44. Vinnie
44
VINNIE
A week later…
Everything is complete.
Mario and Serena are settled in Dubai.
I’ve received confirmation that McAllister and Agudelo are in their graves. No news yet on Vega, but I’m confident that my plan worked with him as well.
I’ve cooperated with law enforcement, handed over tainted funds to the Feds, and cleared our coffee import business of all illegal activity.
Belinda and her governess, Natalie, are getting settled in my home, and Daniela is thrilled to have a little sister.
But Bellamy is still in a coma.
He’s not on life support. He’s breathing on his own. But he won’t wake up.
Three months later…
Daniela now has legal status in the US, and our divorce will be finalized in another few months. She’s living in one of my guestrooms, and she’ll begin culinary school soon.
Belinda is doing well. She’s in therapy to deal with her father’s abuse, but she finds solace in her music. I’ve hired a college piano professor to teach her and bought a nine-foot grand piano for her to practice on.
I haven’t heard anything from Mario and Serena, but that’s expected. I assume they are happily enjoying their time together in Dubai. I’ve begun the process of getting my father released from prison. It will be a long road, but my attorneys think it can be done.
Austin Bellamy is still in a coma, and the physicians don’t know why. He shows brain activity, so pulling the plug isn’t an option. He’s been moved to a facility here in Austin, and Raven—who has moved in with me—visits with him every day. Her other time is spent working at Raven’s Wings, which is thriving.
I’m now CEO of the Bianchi Coffee Imports—a totally legit company, and a successful one. I have enough money to live out my life in luxury and support Daniela, Belinda, and any children Raven and I may have together.
And it’s clean money. So clean it squeaks.
I did what I set out to do, and though I was victorious, I had to become everything I despised about Mario. Unlike my money, my hands aren’t clean. I had to use evil means not to bring about ruin, but to achieve victory.
Victorious vice.
Victory came at a price. When you’re fighting darkness, you don’t walk away unscathed.
I have to live with that.
“Hey, babe!” Raven knocks on the open door of my study with that smile that still makes my heart pump faster.
“How is he today?” I ask.
She sighs. “The same.” Then she smiles again. “But I just heard Belinda working on a new piece. It sounds amazing. And she was smiling, Vinnie. Smiling!”
I nod. Belinda started smiling a few days ago. It was a huge thing for all of us, but especially for Raven. She’s grown to love the girl like a daughter.
In my desk drawer is a five-carat diamond engagement ring.
I haven’t yet popped the question to Raven. I want to, more than I want my next breath. But technically I’m still married to Daniela, though my attorney assures me the divorce will be final soon. And we’ll arrange an alimony agreement to make sure she’s taken care of as she pursues her culinary dreams.
But Daniela is not the real reason I haven’t proposed yet. I don’t need to be legally divorced to get engaged.
Part of me still feels unworthy of Raven. She is goodness and light personified, and I…
Well…I’m not. Plus, I’m a genetic nightmare—the product of a father and his daughter. I even had my DNA tested, just in case Mario was lying to me.
He wasn’t.
Raven’s cheeks are rosy and they’ve plumped up, and her hair is now in a stylish dark pixie cut that she tucks behind her ears. Her latest scans and blood work were perfect.
She deserves everything life has to offer.
“Vinnie…” she says.
“Yeah, baby?”
She wiggles the fingers of her left hand toward me. “When are you going to make us official?”
I raise my eyebrows. Has she been reading my mind?
I rise and walk to her, taking her in my arms. “I officially love you, Raven. You know that.”
“And I love you. We’re safe now. You took down the Bianchi empire. You’re a legitimate businessman. And you’re a wonderful human being.”
I don’t reply.
“How can you not agree with me?” she asks.
“I didn’t say I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did. By not saying anything.” She shakes her head. “Look what you’ve done for Belinda. For Daniela. For Savannah and Falcon. You’re everything, Vinnie. I want you to be my everything.”
I kiss her then—a raw, open-mouthed kiss—because what I’m about to tell her may send her running for the hills.
I break the kiss. “I love you so fucking much.”
“I love you too, Vinnie.”
I grip her shoulders. “I have to tell you something.”
She bites her lower lip. “You can tell me anything.”
God, I hate keeping secrets from her. She still doesn’t know the extent of her father’s involvement with the cartels. Hell, I don’t even know the extent, since Agudelo is now dead. Only Bellamy himself knows…and he’s not talking from his coma.
But one secret remains that Raven has to know before she consents to a life with me.
“I found out something right after my mother died,” I say. “Something that rattled me to my bones. But in an eerie way, it made sense.”
She bites her lip, her eyes wide. “You’re scaring me, Vinnie.”
I cup her cheek. “Don’t be scared. I don’t want you to ever feel fear again, Raven.”
“All right.” She swallows. “Just tell me. You can’t tell me anything that will make me stop loving you.”
I hope she’s right. “I’m just going to say it.” I draw in a breath. “Vincent Gallo Senior isn’t my biological father. Mario Bianchi is.”
She drops her jaw. “Then who’s your mother?” Then she gasps. “Oh my God…”
I nod. “Right. My mother is my mother. I’m a product of incest, Raven. And I don’t blame you for being disgusted. I know I am.”
“Oh, Vinnie.” She wraps her arms around me. “I’m not disgusted. Not by you. Maybe by how you came about, but that’s not your fault.”
“You should know that I’ve talked to a DNA expert and to my personal physician. They say that because I don’t have any genetic abnormalities from inbreeding that any children of mine probably won’t either. But there’s always a possibility, Raven. You need to go into this with your eyes open.”
She steps back. “This is… This is…”
God. I can’t lose her. Not after everything we’ve been through to be together.
But I’ll let her go if I have to.
If this is a dealbreaker for her, she certainly won’t be able to handle all the other skeletons in my closet as they reveal themselves.
I’ve already let her go once, to keep her safe while I was taking down the family business.
“I understand if you want to break it off,” I say quietly.
Then she lunges toward me. “No! I’m not leaving. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to have children after all the poison that’s been pumped into my body. But if I can, Vinnie, I want to have your children. And however they come out, they’ll be perfect and we’ll love them.”
And in that moment, the room gets a little brighter. Maybe the sun is peering out from behind a cloud, or maybe Raven is just that fucking radiant.
I crush my lips to hers in a devouring kiss.
“God, I love you,” I say against her lips.
“And I love you.”
I break away for just a moment to retrieve the ring from my desk. Then I drop to my knee in front of her, opening the black velvet box. “Be my wife, Raven. Make me the happiest man in the world.”
She holds out her left hand, a single tear streaming down her cheek. “Absolutely, Vinnie. There’s not a doubt in my mind.”
I slide the ring on her finger and kiss her again until she jerks backward.
“You okay?” I ask.
“Yeah.” She giggles. “It’s just my phone. It’s buzzing in my pocket because I have it on silent. I’ll ignore it.”
“It’s okay,” I say. “It could be important.”
She nods and retrieves her phone, looks at it, and her eyes go wide.
“What is it?” I ask.
She swallows. “It’s my mom in the group text. My father. He’s awake.”
The Bellamy Brothers will continue with Hawk’s story, coming soon!