?”

I swallow. “Yes, it crossed my mind. But Brick was killed when he got to our house. And Vinnie was with me when I texted Brick and told him not to come.”

Falcon’s eyes light up. “Except…”

“Except what?” I ask.

“It just occurred to me. All we truly know is that Brick was found, his car at our house, dead in your bed, his throat slit. We don’t know how he got there.”