Page 43 of Victorious Vice

For the first few moments when I woke up this morning, I forgot where I was.

I was in my bed, in my home. Maybe Vinnie was snoozing next to me, or maybe he had gotten up to make a fresh pot of coffee.

Then reality came down on me like a ton of bricks.

No. I’m in the safe house.

Vinnie is in Colombia and wants nothing to do with me.

Jared had breakfast ready by the time I padded into the kitchen, wearing a robe I found in the closet of the bedroom. Yeah, somehow Falcon figured out my clothes sizes and filled the closets with several weeks’ worth of clothing. Mostly T-shirts and sweatpants.

The kind of clothes I wore when I was getting treated for cancer.

These will do for now, but I’m going to have to find a stunning dress for the gala. I guess I’ll find someone online and send them my measurements.

Breakfast is scrambled eggs, sausage patties, and hash browns. I take a bite. It’s actually pretty good. Jared put something spicy—paprika maybe—in the eggs.

“I didn’t realize you were so adept in the kitchen, Jared,” I say.

He shrugs. “I’ve been single a while. A man has to learn to fend for himself if he doesn’t want to live off TV dinners and take out for the rest of his life.”

I look him up and down. There’s certainly a lot more to this man than meets the eye.

After breakfast, I take a quick shower and then get down to business. First I have to call Robin. I take out my phone and dial her number.

“Hey Ray, what’s up?”

I draw in a deep breath and attempt a feigned sick voice. “Hey, sis. I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news.”

“Oh, gosh, are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine, but…” I swallow. I hate lying to my twin sister. “I think I’ve overexerted myself a bit in the planning of this gala. I hate to ask for your help, I know you’re busy, but I’ve got to take it easy for the next few weeks. Want to make sure I’m in prime health for the big day.”

“Falcon already alerted me that I’d need to take a more active role. Consider it done. What do you need? I know you got the venue booked already.”

“Yes.” I put the phone on speaker and open an email with a list of things to take care of from Emily. “I can still make a lot of calls and emails, but I need you to be the in-person contact if necessary. First there’s the caterer.”

“I know just the place. A friend of mine, Lorraine, owns this fabulous gastropub. Lots of high-end appetizers, and steaks that are to die for.”

“I’d rather use Bellamy beef, if possible.”

“I’m pretty sure they already use our beef, but I can make arrangements to get it to them wholesale. Then you’ll just be paying for the food prep and the waitstaff.”

“Sounds good. And you know the menu? You know what’s good?”

“I go there at least once a week. Lorraine is good at what she does.”

“Perfect. I’ll leave you with that. I also want to hire a string quartet and a DJ.”

She pauses. “I don’t know much about that. But I’m sure there are sources to find those online. The venue probably has some contacts, certainly for the DJ. For the string quartet, maybe you could contact a local university? I bet UT Austin has a lot of great strings players who are champing at the bit for gigs.”

I make a note. “Okay, I’ll take care of that.” I scan through my email from Emily. “And then there’s décor. I definitely want floral arrangements, but the venue is pretty fancy already.”

“I’ve got it. There’s a florist right next to Lorraine’s. Easy trip for me to make.” She pauses. “What about audio-visual and lighting?”

“The venue takes care of that part. I’ll give their stage manager your contact information, though, in case they need you to go in before the day of.”

“Good.”

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