Page 72 of Volatile Vice

“Yeah?”

“You and I need to have a talk.”

* * *

My grandfather doesn’t showup. Big surprise.

But two hours later, Savannah, in tears, sits with our mother.

And I follow Falcon out into the hallway.

“We need someplace private,” he says.

“There’s an alcove at the end of the hallway on the other side from the elevators. With vending machines and all.”

“It’s late enough that we can probably be alone there,” he says.

I lead him to the alcove, take a seat, and gesture for him to sit down across from me.

“What is it?” I ask.

He frowns. “Raven came clean.”

“About what?”

“About the two of you, Vinnie.”

I try to read Falcon’s expression. He doesn’t look angry. He doesn’t look anything. Maybe he’s worried about his future mother-in-law. About his fiancée.

I’m not sure what to think.

“And?” I prod.

“And you already know what I’m going to say.” He takes a deep breath and looks me dead in the eye. “Right now…you’re not good for her, Vinnie.”

I let out an exasperated huff. “You think that’s something I don’t know? Look, I didn’t plan what happened between Raven and me. And as her big brother, you have every right to pummel me. Though I could do the same to you for my little sister.”

He doesn’t react.

Not that I expect him to.

“I understand.” He lets out a humorless chuckle. “And yeah, I kind ofdowant to pummel you. And believe me, I see the irony of the situation. But this isn’t about me wanting to protect my baby sister’s virginity.” He sighs. “I’m more concerned about Raven’s safety. She just got her life back, man.”

“At the risk of repeating myself, do you think that’s something I don’t know?”

He crosses his arms. “I just don’t know what you were thinking.”

“Thinking had nothing to do with it, on either of our parts. We both knew what we were getting into. She did as well as I did. She’s a grown woman, Falcon.”

“She is.” He casts his gaze to the hospital tiles. “I just… I need you to understand that I can’t imagine life without her. I already lost out on so much time when I was in the clink. And when she got sick, she had to start missing visitation as well. Do you know how that felt, Vinnie? To know my sister was literally dying, and there was nothing I could do?”

“You ended up doing more than anyone else.”

“You’re right. By some miracle,mybone marrow was a match for her. Over hertwinsister. But that’s not even what I mean. They put her through so much chemo and radiation before they even considered the bone marrow transplant. Apparently her type of leukemia normally responds to traditional treatment better than bone marrow. I was a last resort, and thank God it worked, but she went throughyearsof misery before that. And now that she’s got a second chance at living a normal, happy life, you come waltzing in with another series of threats to her wellbeing.” He closes his eyes and rubs at his temples. “The least you could have done was keep it in your pants.”

I poke him in the shoulder. “May I remind you that the only reason I returned to the States was to helpyourfiancée avoid marrying Miles McAllister. The only reason I met Raven was because I was trying to help my sister.” I sigh and lean away from Falcon. “I didn’t mean for anything to happen, Falcon. But you know just as well as I do that sometimes you can’t control how two people feel about each other.”

Falcon scratches the back of his neck. “Well, when you put it that way…”

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