Chapter 77 Chapter 77

Chapter 77 Chapter 77


Caleb’s smile faded into something softer, something a bit sad. He looked at Martha, who gave him a small nod and walked back into the kitchen to give us some space.

"I’m alive, Iris," he said quietly, stepping closer. "It took a long time to heal, and my family had to move away in the middle of the night. But I’m here."

"I thought he killed you," I sobbed, the tears finally breaking free. "I thought Salvatore killed you because of me."

"He? Salvatore? Who is that? The person who tried to kill me is a female, not a man," Caleb said.

Shock. I was completely shocked. My heart dropped into my stomach. For months, I lived in a nightmare thinking it was Salvatore. Sofia had looked me in the eye and told me Salvatore killed him. Even Salvatore himself told me he had asked Caleb to stay away, so I just assumed he had followed through with the threat.

I started biting my fingers nervously, my mind racing through every lie I had been told.

"Eh ehn," Caleb said softly, reaching out to remove my finger from my mouth. "Stop that."

"Wait," I said, as a new realization dawned on me. "Yes... that must be it. Salvatore must have sent Mira. He didn't want to do it himself, so he sent his sister to do the dirty work."

I looked at him, my eyes wide and desperate for the truth. "The person who shot you... did you happen to see the person?"

"Yes, I do, Iris," Caleb said. He raised a brow, a small, calm smile playing on his lips. "But why don’t we go for the sightseeing instead? We can talk while we walk."

"It’s Mira, right?" I pressed, my voice rising. I couldn't think about scenery right now. "You know her. Mira Moretti. She’s the one who pulled the trigger."

"Mira Moretti?" Caleb asked, his smile fading into something more serious. "Yes, I know Mira Moretti, Iris. But she’s not the one either."

"What?" I gasped.

The world felt like it was tilting. If it wasn't Salvatore, and it wasn't Mira... then the only person left was someone I shared blood with. Someone who broke the news of Caleb’s death to me.

"If it wasn't a Moretti... then who was it, Caleb?"

Caleb took a step closer, his voice dropping to a whisper. "It was your sister. It was Sofia who shot me."

"What? Why... Why would my sister shoot you? Why?" I cried out. My legs felt like jelly, and I had to lean against the wall to keep from falling.

"I don’t know," Caleb said, his voice heavy with the memory. "She didn't say much. She only said something about making a better future. She said I was a distraction you didn't need."

"Oh my dear Lord," I whispered, covering my mouth with my hand to stifle a sob. My eyes blurred with hot, angry tears.

"Sofia?" I choked out her name like it was poison.

It all made sense now. The way she always popped up right after something bad happened. The way she kept pushing me to hate Salvatore. She didn't want to protect me; she wanted to control me. She shot an innocent boy just to move a piece on her chess board.

Caleb stepped closer and put a hand on my shoulder. "Iris, she’s dangerous. That man with the scar, the one from the Moretti family, he’s the only reason I’m breathing. He waited for her to leave and then he got me to a doctor. He told me that if I ever came back, he wouldn't be able to save me again."

I looked up at Caleb, my heart breaking for him, but also hardening with a new kind of fire. "She tried to kill you to keep us apart. She lied to me to keep me under her thumb."

I stood up straight, wiping the tears from my face with the back of my hand. The sadness was still there, but the shock was being replaced by a cold, sharp clarity.

"She thinks I'm still that scared little girl," I said, my voice turning flat and hard. "She thinks she won."

"What are you going to do?" Caleb asked, looking worried.

"I'm going to make her regret every lie she ever told me."

I looked at him, my brow furrowed. "Why didn't you ask, Caleb? I’m sure you saw the news online about me... about me and my sister."

The internet was crawling with stories about the girl who snatched her sister's man. The Russo girl and the war between our families. I expected him to have a thousand questions, to be afraid of the trouble I brought with me.

