“It’s what the girl’s father and Vince’s dad agreed to,” Sal said. “The girl’s dad wanted him gone and punished. I offered to bring him here, but Vince’s dad said that would be rewarding him. I was able to convince him boot camp and the Army would straighten Vince out. It’s not a walk in the park, but it’s not jail, and it won’t ruin his life. It might even help save him from himself.”

“This was your idea?” Rose felt her insides warm. She was certain Vincent would’ve never agreed to this. Sal must’ve forced him. “You suggested he enlist? How could you?”

“Rose,” Grace’s voice was soothing yet cautionary, “Vince agreed to this. It was necessary.”

“Necessary?” Rose glared at Grace then brought her glare back to Sal. “Why? Because you said so?”

Deep inside, Rose had always doubted Sal truly believed in Vincent. He’d always thought him a thug even after he’d proven he wasn’t. She had no idea why Vincent would get involved in dealing drugs again, but she was certain there had to be a reasonable explanation.

The tears streamed down her face now. She hated Sal at that moment, almost as much she had when she’d found out he’d broken her sister’s heart. Now he was breaking hers.

“It was either the Army or go to jail,” Sal said as he stood up from where he was sitting. Walking his coffee mug over to the sink as nonchalantly as if he’d just confirmed Vincent would be leaving for a day, not years, only made her angrier. Then he turned and said the worst thing he could at that moment. “He brought this on himself, Rose. It’s time he mans up for his mistakes. This will be good for him. He’ll be back soon enough.”

Romero stood up as Rose’s jaw dropped. “Soon enough?” She said through her teeth. “When does he leave? I need to talk to him.”

“Normally it would take weeks to get him in, but Romero here has some connections that might get him in a lot faster.”

Romero’s smug smile only pushed her already fiery buttons. She was dying here and, he was smiling? “Why are you in such a rush to get rid of him, Sal?”

She knew she should be grateful to Sal for getting her boyfriend out of trouble, but how could she be grateful? Because of Sal, Vincent would now be leaving her—for years. Before Sal could respond to her lethal question, his phone rang.

“I gotta get this. It’s the attorney I spoke with last night,” he said raising an eyebrow, and he stepped into the other room.

Rose immediately turned to Grace. “Why is he doing this? Is he enjoying socking it to Vince?”

Thoughts of not being with Vincent for months and months suffocated her. How could Sal? How could Vincent damn it!

“It’s for the best, Rose.” Grace insisted. “Vince might’ve been looking at doing some hard time—ruining his life. This will actually do him good. And until then it’s probably a good thing that he’s away from you.”

“What?” Rose felt like screaming. Didn’t Grace remember what it was like when she and Sal had been apart? Grace knew how much Rose loved Vincent now. “That’s a real shitty thing to say, Grace,” she cried. “Why would I want to be apart from him?”

Romero and Grace exchanged glances as the baby began to whimper in the monitor. Grace pushed away from the counter, but Romero held his hand up. “I’ll get him. You two should talk.” Without waiting for Grace to respond, he stepped out of the kitchen.

Rose already felt drained, but somehow Romero’s tone sent even more waves of panic through her body. They should talk? So there was more?

Grace’s sympathetic expression furthered her worry. “What is it?”

“He’s probably been doing this the whole time, Rose. He told his dad he wanted the money to get a car.” Rose didn’t think her heart could break any further. Easy money. “But it was more than just dealing, Rosie. He was in the girl’s bedroom when her father walked in, and Vince was facing possible statutory rape charges. The girl was underage.”

Rose stared at Grace for a moment, unable to move before she began shaking her head. “No.”

“It’s true. The girl admitted to her father that she’d been holding the drugs for her…boyfriend.” Rose could almost feel the pain it caused Grace to whisper that last word. She listened to the rest of story completely numb. “He admitted it was true, and when her father grabbed her arm in anger, things got violent. Vincent attacked him. So he was also facing assault charges. The attorney Sal spoke with last night told him this was bad. Anything they could do to get her dad to refrain from pressing charges would be better than having to go to trial. Between offering him money—lots of it and then convincing the man that boot camp would be something tough enough to put Vince through, not to mention the girl begging in tears that he not press charges, he finally agreed.”

Grace took the few steps closer to Rose and reached over to wipe the tears that now fell freely without any attempt from Rose to stop them. “I know it’s an impossible thought, Rosie, but it might actually be a good thing that this happened now and that he leaves. Before, you know,” Grace soothed Rose’s hair, “things got any more serious between you and him.”

Any more? Rose had never been more serious about anything in her life. They’d talked about moving in together for Christ’s sake! She had no words to respond to that, nor could she find enough air in her lungs to say anything.