I called Sylvie as soon as we arrived at the hospital. Thankfully, she hadn't been hurt, other than experiencing a pounding headache, which Cara had predicted. Sylvie was en route to the hospital via the Valentino's Escalade, driven by a member of the capital security team. So, I breathed a little easier when I hung up.

It was Rizzo we were all worried about. His right arm had been severed just below the elbow, and while he was whisked away and triaged for surgery, Vincent and I sat in the ER as he received medical attention for his battle wounds. Vincent didn't appear to notice the nurse's flirty attitude or her batting eyelashes as he talked on the phone through the entire process.

"Charleton and Griffin are preparing to fly the copter here to stay with Rizzo," Vincent told me after he pocketed his cell "When they arrive, we can drive the Escalade home and put all this behind us."

"How do you think Rizzo will do after such a serious injury? What if he loses his arm? Will he still be able to fight?"

"Don't worry about Rizzo. He will probably use this as bragging rights over Colin and his meager chest wound."

"Oh, Colin. We should call him. He'll want to know what happened. Wasn't he supposed to be involved in the..."

"Charleton will tell him." Vincent grimaced, but I had a feeling it wasn't from the antiseptic swab Nurse Flirty dabbed on his back. Something told me Colin was not going to be happy about being left out.

Once Sylvie arrived, Vincent insisted she be checked for a concussion, and while Nurse Flirty followed his instructions with starry-eyed enthusiasm, Vincent and I changed into fresh clothes from the duffel bags Sylvie brought us. Vincent always kept one stashed in the Valentino vehicles. His constant preparedness appeared to be well-founded.

As soon as Sylvie had been given a clean bill of health, we all retired to the surgical waiting room and she began her interrogation, starting with the winged female who landed on her in the toilet, and followed by my abduction by said female, as well as the massive injuries Rizzo and Vincent sustained in the process of rescuing me. I muddled through my explanation with the help of Vincent, who had a lot more practice at evading the truth than I did. He had already counseled me on my false alibi, at which time I told him I needed to come clean with Sylvie before my guilt swallowed me up, and he agreed, but he told me to wait until we were away from the public eye to divulge the truth.

When Sylvie asked what happened to Heath, Vincent tactfully offered that neither of us would have to contend with the asshole again. Sylvie's reaction was to stare blankly at the floor and pick at the polish on her nails. For my part, I hadn't asked Vincent for confirmation about Heath's status because I didn't really want to know. I was fine with inferring from context. Rizzo's surgery took nearly seven hours, which gave Charleton and Griffin time to get to the hospital, and everyone waited anxiously until the surgeon finally came out to give us the news.

"Mr. Rizzieux made it through surgery fine," the weary doctor said. "The nerve damage was severe, so he may not resume full feeling in that limb, and his dexterity will be compromised, but aesthetically he should have no trouble finding a date."

There was a round of chuckles, and Charleton thanked the man for his expertise. When the surgeon left, everyone decided it was a good idea to take in nourishment while Rizzo recovered. Then Vincent took command behind the wheel of the Escalade and escorted Sylvie and me to Manhattan.

"You can stay with Vincent and me tonight, Sylvie," I said when the subject came up about her long drive back to Baltimore. "There's no way I'm letting you drive home after getting knocked out by a lunatic."

"I've got work tomorrow," she said. "But I guess I can work remotely. I never leave home without my laptop and flash drive. I'll give my boss a call and fill him in on the gory details when we get to your place. I doubt you want to hear the foul language he'll use when I tell him I won't be in. He's kind of an asshole."

"If your boss is an asshole, why do you work for him?" Vincent asked deadpan, like there weren't a million asshole bosses out there making people's lives miserable.

"Well, I've got these bills, you see, and my asshole boss pays me enough to handle the bills. Plus, there's some left over to take amazing trips like these."

Vincent didn't appear to pick-up on her blatant sarcasm as he offered his retort. "Have you ever considered living in New York? I could find you a job with one of my companies making more than you're earning now, and you wouldn't have to work for an asshole anymore."

Sylvie arched her brows at Vincent, although he didn't look away from the road to notice. Of course, I had to assume he didn't notice since his eyes were hidden behind a pair of mirrored sunglasses. "Is he being serious?" she asked.

"Most of what Vincent says is serious, so I'm going with 'yes'."

