Page 104 of Volatile Vice

“What did you find out?”

“He came into some money about five years ago. It was laundered through a dry cleaner in Austin.”

I nod slowly. “So I can understand that you wouldn’t want your daughter dating a money launderer. But I’m still not sure why?—”

“I’m not finished,” he says. “He’s used the money to pay people off. No less than eight women have accused him of rape.”

Chills run through me.

“So you can see my dilemma,” he says.

“Yes, I do.”

“I don’t go around ordering the deaths of people,” he says. “This is only the second time I’ve ever done it.”

“Who did you have offed the first time?”

“I don’t think that’s any of your business, Mr. Gallo.”

He’s right. It’s probably not. Unless it was Diego Vega, but I’m still pretty sure Austin doesn’t know anything about that.

“I couldn’t let my daughter get into that.”

“So you arranged to have her out of the house—with me—and your wife and you were also out of the house.”

“That’s correct. Alibis all around.”

“Then why didn’t you go into Raven’s room as soon as you got home? It would’ve made your alibis cleaner.”

“For the same reason you would’ve done the same thing. My wife had to be the one to find him. It couldn’t be me.”

“And you knew she would check on Raven in the morning.”

“Exactly.”

I’m not sure whether to have respect for the man or contempt. Why would he put his wife through finding a dead body in his daughter’s bed when he could have done all of this miles away from here?

That’s pretty cold.

But Austin Bellamy had his reasons, I’m sure. It was in his best interest to have it done at his house. In a way, it made him look even more innocent.

“All right. You should know, though, that my grandfather’s on to you.”

He scoffs. “I’m not afraid of Mario Bianchi.”

“You should be,” I tell him. “I believe you’re a good man. I believe you do bad things sometimes to protect those you love. I get that. But Mario Bianchi? He’snota good man. Whatever good he had inside him was erased long ago. He knows what happened, and if he wanted to, he could expose you.”

He crosses his arms. “Then you and I need to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“You’re right. We do.” I lean in, lowering my voice. “I plan to take him down, but my plan was always to do that in my own time. I want to protect my mother, my sister, myself. And now Raven. I didn’t know I was going to have to protect you and your wife too.”

He shakes his head. “I can protect my wife just fine. I’ve done it for the last thirty years.”

“I don’t think my grandfather’s any threat to you.” I look into his eyes. “But just be aware that he knows. If the day comes when he needs to use it as leverage or needs a favor from you, he won’t hesitate.”

“I can’t imagine why your grandfather would ever need anything from me.”

“You’d be surprised.”

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