Page 119 of Victorious Vice

I wipe a tear from my cheeks. “Sometimes I sneak the dog scraps from the table. Especially if it’s something I don’t like.”

Grandma chuckles. “Of course. Remember that, Raven. Remember that everyone has little secrets. And sometimes you’re better off not asking questions you don’t want the answer to.”

I jerkmyself out of my daydream. I’m in the car with Vinnie. His people are driving us to the hospital.

That voice from the dreams, the one telling me to remember something…

It’s my grandmother. It’s a memory from the day I walked in on my father in his office talking with that strange man. The strange man who looked like he was up to no good.

She told me to remember that everyone has little secrets.

I haven’t thought about that day in forever. I always just thought that my father was in a bad mood and overreacted.

But now, in the light of his attempted suicide, I can’t help but wonder.

Is Dad involved with something bad?

I try notto cry when I see my father in the ICU bed, hooked up to all kinds of monitors. So many times he had to look at me like this.

It must have been awful for him.

My mother sits next to him. Robin, Falcon, Hawk, and Eagle are here, but they’re in the waiting area with Vinnie and Jared. The staff doesn’t like more than two visitors in the room at a time.

I sit in the hard, uncomfortable chair near the window as I watch my father sleep. I let the silence of the room wrap itself around me, the steady beep of the heart monitor the only sound that breaks through. I trace the weathered lines on his hands.

My mother’s face is a mask of calm, but her eyes betray her fear. She squeezes my father’s other hand gently. “How could he do this?” she asks, but I don’t feel like she’s talking to me.

She’s talking to the universe.

A nurse walks in, her face impassive behind her sterile mask. She checks my father’s vitals and gives us a curt nod before leaving. Her detached professionalism does nothing to ease the tension in the room.

I squeeze his hand. “Daddy,” I whisper. “You have so much to live for. How could you?”

His eyes flicker open. “Ray,” he croaks out.

“I’m here. Mom’s here.”

“I need to see Vinnie,” he says.

I raise my eyebrows. “Vinnie? Why?”

“Is he here with you?”

How would my father know that? “Yes, he’s here.”

“Please. I need to talk to him. Before I fall asleep again.”

“Okay. I’ll get him.”

I walk back out to the waiting area and grab Vinnie’s hand. “He says he wants to see you.”

My brothers all raise their eyebrows, though not one of them speaks. They’re still all in shock.

“Why me?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t ask.” I wipe a tear from my cheek. “I just want… I want whatever he wants.”

Vinnie nods. “Of course. I’ll go.”

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