"Thanks, Vincent," Sylvie said. "I'll give your offer some thought. I'd love to live in the same city as Reese again. There's a whole slew of clubs we could hit."

Sylvie's comment had Vincent glancing away from the road to catch her in his mirrored glare through the rearview mirror. She just laughed.

"Too late, Vincent. No take backs."

When we arrived at Vincent's apartment, I got Sylvie settled into the spare room, which I hadn't planned on using now that Vincent and I were free to get freaky without the possibility of blood loss. In fact, I had been thinking about that for most of the drive home, when I wasn't worrying about Rizzo. It wasn't until Sylvie climbed into the shower that Vincent and I had a moment alone. While he did look busy as he typed something on his laptop at the kitchen counter, I pulled up behind him and slipped my arms around his waist, pressing my face into his shirt to take in a deep inhale of his yummy scent.

"With everything that's happened over the past few hours, I don't know if I ever thanked you for saving my life," I said. "So, thank you, Vincent."

Vincent turned around, giving me permission to look into his eyes. Holy smokes, those eyes. "My motives are selfish. Preserving your life preserves my own." He brought his lips to mine and captured me in a smoldering kiss, reaffirming my decision to stick around in spite of my life becoming exceedingly more complicated. It didn't take long before we were grinding on each other, and I felt that delicious ache between my thighs.

"So, about that fishing cabin..." I mumbled against his lips.

Vincent didn't answer. He was focused on our kiss, dragging his tongue through my mouth while he dug his hard-on into my pelvis. A moment later, the door to his apartment burst open and Colin stormed through it.

"You think you're so fucking clever!" Colin shouted as he rounded on Vincent, barely giving me time to get out of the way. "I know what you did. You bounced around the city, scoping out the hot spots, tipping off the police. Then you jumped in Scooby's copter and he had you in Albany in less than an hour."

Vincent shrugged. "Hmm, that about sums it up. I guess I am clever." Colin growled but didn't make a move as Vincent went on. "Charleton told me everything was handled here. So thanks, Colin, for doing your job."

Colin's face had begun to turn red, and I glanced at the door to the spare room, calculating the time it would take me to reach it and lock myself inside. "We were supposed to handle the situation together. If you had involved me, Rizzo might not be sitting in a hospital bed right now. What happened to commitment to the domus? Huh? What happened to priorities?"

"Reese is my priority."

Both Vincent and Colin looked at me, catching me as I bit my bottom lip. Colin shook his head as he shoved his hand through his hair.

"Sorry about going off like that, Reese," he said. "My beef isn't with you."

He stalked to the kitchen and grabbed a water from the fridge just as the spare room door opened and Sylvie stepped out. She was dressed only in her towel, and her hair clung to her face in wet strands. She smiled when she saw me standing next to the couch.

"Hey, Reese. Do you have a hair dryer I can use?"

"Um... I haven't used one since I've been here, but Vincent might." I pointed toward the kitchen where Vincent and Colin faced off across the counter. Sylvie responded by tucking her towel tighter under her arms and dragging her hair behind her ear self-consciously. She didn't usually do the shy thing, but it was a cute look for her. "Sylvie, this is Colin, Vincent's brother," I announced.

"Ah, Sylvie," Colin said as he air toasted her with his water bottle. "Reese's ex-roommate from Baltimore who enjoys the musical stylings of Pigeon's Playing Ping Pong. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too, Colin," Sylvie said as a flush colored her cheeks.

"We were just discussing food," Colin lied. "Are you interested?"

"Oh. I've always been fond of food," Sylvie said. "But if we go out can we choose a quiet place. My head still hurts from that knockout punch."

Colin took a moment to glower at Vincent before turning a charming smile on Sylvie. "We'll order in. There's a great pizza joint up the street that's open late. I assume you like pizza."

"Sure, who doesn't?"

"Mushrooms and pepperoni okay with you?"

"That's perfect. I've gotta call my asshole first. I mean my boss. Let me just shut up now." Sylvie backed into the bedroom and glanced at me with an expression that said 'Holy shit, there's two of them' before shutting the door. I watched Colin as he continued to smile at the space where Sylvie had been. I considered giving him the lecture about not playing my friend then dumping her, but there was a reasonably good chance it would be the other way around.