Page 78 of Victorious Vice

I have no idea if any of the servants are within earshot.

I regard the large man before me. The man who could squeeze the life out of me in less than a second. Jared, who I’ve grown to trust, is now a stranger to me.

Clearly he’s taking his orders from someone else. But who?

Falcon? My father?

Vinnie?

It could be any of them.

“Who are you working for?” I demand.

Again he says nothing.

“Answer me,” I say, “or I swear to God I’ll see that you never work again in the state of Texas. Hell, the whole country. The whole fucking globe.”

He doesn’t answer my question. “You’re not going anywhere. You’re going to stay right here in your father’s home. I shouldn’t have allowed you the indulgence with Gallo tonight. I’m going to catch hell for it.”

All right. That means apparently he doesn’t work for Vinnie.

He’s going to tell me the truth, or I’ll do the one thing he has to stop me from doing.

I’ll put myself in harm’s way.

26

VINNIE

“You,” I grit out.

Raven’s father stands over me, his grip tight around my wrist.

I wrangle free and then kick Jack Smith for good measure. He’s still in a fetal position, and won’t be getting to his feet anytime soon.

“Somehow I knew you had to be a part of this.” I shake my head. “Who got to you? Mario? Diego Vega?”

He frowns. “Not everything is as it seems, Mr. Gallo.”

“I’d saynothingis as it seems.” I shake him by the shoulders. “Where is Raven? I happen to know this man was sent to kill her.”

“She’s safe. Jared has her.”

“Why did you stop me from killing him?” I dig my nails into the shoulders of his blazer. “He wants to murder your daughter!”

He swats my right hand away. “Because as I said, not everything is as it seems.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “You need to start talking, Bellamy. You really need to start talking. Because you say you love thatdaughter of yours, but I can tell you I love her more. I would give my life for hers in an instant.”

“And you think I wouldn’t?”

I point to the assassin. “Who is this jerk?”

“A man who needs medical attention,” Bellamy says.

“He needs to be six feet under.”

Smith groans. “Help…” he rasps out.

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