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“He technically hasn’t done anything wrong,” Vinnie says. “I mean other than the breaking and entering.”
“According to Falcon, he’s not going to get caught. He disabled all of their systems, and we got the hell out of there before they figured out what was going on.”
“That’s good.” He looks at the floor. “God, Sav, I’m so sorry.”
“You’re sorry?” I shake my head. “Nothing happened to me, Vinnie. He didn’t rape me. He tried, but he didn’t. I puked all over him before he could get in.”
“You and your quick-thinking stomach.” Vinnie smiles weakly.
“Fight or flight, you know.” I shrug. “I couldn’t fly. He was stronger. So my body fought back the only way it could. By hurling at him.”
“Hey, it worked.”
The familiar feeling of nausea creeps up my throat, but now it’s for a new reason.
“I can’t believe Grandpa… And I understand if you don’t want to talk about it, Vinnie…”
He lays a hand on my upper arm. “I can talk about it. It was a long time ago. It took me a while to get over it, but I’m whole.”
“I just can’t imagine. So Grandpa likes men?”
Vinnie shakes his head. “No, this had nothing to do with his sexuality. Like I said, he didn’t use his own dick, thank God. It was a power play, pure and simple. A power play to get me in line, and he expected me to do it to others.”
“He said that?”
Vinnie nods. “To whomever was next in line to lead the family, next in our bloodline. If I’d had a son, he would’ve expected me to do the same thing to him. And no way in hell was I going to do that.” He sighs. “I knew then that I had to get the hell out.”
“It’s strange,” I say. “When I went with Miles willingly, in exchange for him making any charges against Falcon go away, he took me to his father’s house. And his mother, Maggie, is a really sweet woman but is unfortunately a product of the system. She told me I was safe for the night. That Miles wouldn’t come to me until we were legally married. I took her at her word. Turned out she was wrong.”
“Perhaps her husband didn’t take her until they were married. I don’t know,” he says. “All I did know is that if I ever have a wife, she won’t be some subservient little housewife like Mom.” He frowns. “Don’t get me wrong. I love Mom and I always have.”
“You were her firstborn, Vinnie. It killed her when you left.”
“I know, Sav. I know.”
I rub my eyes to obscure the tears that are filling them. “It killed all of us.”
“And it literally killed Mikey.” He shakes his head. “When that news got to me, I came pretty close to jumping off a cliff.”
“Oh God, Vinnie.”
He slowly breathes in and out a few times. “But I didn’t. I’ve done a lot of self-healing on this journey. I’ve read philosophy from the great masters, and I even studied with some of them. I’ve lived a nomadic life, and I’ve learned that suicide is never the answer. But I’m still on this earth for a reason. I have something to offer. When I heard from your friend Leif about what was going on, I knew it was time to return. I have a role to play in this family.” He grabs my hand and squeezes it. “You do too, Savannah. I’m not quite sure what it is yet, but it certainly doesn’t entail me heading the family, and doesn’t entail you being married to Miles McAllister. We’ll figure it out together.”
I give my brother a hug, kiss him on the cheek. “I’m so glad you’re home, Vinnie.”
He looks around the drab surroundings of the basement. “This isn’t home to me,” he says. “We were still on Long Island when I left.”
“I know. I’m still not clear on why we came to Texas. And why the McAllisters came as well.”
“Easy enough,” Vinnie says. “We’re closer to the border. Closer to the source.”
“But shouldn’t we be far from the source? To keep fingers away from us?”
He sighs. “Hell if I know, Sav. If I knew how this whole business worked, I’d be in too damned deep.”
The door opens to the basement, and Leif strides down the stairs.
My heart races. “Oh my God, where’s Falcon?”
