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Then I see Leif standing in the doorway from the garage. He nods to Falcon.
Falcon and I leave the vehicle and go inside. The garage leads straight to a laundry room and then to the kitchen.
And at the kitchen table sits?—
“My God, Vinnie!”
He has his back to me, but I’d know him anywhere.
My brother turns, looks at me, his eyes sunken and sad. Then he rises, rushes to me. “Oh my God, Savannah.”
I burst into tears. “I’m okay. I’m okay, Vinnie.”
“I’m so sorry I wasn’t here to protect you,” he says, grabbing me into a hug.
“No one blames you for that, Vinnie. I can’t believe it’s really you.” I pull back and look at him. Leif sent me a picture, but it was nothing compared to seeing my brother in real life. He has a few wrinkles around his eyes, a few gray hairs at his temple, and he has a full beard, but it’s my brother. It’s Vinnie.
“I can’t believe how you’ve grown,” he says. “No longer a little beanpole. And so pretty, Sav.”
“Anybody hungry?” Leif asks. “I’ve got fried chicken.”
Then I inhale. Good old Texas fried chicken.
“All of a sudden, I’m actually starving,” I say.
“Yeah, I could eat.” Falcon holds his hand out to Vinnie. “Falcon Bellamy.”
Vinnie shakes his hand heartily. “I understand that you’ve done a lot to protect my sister. Thank you.”
Falcon looks at me and smiles. “I’d do anything for her, man.”
Vinnie nods. He doesn’t go all big brother on me, worrying that someone is having sex with his little sister. “You’ve proved that,” he says. “I won’t leave her again.”
“You do what you have to do.” I say. “I’m sorry you had to come back for me, Vinnie.”
“I’m not. I shouldn’t have left in the first place.” He sighs and looks away from me. “If I’d taken my place at the head of the family, none of this would’ve happened.”
I shake my head. “No.”
“If I’d been here, maybe Mikey would still be alive, and maybe you wouldn’t have been sold off to the McAllisters.”
“I don’t want you to think that way,” I tell him. “None of this is your fault.”
He doesn’t reply. He thinks it is his fault, but it’s not. It’s not his fault any more than it is Michael’s or mine. I’m not even sure it’s Dad’s fault.
Leif gets the food out, and we each take a plate and serve ourselves. I bite into a succulent drumstick, and my tastebuds go crazy. It’s only been a few weeks on the survival food in the safe house, but I feel like I forgot how good fresh meat tastes. I can’t believe how hungry I am in the midst of all this.
“Okay,” Leif says, once we’ve all finished our dinner. “I don’t know exactly what we’re dealing with here. Falcon doesn’t either. The two of you know more about your family and why they might be pushing this marriage between Savannah and Miles.”
“It’s got to be something big, Vinnie,” I say. “They let me off when I was eighteen, and again when I was twenty-two. I did the family’s bidding for five years out of college when I worked as a parole officer in Austin, and when I begged Dad to let me out a month ago, he finally agreed. But now, all of a sudden they want me again? There’s got to be something more than a simple alliance at work here.”
“I agree with you,” Vinnie says. “I’ve been out of the family dynamic for a long time, but when I was in high school, Dad taught me everything I needed to know. He just assumed I’d be willing, and though I didn’t want to know everything, I let them teach me. I was underage at that point, so there wasn’t much I could do about it anyway. But the more I found out, the more I knew I didn’t want to be any part of it.”
“Do you remember anything that might be related to this situation?” Falcon asks.
“I remember every damned thing,” Vinnie says. “It’s not something you can easily forget. Finding out what your family is capable of.”
“Oh God…” I swallow. “They’re not into something besides drugs, are they?”
