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“He says it’s gone, but he’s lying. Get someone on his tail immediately.”
“Already done,” he said. This didn’t surprise me. Donato frequently had eyes on his brother because he was a loose cannon, too much of a liability.
“Then you know where he’s stashed the goods?”
“In a warehouse that isn’t ours. I hoped he was being thorough, but he can’t be trusted. I’ll send in a team to extract it now.” There was disappointment in Donato’s voice. He wasn’t naive, but his brother was a difficult spot for him.
“I told him to come up with the painting or the money by tomorrow. What are we going to do about him?” I was tired of Vinny getting preferential treatment because of who he was. But more than that, I was sick of him in general.
“I’ll handle it.”
Fantastic. Something else Vinny would blame me for. More grief I didn’t want or need. But I owed it to Donato to help with this job, though he never made me feel as if I was in his debt. I had my own separate business, but it was entwined with his. I depended on him, and I was afraid one day Vinny would be the thing that ripped us apart.
If he didn’t, what I had to do very soon likely would.
Chapter Five
Vivian
Present
The soundof a key in the lock made my heart slam in my chest. I’d said he wouldn’t even know I was at the apartment. That wasn’t exactly the truth, but I hadn’t intended on being parked in the foyer either.
I pressed my palms into the hardwood beside me. I wasn’t ready to see him. God, I wanted to see him. It couldn’t have been more than a few hours since I’d left him in his study, but it felt like weeks. I missed him already.
The doorknob turned in slow motion, my eyes riveted to it, breath held. After one look at the petite frame clad in dark jeans and a jade sweater standing in the doorway, I exhaled a lungful of air.
“Vivian,” Muriella said, sweeping into the room, shoving the door shut behind her. She glowered at the luggage, and then her expression morphed into one of pain.
The minute she sank down to join me on the floor, her tiny arms slid around me, and I buried my head against her chest.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered against my hair.
“He told you?” I mumbled into her sweater.
“Don’t hate me,” Muriella said, and my head popped up, our eyes meeting. Her mocha ones were tormented, and I tried to reassure her with mine that I could never hate her. Muriella was my best friend, my sister, my family. Just like I was nothing without Daniel, I couldn’t function without her either. “He told me earlier today.”
I gave her a watery smile. “I should have figured that.” Then I gestured toward my stuff.
She vehemently shook her head no, long hickory-colored locks flying. “I told him if he was intent on doing this, he was completely on his own. There is no way I’d ever help him destroy his life. Yours either.”
I let out a long breath and dropped my head to her shoulder. “I made him give me a week to find somewhere else to go.”
“Forget that. You’ll come live with me,” she insisted, steely determination behind her words.
“I can’t. It’s too close to him.” I squeezed my eyes shut, wondering how in the hell I was ever going to make myself leave. It was the only place I’d ever felt at home. “He bought me an apartment. Can you believe that shit?”
“I’m giving you a free pass on your language, just for today,” she admonished, but she didn’t mean a word of it. Bless her, she was trying to maintain a little bit of normalcy for my benefit. She was forever scolding me for my language, which we both knew was never going to change. “He wants to take care of you.”
“Then why is he doing this to us? You don’t buy an apartment and load up the bank account of someone you’re breaking up with. And I swear I didn’t see it coming. But I should have, should have seen some sign. I honestly thought we were good. Better than that,” I finished, sounding as deflated as I felt.
“I don’t know what’s going on. When I asked him, he shut down. But I’m scared, V. This afternoon, his eyes looked like they used to, before you came to us. There was nothing in them. They were just…cold.” Muriella appeared mystified by the change in the man we both cared for.
We were quiet for a minute, reflecting on how to fix our family and where it all went wrong. Daniel had to have known this would not only affect the two of us as a couple, but Muriella as well. He wasn’t an emotional man, but he felt something fierce for her. I was furious with him for putting our M in the middle of this. It wasn’t fair to make her choose sides or even feel she would have to. I knew he needed her. If push came to shove, I’d give her up. But I was hellbent on keeping usallintact.
Muriella amazed me. Though she was only six years older than me, her wisdom was that of someone far more mature, yet she managed to keep a lightness about her. Her determination not to let the past completely rule her was inspiring. That was one reason she spoke with no accent whatsoever despite her Nicaraguan origins. She wanted to blend in with her surroundings, disassociate from what she’d left behind, and she did.
I pointed my chin toward the mountain of stuff. “So you don’t have any idea where my pajamas could be?”
