Chapter 22: Salvatore
Chapter 22: Salvatore
6: Salvatore
The call ends.
The line goes dead.
And for a moment —
just a moment —
the whole world stops.
I stare at the phone in my hand, my knuckles white from how tightly I’m gripping it.
Angelo’s voice echoes in my skull:
“Maybe we can renegotiate.”
“Perhaps she’s precious to me, too.”
A slow, ugly heat builds in my chest.
Burning up my lungs, my ribs, my heart.
The plastic casing of the phone cracks under my fingers.
I slam it down onto the table hard enough to split the wood beneath it.
Gio and Elio jolt back instinctively, tension crackling between us like lightning about to strike.
But no one says a word.
They know better.
They can see it.
They can feel it.
The Don is gone.
Only the monster is left now.
I turn slowly, my hands shaking.
“Get Sergio on the line,” I growl.
Gio swallows hard and nods, fumbling for his phone.
Elio steps closer, keeping his voice low, like he’s trying to soothe a feral animal.
“Salvatore,” he says carefully. “Think for a second. Sergio’s playing you. You call him now, you’ll tip your hand.”
I round on him so fast he flinches.
“I don’t give a fuck about games!” I snarl. “They have her, Elio. They have Eden!”
Elio doesn’t back down.
Not completely.
He just sets his jaw, planting himself between me and the nearest wall like he can physically absorb some of the rage rolling off me.
“You move too soon,” he says quietly, “and they kill her.”
The words hit me like a bullet to the gut.
I stagger back a step, dragging a hand through my hair.
The rage doesn’t fade.
It just sharpens.
Hardens.
Into something colder.
Something deadlier.
I pace the room like a caged animal, breathing hard.
Eden.
All I can see is her face.
The way she looked last night — flushed and glowing and wild under me.
The way she smiled that rare, private smile like she finally let herself believe she could be loved.
The way she trusted me.
And I left her.
I should’ve known.
I should’ve stayed.
I should’ve burned Sergio to the ground before he ever had the chance to put his fucking hands on her life again.
Gio clears his throat, holding out his phone.
“Sergio’s not answering.”
Coward.
Fucking coward.
Of course he’s not answering.
Because he knows if I hear his voice right now, there’ll be no Family left to save.
I turn away from them both, staring out the window into the dark city.
Somewhere out there, Eden is alone.
Scared.
Thinking I abandoned her.
And there’s not a fucking thing I can do about it.
Not yet.
I clench my fists so hard my nails dig into my palms.
Blood wells up, trickling down my wrists.
I don’t even feel it.
I’m too focused.
Too far gone.
I remember her as a kid.
Big coffee eyes.
Messy hair.
Brave to the point of stupidity.
She used to follow me around like a shadow.
When my father beat me, she was the only one who cared.
When the other kids whispered about my mother, she was the one who punched them in the mouth.
She’s been mine since the first day she stumbled into my life with scraped knees and fire in her heart.
Mine.
Not Sergio’s.
Not Angelo’s.
Not anyone’s.
And now they think they can take her?
Sell her off like property?
Use her to control me?
No.
Not fucking happening.
I turn back to Gio and Elio.
“Get everyone,” I say, voice cold and flat. “Quietly. No noise. No rumors.”
They nod instantly.
“Start pulling cash,” I continue. “Untraceable. We’re going dark.”
Gio’s brows knit together.
“You’re sure?” he asks cautiously. “This… this means war, Salvatore.”
I smile.
It’s not a nice smile.
It feels like my face might crack open from it.
“I’m counting on it.”
Elio steps closer.
“You want us to hit Angelo’s estate?”
I shake my head.
“Not yet.”
They need to think I’m licking my wounds.
They need to think I’m beaten.
Because the second they realize what’s really coming —
it’ll already be too late.
I’ll tear them apart.
Brick by brick.
Bone by bone.
I’ll make them beg for mercy they’ll never fucking get.
But first —
first, I get Eden back.
No matter what it costs me.
No matter who I have to kill.
No matter what kingdom I have to burn to the ground.