Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 75699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Falcon grabs her hands. “Your grandfather’s here.”
“Yeah.” She swallows. “He and Vinnie are down the hall talking. The nurse came in and said I needed to leave, that my mother needs her rest. I don’t know why I can’t stay. It’s not like I was keeping her from resting.”
“If you want to be in there, Vannah, that’s where you’ll be. I’ll take care of it.”
“Right now I’m more concerned about Vinnie and my grandfather.” Her face twists, and she reaches into her purse for a tissue. “God, sometimes I wish Vinnie were still in Europe. I missed him, but he left when I was ten. I got used to life without him. And now he’s back, and I love him, but you know what?” She dabs at her eyes. “I don’t really even know my older brother.”
“I do,” I say. “He’s a good man, Savannah.”
“Oh, Raven…” Savannah sighs. “There’s still so much that you don’t know.”
Falcon turns his head sharply toward his fiancée. “And we’re going to keep it that way.”
“For your information, Savannah,” I say, “I happen to be in love with your brother. And there’s nothing that you can say that will change that.”
Savannah looks at me, and just when I think she’s not going to say a word, she finally opens her mouth, only to close it abruptly when Mario Bianchi returns.
The muscles in my jaw tense. Then my whole body tenses. He walks out—perfectly clad in a designer suit—and he looks first at Falcon and then at Savannah.
Finally, his gaze rests on me. I feel a cold chill run down my spine, my whole body erupting in goosebumps.
“Ms. Bellamy,” he says to me, “I can see what my grandson sees in you. You are absolutely stunning.”
Is he being facetious? I’m wearing baggy sweats and a tight tank top. Flip-flops on my feet, my toes unpainted.
And of course we all know what my head looks like.
But I can see the lecherous look in his cold, dark eyes. He means what he’s saying. He’s mentally undressing me as we speak.
I swallow down a fresh wave of nausea.
“Grandfather,” Savannah says, “please…”
Mr. Bianchi holds up a hand. “Oh, I’m being serious, Savannah. Ms. Bellamy is as lovely as they come.” He turns his gaze back to me. “And yes, I realize you have no hair. That your eyelashes and eyebrows are only beginning to grow back in. I can only imagine how beautiful you were before your illness.”
Falcon steps in between the two of us. “What the fuck do you want?” he asks through gritted teeth.
Mr. Bianchi looks Falcon up and down, his expression unchanging. “You look as though you’re healing well.”
“No thanks to your goons,” Falcon says. “But it was about five against one, and I was tied to a chair.”
“Yeah, and thanks to you, my son-in-law’s now in prison.”
“Grandfather, please…” Savannah rubs her forehead.
“You should be thanking your brother, Savannah.” He turns to Falcon. “And you too, for that matter.”
“I think most of my thanks go to your son-in-law,” Falcon says. “If not for him, I’d be a dead man.”
“And the world might be a better place,” Bianchi says.
Savannah’s eyes widen, and my temper flares.
“What the fuck?” I say. “My brother is alive thanks to your son-in-law. And he’s a better man than you’ll ever be.”
Bianchi scoffs. “He’s an ex-con.”
“And you’re a current con!”
I take a few steps toward him, but Falcon gestures me to stop. “Don’t stoke the fire, Ray,” he says. “It’s not worth it.”
“Where’s Vinnie?” I demand.
“He’s with his lovely mother,” Bianchi says. “And now, please excuse me. My work never seems to be done.”
“Figuring out who to kill next,” Falcon mutters.
If Bianchi hears him, he doesn’t show it.
“I’m going to go find Vinnie,” I say.
“If he’s with his mother, Ray, let them have a minute,” Falcon says.
I want to tell my brother to fuck off, but he’s right. Vinnie needs this time with his mom.
“Is there anything you need, Vannah?”
“Yeah. I need to eat something,” she says. “Have you eaten?”
“I grabbed a bite while you were in there,” Falcon says. “Come on. Let’s get you something to eat. Raven, you should come with us.”
“I’m going to stay here and wait for Vinnie.”
“Have it your way.”
I nod, watch them leave, and then I walk back to Jared and take my seat next to him.
28
VINNIE
Five Years Earlier…
The guilt used to eat at me. Day after day it gnawed into my psyche. My nightmares were dominated by Misha’s face, the look he gave me as the light faded from his eyes.
Until one day, I stumbled into a Buddhist temple in the heart of Kathmandu. The air inside was heavy with the scent of incense and the low, mesmerizing hum of monks in prayer. I was drawn to the calm, to the peace that seemed to radiate from the stone walls and intricate tapestries.