“I know, I know,” I say as I look down at my glass, seeing everything I thought I knew less than five hours ago drain to the bottom.
Vinny speaks softly. His words reach out, but he never takes a step closer. “What do you want to do?”
I huff out a laugh. “What options do I have?Famiglialaw is clear in this matter. No thief goes unpunished.”
Vinny nods. “Yes, but the punishment is never that clear in the law. It’s up to the head of the family to decide.”
“What are you going to do?” I look at him with what I’m sure is hope in my eyes. Hope for what? I’m not sure. Maybe that he makes a decision that’s right and fair and doesn’t destroy me.
“What do youwantme to do?”
I shake my head. “I can’t.” Can’t decide? Can’t be the one to judge? Can’t let her get hurt?
All of it and none of it.
“She didn’t do this.” I keep saying it, wanting it to be true.
“Danny has the evidence,” Bobby says. Again. No one is mad that I keep bringing it up, even though I was the one who had Payton moved. I couldn’t take seeing her and knowing what I saw. The two don’t add up, but the evidence is clear.
And yet… something about what she said and what little we saw doesn’t add up. “I don’t care what it shows—she didn’t do this.”
It’s been hours of us just sitting here. Some talking, mostly me thinking. My brothers are here for solidarity, and I know a ton of shit is piling up for them, but they stay. Stay and help me come to the realization that Payton is what the evidence shows.
But I can’t seem toaccept it.
“How long have you known her? A week of playing house? A month and a half since you took over the club? Come on, man, think for a second. I get that she has you all up in your head and shit, but she’s just toying with you. Who knows if she could pull this off long-term or not. Look at the evidence. See what we see. Then you decide if a week is long enough to know a person and make a decision that affects your entire life.” Danny, always the rational one. I bet he’s never felt anything for a woman.
“She said Carl took the cash.”
“Yeah, so?” Vinny says with a raised eyebrow.
“Well, did anyone see Carl on the tapes?”
My brothers look at one another, then focus on Danny, who, reluctantly, shakes his head. “Only shows her coming in, looking at the books, taking the cash, and leaving.”
“When?”
“When what?” Danny asks.
“When was the video? What day was it? When did you have it installed? When did you notice her in the video? When did this happen?” I’m yelling. I don’t care. Everything’s on the line. The proof should be enough for me, like it is for my brothers, but I can’t seem to let it go.
I was hurt when I saw it the first time. Confused by it, and I reacted without thought. But now? After too many drinks, I shouldn’t see clearly, but I’mthinkingdifferently. Or maybe I’m just grasping at straws. All I know is that I want to know every single detail, right now.
“Can you get us that information?” Vinny asks. He finally took the other side of the couch from Bobby while Danny has been moving about. For a man who doesn’t saymuch to others, he can never sit still, constantly moving when a problem is being discussed. He stops once it’s solved, but till then? The freaking Energizer Bunny. And with the number of problems thefamigliahas on a large scale, the man barely sits still longer than a few minutes ata time.
Unless he’s around Mama. He’s always been able to ease the burden he puts on himself just by being in her vicinity. It’s like a warm weighted blanket on his back that has him sighing with ease. Metaphorically, of course. I don’t think my brother owns a blanket, let alone a weighted one. I haven’t been to his place. He doesn’t invite people over. He’s also rarely there enough to really call his place a home. It’s more like a hotel.
Like what my place was before Payton came into it. She didn’t move in or add anything to it, but her being there made it feel like a home and not so sterile.
Danny huffs, then growls, then shakes his head. A process of his. He doesn’t like to be questioned, but he also doesn’t like having unknowns. I bet he’s at war with himself right now. Angry that he didn’t have that information before I brought it up.
“Yeah. But it’ll take some time.” He pulls out his phone and starts talking to someone almost immediately as he walks out of the room.
“What about the girl?” Bobby asks.
She’s somewhere. This penthouse is Vinny’s place, but the floors below it are property of thefamiglia. And we have holding rooms for things like this. She might be in one or a guest room. I have no clue. This building can be a living luxury for some and hell for others. A building with many secrets, and most of the people who live here have zero clue,because it’s easier to have random civilians keep up the appearance of nothing happening than to have a building filled withfamigliaand try to convince the authorities of the same thing. It’s easier to hide a wolf among sheep than tell someone that there are no wolves in the area.
Vinny looks at me, but I don’t speak. I can’t be the one to decide her fate. I just can’t.
