Page 35

Chapter 35

Vito

I'm in Massimo's office, having just finished the call with Alberto to finalize everything for the recon op on Mancini and Novak. The teams are getting into position.

I pick up my cell from where I'd tossed it earlier and realize I had accidentally turned the ringer off.

Alarm ripples through me when I see there's multiple missed calls. The office door bangs open before I can see who has called me.

Massimo's large frame fills the doorway. He stops, and the tension coming off him is almost palpable.

Earlier, his eyes were hard and unreadable. But now… they're filled with worry.

"What is it?" I demand. A gnawing in my gut starts. "Did something happen at the ultrasound?"

He's silent and closes the door, making my anger join the party. "What the fuck is the matter, Massimo?"

"Eden has been taken."

His words knock my world off its axis. My vision morphs into a slash of red as I rush toward the door.

Massimo catches me, bracing his hands on my shoulders. But I'm a charging rhino, and he loses ground, even though he's bigger than me. He shouts, and the door opens for six of our men to rush in.

"Stand the. Fuck. Down!" I yell at them.

But they're here on the Don's orders, and he's top dog and who they'll listen to.

Regardless, I fight. I fight them, including my brother, as they try to control me.

I roar like an enraged beast, ready and willing to tear them limb from limb—any one of them who stands between me and Eden.

They go for my weapons first, the smart fuckers, and steal those from me, but I still have my fists and feet. I land punches and kicks, holding nothing back. I fight them as if I'm fighting my worst enemies.

There's seven of them, but I'm a determined, unhinged motherfucker. A fucking cunt .

But they're well-trained and like flies on shit. And they wisely didn't come to this fight with their own weapons. Massimo would've known I'd commandeer any I could get my hands on and send these men, our men, our family's loyal soldiers, to the ground to get to Eden.

Massimo shouts at me, but I can't hear—or don't want to hear, maybe—over the roar in my head and the beast noises I'm making.

When they finally pin me to the wall—it takes five of them—Massimo grips my face. "Listen to me, brother."

His eyes lock on mine. A darkness that I rarely see fills them. Understanding fills them, too; he finally understands that I really love Eden.

"I promise you, Vito. We'll get her back."

"Who?" My voice is hoarse from my bellows of rage and the fear seizing control inside me. "Who. Took. Her?!"

"We don't know yet."

Jesus motherfucking hell.

This makes me feel more ill because if we don't know who took her, then we have no idea where to start searching or how to get her back.

"Does Crispin and his team have anything for security footage?"

"The CCTVs were taken out, but they're working on getting footage from other cameras."

My guts roll and I clench my fists. "I need to call Axin."

There's a collective intake of breath from our men. There's only one Axin in our world, and dead or alive, he and Ohith are legends.

My lip peels back with a snarl.

If the fight we just had didn't remind our men, then my look of menace and malice will.

I'm Vito fucking Santoro. The one who protects his family and walks on the edge of a blade; who easily sheds the skin of humanity to become the unhinged beast the rumors whispered about.

Hell, some of these men have been in my playroom to witness it firsthand.

If any of them do anything to threaten Eden, they'll see me spiral down to unleash new levels of hell on them.

"If you ever mention Axin's name with Eden's," I seethe, "I'll flay you alive, one inch at a time, taking my time as you beg and scream for death. Once your skin is gone, I'll start on your muscles. Then I'll feed you your flesh until you choke to fucking death."

They all look me square in the eye and none of them back away.

I know I have their word.

But even though I have their word, six of our men witnessed my reaction to Eden—Ed, Gilly's owner-operator, who's neutral and off-limits—being taken.

Massimo turns to them. "Everything you've witnessed, seen, or heard does not leave this office," he says, cold and firm. "As your Don, that's a direct order. Defy me, and I'll not only not stop Vito from making good on his promise, but I will hold you down myself while he does it."

None of them flinch, and they calmly nod.

There's a commotion outside the office, and the door opens again. Mamma's face is distraught and pale as she enters with Raf, Creed, and Sophie.

Creed ushers Sophie to the sofa, making her sit as she wrings her hands. Massimo nods toward the door, and our men leave.

I might look cold and calm on the outside, but I'm hot and raging inside with fury and panic. I need to get to Eden.

But first, I need details. Massimo was right about stopping me from running blindly to go for her. My first and only instinct was to move, to do something, to race to Eden. But in my blind panic, logic wasn't present; I have no idea where she is. Not only would I have likely gotten myself killed before I could reach her, but I would've been a madman loose on the streets.

"Triple S, are you okay?" I ask, trying to settle and focus.

She swallows and nods. "I'm fine."

"And my little niece or nephew?"

She smiles at that. "All good." She squeezes Creed's hand as he sits on the arm of the sofa beside her.

" Mamma ?" I walk to her and hug her.

She squeezes me tightly. "I'm fine, il mio ragazzo ." My boy.

Then I ask tightly, "Is anyone going to tell me what the fuck is going on?"

Raf comes to me, the lines around his mouth and eyes are pulled tight. "Eden called me, asking if Gina was with us. She met us at the medical building."

"How did Eden know that you'd be there?"

"When I was meeting to talk to her about the link with the tattoos, Mamma called me," Massimo explains. "The ultrasound and Mamma attending were mentioned. Afterward, she tried calling me, and I assume she tried calling you, too." He points at my phone lying discarded on the floor from my struggle with him and our men.

"That's why she called me." Raf picks up my phone and hands it to me.

Seeing Eden's missed call is like a bullet to my gut. If I had answered, this could've played out very differently. I also had multiple missed calls from Raf, Massimo, and Gus.

Mamma pulls the wooden cube Eden had gifted her from her purse. "Eden apologized, but explained she needed to request this gift back." She holds it out to me. "I keep this with me wherever I am."

