Page 121 of Victorious Vice

“Money has no value to me,” he says. “My mother left me more than I could spend in four lifetimes.”

“Then why?”

“I could say it started eight years ago, but it started much earlier than that.”

“But eight years ago was when Falcon?—”

“Yes,” he interrupts me. “It was. I used it to my advantage, but I was also protecting my son.”

“Falcon?”

He shakes his head. “Eagle, actually. The kid’s a loose cannon. Always has been. Star and Raven babied him something awful. He grew up entitled, and you know what happens to entitled rich boys.”

“I’m afraid I don’t.”

He wrinkles his forehead. “You grew up rich.”

“I did. But you know where my money comes from. And you know damned well I wasn’t entitled. If you knew anything about my grandfather?—”

“I know.” He weakly raises a hand to quiet me. “You didn’t have it easy. I didn’t mean to say that you did. Hawk, Falcon, the girls, they all grew up the same way. But Eagle was the baby. None of that really matters now. What matters is that they’re better off without me.”

“I don’t thinktheybelieve that.”

“Please, Vinnie. Finish it off. I know you have access to anything you need.”

I shake my head. “I won’t let you put me in this position. I love your daughter, and she would never forgive me if I was ultimately the one responsible for her father’s death.”

He closes his eyes.

“There are things,” he says. “Things that, if my family found out, they’d turn their backs on me anyway.”

I’ve only just begun to scratch the surface of what’s going on with Austin Bellamy.

“Tell me this, Austin,” I say. “Are you my friend? Or are you my enemy?”

Bellamy opens his eyes, looking straight into mine, yet his gaze feels distant, unreachable.

“Vinnie,” he says, “I am neither a friend nor an enemy. I am a desperate man. I have done things—horrible things—and now, I can’t see a way out.”

“You could face it,” I say, “Face the consequences.”

“A luxury I don’t have,” Bellamy replies with a bitter smile. “Not with my children at stake.”

There’s something profound in the silence that follows. A heavy weight of a father’s love and guilt mingle together in the room. It drowns every other sound, leaving just the whispering wind outside the window to break the silence.

He reaches out and takes hold of my hand with an unexpected strength. His grip is like iron, the desperation seeping out of him so tangible I can feel it clenching my heart. He locks his gaze onto mine.

“Your love for Raven…” he starts. “It’s real, and I trust it. But it’s her love for me that worries me. That’s why you cannot tell her about any of this.”

I pull my hand from his grip, a cold sense of fear creeping up my spine.

“I won’t be your executioner, Austin,” I say firmly. “But I can help you find another way.”

He stares at me, silent and inscrutable. I can’t tell if he’s considering my words or simply resigned to his fate.

“Vinnie,” he finally whispers. “I’ve dug myself too deep to climb out. There’s no other way.”

“You’re wrong,” I argue. “There is always another way. You’re just trying to take the easy way out. This is really about deciding whether you’re strong enough to take it.”

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