Page 74 of Hidden Ties

“Okay. Love ya! Bye!” she said, not worried in the slightest, already inspecting what her new workplace had to offer in inventory.

Leaving her there, he threw up a quick prayer to God that she’d at least last a few hours, which might give him enough time for what he needed to take care of.

He was beginning to think his prayer was working, but then his phone lit up with a call from Winnie.

Fuck.He answered it only to say that he’d be right there. He’d wait until he was there to find out what she had done in person.

He made his own call on the way to the gift shop, as he had officially given up trying to work until Valerie sold her game. Once she did, she’d begin working on her new game, and then his life could go back to somewhat normalcy.

“I haven’t heard from you in a bit. How ya been, kid?” His old friend’s voice came over the line.

“Pretty good, but it sounds like you’re doing better than me these days.”

The happiness and carefree attitude was easily noticeable through the phone, along with the sound of the ocean.

“Oh, definitely,” his friend quickly assured him that he was currently living the life. “Cabo is great this time of year. You and Valerie should come take a trip down here.”

“Maybe soon.” At this rate, he’d be in Cabo tomorrow, and jobless. Clearing his throat, Sal prepared himself to ask his request and the reason for the phone call. “Listen, I’m wondering if you have anything on the company Game Hookup? For some reason, they’re dragging their feet on offering Valerie a deal. So, I’d like you to hurry them up, if it’s possible for you to do that from where you currently are.”

“Sure, I could do that for you, kid, but can’t you do that yourself?” He laughed, knowing Sal’s secret firsthand of being The Great Salvatore.

“Yes, but I don’t want Valerie ever finding out I might havepersuadedthem into giving her a deal.” She possessed the same skills he did, and there was no hiding anything from Valkyrie these days. “We both know her game is better than anything they’ve brought to market in recent years, anyway. I’m just hurrying them up to the inevitable.”

“Ah, I understand. I’m sure I’ll have Bubblegum Blitz bought by the end of the day.”

Sal smiled, positive that would be the case. He had learned from the best, after all. “Thank you, Terry.”

“No problem, Sal. Take care of yourself.”

“You, too,” Sal told him before ending the call, positive he would do exactly that.

Terry was living better than anyone in the world; Sal always saw to that. Giving the world to the man who had brought Dante Caruso to him was one of his greatest accomplishments in life. If it weren’t for Terry being brave enough to ever call Dante in the first place, knowing it could have cost him his life if Lucifer had ever found out, Sal’s life wouldn’t be what it was today. Hidingbehind a screen could only take you so far in life; you had to also live it.

When he made it to the gift shop, Sal didn’t even have to ask, because he already saw the devastation. The only thing that was shocking was that Dante was there at the door, waiting for him.

“Sal, I’m not sure why you thought having her work here would ever be a good idea. She’ll fucking eat us out of business.”

“I’m not sure, either,” he agreed in defeat, seeing the full trash can of empty bags. “I’m sorry.”

“She might need to see a doctor.” Dante looked back at her for confirmation that she was still eating. “Or a psychiatrist.”

Sal had to admit she might have a small problem if Dante Caruso was telling her to see a shrink.

“Nadia has a few she works with for her charity; would you like her to send you some numbers?”

“That’s okay.” He waved him off, knowing all their problems would soon be solved. “So, what are you doing here?”

“Well, I was coming up to smoke a cigar in Lucca’s office”—with the story starting off with his own vice, Dante’s recommendation of seeking help sounded a bit less compelling—“when I decided to come check on Winnie. She’s been a part of Nadia’s youth outreach for a while, so I was just seeing how she was doing when I walked intothis.”

Sal had to admit that the barren walls Dante motioned toward did help put his case back on track.

“The poor girl tried to hold off on calling you, thinking Valerie would eventually stop eating the inventory, but I told Winnie that if she didn’t get your ass down here soon, she might start chewing through the walls next.”

“You can have her send the numbers,” Sal finally agreed.

“I think that might be wise, son.” Dante nodded before softening his voice from his stern one. “Love her, though, truly, butwise.”

He couldn’t help but notice his father figure had softened not only with time but with Nadia’s love. In fact, all the Caruso men had softened from their woman’s love, and Sal was no different.