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“Any news on her father?”
“All we know is he’s back in Nicaragua. Daniel is paying good money to keep eyes on that compound. If he moves, we’ll know it,” she said confidently. “I want to go down there and kill the bastard myself—apparently we all do—but Daniel says I have to be patient.”
“I should have taken care of it.” I’d promised to battle Muriella’s demons. Instead, I’d let one loose.
Vivian patted my thigh. “We need to focus on this weekend. Daniel’s made arrangements for the jet to leave Sunday around lunchtime. We’ll be right behind you in another one.”
“Did you find what we were looking for?” So much hung on Sunday. And damn it, I was nervous.
“Just before I came over. It’s perfect.”
“Am I crazy for doing this?”
“You want the honest answer?” she asked, and I felt myself smile. “Yeah, you are. But this is the only shot. You know what you want, and we’re all here to help you get it.”
“I need all the support I can get.”
“I wish I could tell you she’ll come around, but honestly, Stone, I just don’t know.” Vivian took another pull off of the bottle. I did the same.
“I’m going for broke, Vivian. Hopefully, between my family and you two, we can talk some sense into her. I’m just praying that getting her away from here will help.”
“It can’t hurt.”
I took a little more solace from the bottle, if it could be called that. “I can’t lose her, V. Now that I’ve seen what life is with her, I can’t do it without her,” I said quietly.
“It may take all of us, but we’ll make her see she belongs with us.”
Vivian looked at the bottle, like maybe I’d had too much of it already. She didn’t try to take it away though. “New York is about the last place I ever thought I’d end up, but the damnedest thing has happened. Being here with Muriella makes it all right, better than all right, really. I can’t see going back to Texas to live. When I think about the future, it’s in her apartment, living below y’all. I see our kids running upstairs to play with yours—”
“Whoa!” Vivian straightened, waving both hands in front of her like flashing stop signs. “I’m all for you having kids—they can even take over our house—but don’t go getting me pregnant as part of your plans.”
“I won’t. Daniel will.”
She gave me a withering look. “Smart-ass.”
I grinned. “C’mon, V. You know you can picture it.”
“Doesn’t mean it doesn’t scare the shit out of me,” she said, looking terrified. “Give me that.” She snatched the bottle from my hand and took a long swig, some of the amber liquid leaking out both sides of her mouth.
I chuckled and patted her knee. “You’ll be a great mom, a cool one.”
She scrunched her small nose up at me, her brows furrowing. “If we have kids, Muriella has to take care of them. She’s the one who’ll be a great mom. I’ve wanted to tell her that so many times, but I knew how she felt about it and didn’t want to make it worse.”
“She will be,” I agreed, heaviness settling in around us. “Did you get that number I asked for?”
She reached for her phone and fired off a text. “You sure this is a good idea?”
“My gut says it is.”
“Then I’m on board.”
Vivian’s vote of confidence in me was reassuring. She’d tell me if she thought I was wrong, as quickly as she would if I was right.
“Well…I guess I should go.” She stood and held out her hands to help me up. “Come stay with us. I don’t like you being by yourself. We don’t leave family on their own.”
“It’s only two more days. I’ll be okay.”
As I showed her to the door, Vivian gripped my arm. “Are you totally sure she’s going to come on the date?”
