Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 73042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
My jaw drops. “Leave my brothers out of this.”
“I’ll be happy to…” He leans in again, poking me in the upper chest with every word he speaks. “If you break the date with whoever you’re going out with and see Vinnie Friday night instead.”
That’s hardly a hardship, which is why I know it can’t be that easy.
“And?” I ask.
“And…your instructions will come.” He pulls a burner phone out of his pocket and hands it to me. “You’ll get a text. All you have to do now is call Vinnie and make a date for Friday night.”
“I’m not going to hurt Vinnie.”
“Who asked you to?”
“You’re asking me to.” I push at his chest with my hands. “You think I’m so naïve as to think you just want me to go out on a date with Vinnie Gallo Friday night?”
This guy clearly has no idea that Vinnie has no intention of seeing me again. He’ll say no.
“All you need to do is call him,” Johnson says. “Ask him to meet you at your place. Cook him a nice dinner. And make sure he doesn’t leave until after midnight.”
28
VINNIE
I actually get home in time for dinner.
“Hey, Mom,” I call.
“Vincent, darling.” My mom walks toward me swiftly and gives me a hug. “It’s so great to see you here. Luisa made one of her Italian feasts. I know how much you love Italian.”
The aroma is absolutely tantalizing, yet it does nothing for me. “I’m not too hungry, Mom.”
She furrows her brow. “You have to eat. You need to keep your strength. And tomorrow…”
“What about tomorrow?”
“Don’t you remember? It’s visitors’ day. We’re going to see your father in prison.”
I draw a breath. Shit. I forgot. “Sure, Mom. When do you want to leave?”
“First thing in the morning. We can see him as early as nine o’clock.”
“All right. I’ll have to call Grandfather and tell him I won’t be in.”
She casts her gaze to the floor. “I hate that man.”
All I can do is nod.
We both know how I feel about him. My mother doesn’t know everything he put me through before I left the country. She’ll never know. I can’t do that to her.
“I hate that you have to do this, Vinnie,” she says. “If Savannah had just done her duty and married that McAllister boy—”
I hold up my hand to stop my mother. “You mean the guy who tried to rape her? Give it a rest, Mom. I’m home, and I’m glad to be home. But I won’t have you talking about Savannah that way. She’s with the man she loves, and she deserves that much.”
She crosses her arms. “Your father’s in prison because of her.”
“Dad’s in prison by his own decision. I would’ve done the same thing if it had come to that. Doesn’t someone in this family deserve to be happy?”
My mother sighs. “I know I sound punitive. I do love your sister.” She gazes out the window into our backyard. “She was my little girl. And I let her have a childhood. I let her have an amazing childhood until we were forced to move here to Austin right before her senior year of high school. She had to leave all of her friends in Long Island, and she was the new girl at school. I don’t think she ever got over that.” She turns to me. “Your father coddled her, Vinnie. He let her off the hook at eighteen, and then again at twenty-two. And then again… When she wanted to leave her job as a parole officer here in Austin. Your father let her go.”
“Except that he didn’t.”
She looks down. “There were…extenuating circumstances.”
I lift my eyebrows at my mother. “How would you know that? Dad and Grandpa haven’t told you anything, have they?”
“I just know the way things are, Vinnie.” She leans on the counter. “I was born into this life and I’ve lived it for all of my fifty-four years. Your father had a soft spot for Savannah. He would’ve never gone back on his promise and tried to force her into that marriage if his hands hadn’t been tied.”
I draw in another breath. I’m pretty sure my mother is speaking the truth. What was it that drove Grandfather to the point where he decided to expand the business beyond drugs?
Something’s going on that I don’t know about, and I intend to find out everything.
But the first thing I need to do is find a friend. A friend in law enforcement—local, state, and federal.
Because I’m going to do something that I’m going to need immunity for.
I open my mouth to say something when my phone buzzes with a text.
I pull it out of my pants pocket and take a look. It’s Raven.
Call me when you get the chance.
Raven? She wouldn’t text me unless it was something important. My God… Is she still at the Puzos’ place?