I take it, feeling its weight in my hand. "How did they get her? How did they take her?"

"Vito…" Raf swallows. "She told me to tell you she's sorry that she has to break her promise."

Understanding lances my heart. "Eden gave herself up."

To protect my family.

"She also said to tell you it's the cube. Aiken loves puzzles; she thinks something might be inside."

Mamma cups my cheek. "When the gunfire started, Eden pushed me back into the middle of our guards. To protect me." Her brown eyes glisten. "She came today for the cube but didn't take it. Eden gave herself up willingly; she wanted to keep this safe."

Suddenly, it feels much heavier in my hand.

In my mind, I see Aiken dying on the floor in the video of his murder, and he mouths, The box.

The cube.

I lift my head and look at Massimo. "I think the recordings for Aiken's hidden cameras are inside this."

He comes to my side. "It may give us an idea who took Eden."

Eden , not Ed. Massimo is calling her Eden.

She's Eden Dallas Fallen.

She's the woman who stood between the attackers and our family, the woman who willingly gave herself up.

Twenty-five guards were there today to protect Sophie, Mamma , and Creed. Eden could've hidden behind them and had them protect her. Raf would've guarded her just like our other family members. However, Eden sacrificed herself. To protect them, to protect the Santoros.

She's the woman I love, and she loves me right back, just as fiercely.

As Massimo stands beside me, looking at me, the last sliver of acceptance slides into place between my us.

A powerful urge to both strangle and kiss Eden rises in me. Pride and anguish war.

But first, I need to kill those who dared to take her. And if they harmed her, I would slaughter the offenders and paint myself red with their blood.

I hold the cube gently in my hands.

Raf quirks his brow, looking at it. "Want me to get a hammer?"

"If something is inside, it could destroy whatever it is," Sophie protests.

I agree with Triple S.

I think of Aiken. He called me on purpose while he was dying.

Protect… Tell… Call Ed… The box.

Suddenly, it's like Aiken is beside me, but instead of being in Massimo's office, we're sitting in Gilly's. Him with the fire whiskey he loved and me with bourbon.

'"Everything in life is a puzzle, Vito. The best and most important things in life often are, especially when there's a treasure trapped inside, just waiting to be found. A push, pull, twist, and voilà… the puzzle is solved, and the treasured is revealed."

"A push, pull, twist." I look at the cube, then run my finger over it, feeling a tiny rough spot.

Eden had said Aiken was meticulous with his woodwork; the rough spot on the wooden inlay in her office wall was how she found the hidden compartment with the tablet.

"Did you really plant that clue in my head, you sneaky bastard?" I mutter to Aiken's ghost.

Push. Pull. Twist.

I push down on the spot on the cube. But nothing happens.

I try again, pressing harder this time. My heart hammers wildly as a different piece of interlinking wood lifts slightly. I can fit my fingernail under it and pull it up more. When I do that, I feel the tight compression of the cube ease, like it's loosening apart.

Holding my breath, I twist the cube—half in one direction, the other half in the other direction—and I have two perfect halves now in my hand.

Massimo is a bit slack-jawed. "Holy shit."

I tilt the two parts of the cube up, and a tiny USB is nestled inside one half. It would fit into the USB port and barely stick out from the computer.

I hand it to him. "I'm pretty sure this will have some answers, brother."

Massimo takes the USB and his phone rings. He answers it, and his eyes flick to mine as he listens. "Let them in; have guards accompany them to the office." When he hangs up, he says, "Dom and Ash are here."

What the fuck?

We don't know if Ash and Dom are a threat, and I turn to Creed. "Get Sophie and Mamma out of here. Go to the far wing of the house and seal yourselves in."

Creed immediately springs into action but looks at Massimo and me with uncertainty. Not wanting to leave us but not wanting to leave Sophie or our mom's sides, either.

"We have over thirty guards on-site, so don't worry about us, baby brother," I say. "No one will protect Sophie and your unborn child more fiercely than you." Creed may not be a made man, but he's a Santoro through and through.

"Go, Creed," Massimo commands.

He grips Sophie's hand as they move to the door and wait for Mamma as she hugs Massimo and me.

"Stay safe, i miei figli ." My sons. Looking up at me, she says, "Bring that sweet girl Eden home, where she belongs."

Mamma may not know specific details about Eden and me, but she can see it written all over my face. She probably even suspected it at Babbo 's funeral while I translated, as she played her silly game of pretending not to speak English.

My heart clenches, knowing the blessing she's just given me and the additional meaning of those words. Bring Eden home . I swallow, my throat feeling thick. "That's what I intend to do, Mamma ."

She smiles and pats my cheek. "Good."

Once she's with Creed and Sophie, Creed takes them to safety in the far wing of the house before Ash and Dom can make it to this section.

"We don't mention the USB," Massimo says to Raf and me. He rushes to put it in his safe.

Raf grabs the weapons that Massimo and the men had relieved me of earlier. I check the magazines of my guns to ensure they're full of ammo before putting them in my shoulder holsters and slipping my knives into my boots.

I'm ready. I feel like a predator, ready to pounce and kill whatever comes in my path.

The need to get to Eden is fucking with my patience and head, but we can't look at the USB to figure out who took her just yet. I also need to let Ohith and Axin know if they already don't know about Eden. But we need to deal with this immediate, potential threat that's walking toward us.

Both Ash and Dom are weapons themselves. As leaders of their organizations, they're ruthless and brutal—lethal—but so am I. So is Raf and Massimo.

And they're on our turf.

"If they're going to attack, they won't do it here," Massimo says quietly as we hear boots thudding, walking closer to the office.

Alfonzo, the head guard at the estate, stops in the doorway. He nods at Massimo and me, and then steps to the side.

We're about to discover why Ash and Dom are here, and if they're friends or foes.