Page 1 of Victorious Vice

PROLOGUE

VINNIE

Ihave a feeling that the Bellamy ranch shrouds more secrets than perhaps even Austin Bellamy himself knows.

“I believe Falcon is a good man,” I say.

“I do as well. Otherwise I wouldn’t have saved his ass.”

“What about his brothers?”

Dad shrugs. “I wasn’t able to find out too much about them before I had to go to prison. The older one, Hawk, seems good. But I sense that the younger one is a bit of a loose cannon.”

My father has no idea.

“I’ll look into all of them,” I say. “I’ll make sure Savannah is safe.”

He gives a weak smile. “I know you will, Vinnie.”

“I should’ve been here, Dad.” I run my hands through my hair, sighing. “If I had been, Mikey would still be alive.”

“I’ll never stop mourning your brother,” he says. “Just as I’ll never stop mourning your mother.” He looks at me, a small glimmer of light in his eyes. “But I have you, and I have Savannah. I trust Falcon to keep Savannah safe. And you know what I need you to do.”

“I’ll do it, Dad. You have my word.”

I drop him off at the prison, and when I get back to my mother’s home—nowmyhome—my grandfather is waiting for me at the front door.

“I have nothing to say to you.” I brush past him, opening the door.

“Check your email,” he says. “You’re back on that flight to Colombia. Leaving tonight.”

“Send someone else.” I take a step inside the house.

“Nope. I’m sending you.” He grabs my arm. “You want to be my second-in-command? That’s who I need on this mission. You’d be there now if your mother hadn’t had that heart attack.”

I grit my teeth. “Don’t even talk about my mother.”

He frowns, laying a hand over his heart. “You think this isn’t killing me? She was my child.”

“Yes. Your only child.”

His lips twitch.

And I cock my head.

“My mother was trying to tell me something before she died. Something about you. Something about my father.”

He raises an eyebrow. “You mean you haven’t guessed?”

I whip my arm out of his grasp. “Stop playing games with me, old man. If there’s something I need to know about my father, you need to tell me.”

“All you need to know about Vincent Gallo Senior is that he’s a weakling.” Grandfather scowls.

“Weak men don’t kill a man to save their daughter from marriage to a degenerate.”

He says nothing.

“So don’t ever tell me my father’s a weak man again.”

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