Caleb stopped and looked at me, his gaze soft and steady. "I’m sure that’s a family matter and you’re going to sort that out on your own, Iris. We didn't talk much in school; you were always on your own, either reading or painting. I just watched you from a distance."

He stepped closer, and for the first time since I arrived in this town, the tension in my shoulders began to melt.

"Now that I have the chance to see you again," he continued, "I don’t want to waste it talking about the people who tried to tear us apart."

Caleb reached out and grabbed my hand, his grip firm but gentle. He didn't wait for me to argue. He started dragging me toward the hotel door, a playful spark in his eyes that I hadn't seen in years.

"Let’s go have some fun, shall we?"

I stumbled a bit, following him out into the bright morning sun. The air was crisp and smelled of pine needles. For a moment, the names, Salvatore, Sofia, Mira, felt miles away. They belonged to the city, to the blood and the contracts. Here, under the blue sky with Caleb leading the way, I felt like I was allowed to just breathe.

We walked away from the hotel and toward the edge of the woods where a narrow trail disappeared into the trees. I looked at our joined hands and felt a strange sense of peace. Sofia thought she had killed this connection, but here it was, surviving despite everything.

"Where are we going?" I asked, a small smile finally tugging at my lips.

"To a place where the news can't find us," Caleb replied, looking back over his shoulder. "And where you can paint something other than a tragedy."

\[ SALVATORE’S POV \]

"Boss, do I send a message to Mario to kill him?" Anton asked, standing rigid beside me.

I leaned my back against the leather seat, my face a blank mask, but my eyes were locked onto the laptop screen in front of me. The drone footage was crystal clear. Iris was there on the beach, the wind whipping her hair around her face. She was laughing—a sound I hadn't heard in person for far too long. She was running, her hand tightly wrapped around the boy I had warned to stay away from what’s mine.

I clenched my jaw so hard the muscles jumped, then slowly unclenched it.

"Boss," Anton called again, his voice tight with confusion.

"No... let her have fun," I said, my voice like ice. "The plan was to let her have some fresh air, wasn’t it?"

"Yes, boss. But the boy is going too far, touching our queen," Anton growled, his hand hovering over his holster.

"The boy?" I repeated, letting out a dark, dry laugh. "Well, the boy is mine, Anton. The boy, the hotel, the people I sat there to act as his parents... they’re all working for me."

Anton’s eyes went wide, his mouth hanging open slightly. "What?"

He pointed a shaking finger at the screen where Caleb was leaning in to say something to Iris. "You mean... this boy? The one from her school?"

"Caleb is the one in charge of my warehouse in that town," I said, leaning forward to get a better look at the screen. "I sent him a message to keep her company until I’m ready to go get her. I needed someone she trusted to keep her from running further."

I watched as Caleb’s hand settled on the small of her back. My eyes narrowed, the heat in my chest turning into a cold, focused rage.

"And I can see she’s really enjoying that company," I muttered.

"Now I’m more scared of you, boss," Anton said, wiping sweat from his forehead. "You play a long game. But do you remember at the Russo estate, the day Iris was kidnapped? One of the guards was about to mention a name before the second boss shot the gun straight at his head."

A smirk played on my lips. "Oh, that," I said, my voice dropping. "Leave that for another day, Anton. We have bigger ghosts to hunt than a dead Russo guard."

I watched the screen again. Caleb was laughing now, his hand still resting on her.

"Send a message to Caleb," I ordered, my voice dangerously low. "Let him know he’s doing too much. Tell him if he doesn't move his hand, that hand will be the next part of him to fall off his body. He’s there to protect her, not to touch her."

"On it, Boss," Anton said, quickly pulling out his phone.

I sat back, watching my little bird play in the cage I had built for her. She thought she was free. She thought she had found a piece of her past. She had no idea that every smile she gave him was being recorded by me.

Enjoy your walk, Iris. Because when I come to take you back, the world is going to burn.