The Poison

CHAPTER 7.

SALVATORE POV

Dante Caruso should have died at that wedding. The thought had been sitting inside my head for three straight nights like poison.

I stood in front of the massive glass wall inside my office while rain hammered against the island cliffs below. Lightning flashed across the ocean, turning the water silver for half a second before darkness swallowed everything again.

My hand tightened around the whiskey glass.

Dante escaped because I got distracted. Not by anything but her. Lena Moretti.

I could still see her standing in the middle of the ballroom wearing white silk stained with her brothers' blood. Terrified but refusing to break. Protecting Matteo while chaos exploded around her.

Most people begged when they saw me. She looked me in the eyes like she wanted to hate me properly.

That was the problem. Hatred was easier to control than fascination.

Behind me, Charlie walked into the office carrying a folder.

"You haven't slept."

I took a slow sip without turning around. "You sound concerned."

"You're becoming careless."

That made me look at him.

Charlie leaned against the doorway calmly, but I'd known him long enough to notice the tension in his shoulders. Nobody spoke to me directly except him and Diego. Everyone else preferred fear.

Charlie tossed the folder onto my desk.

"Caruso sent another message."

I walked over slowly and opened it.

One sentence. Return Lena immediately or people start dying.

A smile almost pulled at my mouth. Dante was panicking. Good.

I looked back at Charlie. "Where did this come from?"

"One of his men delivered it through the Naples port."

"Did we track him?"

Charlie nodded once. "Diego already handled it."

Of course he did. Diego enjoyed violence almost as much as breathing.

I tossed the letter onto the desk carelessly.

"He's getting desperate."

Charlie watched me carefully before speaking again. "He's not asking for the boy."

Silence stretched across the room. I already knew that. Dante only cared about Lena. For possession, control and power.

Men like him didn't love women. They collected them.

"What's your point?" I asked coldly.

Charlie crossed his arms. "My point is you're responding emotionally."

I laughed quietly. Dangerously.

"You think I kidnapped the wrong sister?"

"I think," Charlie said carefully, "you stopped thinking strategically the second you touched her."

The room turned still. Most men would have started apologizing by now. Charlie didn't. That was why he was still alive.

I walked toward him slowly.

"You forget who you're talking to."

"No," he replied calmly. "I remember exactly who you are. That's why this worries me."

I stopped directly in front of him. Charlie didn't move.

Outside, thunder shook the fortress walls.

"She matters too much already," he finished quietly.

Something ugly twisted inside my chest. Because he was right. And I hated him for saying it aloud.

Before I could answer, the office door opened again.

Diego walked in holding his phone. Unlike Charlie, Diego looked like violence without restraint. Dark suit. Cold eyes. Bloody knuckles he never bothered hiding.

My brother looked at me once before speaking.

"We intercepted another call."

I held out my hand. Diego gave me the phone.

Dante's voice immediately filled the office.

"If Salvatore thinks hiding her on that island will save him, he's more stupid than his father was."

My jaw tightened instantly.

Dante continued.

"She belongs to me. Tell him I'll burn every port he owns to get her back."

The recording ended. The room fell silent.

Then Diego muttered, "I can kill him tonight."

The offer sounded genuine because it was. Diego had wanted Dante dead since the wedding.

I handed the phone back slowly.

"No."

Charlie frowned. "Why not?"

Because death was too easy. Because Dante escaping the wedding still sat under my skin like humiliation. Because the thought of handing Lena back made something violent rise inside me.

Mine.

The word came suddenly. Possessive. Instinctive. Dangerous.

I looked toward the security monitors lining the wall.

One screen showed the east library downstairs. Lena sat near the fireplace reading while Matteo slept beside Brutus on the couch.

My massive black dog looked more relaxed around those two than he ever did around soldiers.

Interesting. Very interesting.

Diego followed my gaze and sighed heavily. "There it is again."

I didn't look away from the screen. "What?"

"That look."

I ignored both of them. Because Lena pushed her hair behind her ear at that exact moment and my attention locked onto the movement immediately.

Pathetic.

I should have been planning Dante's death. Instead, I knew the exact shade of brown hidden inside Lena's eyes when sunlight touched them. I knew she stopped drinking tea halfway through every cup. I knew she checked Matteo's room twice every night before sleeping.

My obsession with her was beginning quietly. That made it worse.

Charlie walked toward the monitors. "You watch her too much."

"And you talk too much."

"You're proving my point."

Diego smirked slightly. "She does stare back sometimes."

I looked at him sharply.

Diego only shrugged. "You think nobody notices?"

My voice turned cold instantly. "Watch yourself."

His smile disappeared immediately. Not fear. Understanding. There was a difference.

Diego stepped closer quietly. "She's changing you."

"No."

"Salvatore—"

"No."

The word cracked through the office harder this time. Because I could feel it happening. Every second around Lena felt wrong in ways I couldn't explain.

I wanted her to be angry. I wanted her to fight me. Wanted her eyes on me constantly even when she hated me.

That wasn't revenge anymore. That was something far more dangerous.

Charlie suddenly looked toward one of the monitors.

"She's leaving the library."

My attention shifted instantly.

Lena stood from the couch carefully without waking Matteo. Brutus followed beside her as she walked through the hallway alone.

Two guards trailed behind at a distance.

Smart. Necessary. But my jaw still tightened when one of them looked at her too long.

Diego noticed immediately. "Oh, this is bad."

I grabbed my jacket from the chair.

Charlie frowned. "Where are you going?"

"To remind my men where they should keep their eyes."

Diego laughed once under his breath. "Completely normal reaction."

I ignored him and walked out.

The fortress hallways were quieter late at night. Rain pounded against the windows while guards moved between checkpoints with rifles hanging against dark uniforms.

Everyone straightened when they saw me coming. Fear followed me naturally. Except around her.

Lena stood near the west balcony staring at the ocean when I reached her. Brutus sat beside her protectively.

One of the guards lingered several feet behind her. Watching. Too interested.

I stopped beside him.

"What's your name?"

The guard straightened immediately. "Victor, boss."

"How long have you worked for me?"

"Three years."

"And in those three years," I said calmly, "has nobody taught you where to keep your eyes?"

The color drained from his face instantly.

"Boss, I—"

"You stared at her three times in under a minute."

Lena turned toward us immediately. "What's happening?"

Victor swallowed hard. "I meant no disrespect."

I stepped closer slowly.

"That's the problem. Men usually mean disrespect before they die."

"Salvatore," Lena snapped sharply.

Just hearing my name from her mouth did ugly things to my head. I looked at her.

She folded her arms instantly. "You're terrifying your own staff again."

"He forgot himself."

"He looked at me. He didn't attack me."

"That should comfort him."

Victor looked seconds away from collapsing. Lena noticed too.

Then she did the worst possible thing. She stepped between us.

"Enough."

The move shocked the guard completely. It affected me worse. Because she wasn't protecting herself. She was protecting him. Again.

My gaze dropped briefly to the pulse beating wildly in her throat. Fear. She was afraid. But still standing there anyway.

God.

"You defend strangers too easily," I murmured.

Her chin lifted instantly. "And you punish people too quickly."

The tension between us sharpened immediately. Rain crashed outside behind her while wind pushed cold air through the balcony doors.

I stepped closer. Close enough to touch.

Victor wisely disappeared without permission. Smart man.

Lena noticed too late. Now we were alone.

Brutus quietly walked away down the hallway like even the dog understood tension.

"You enjoy controlling people," she said quietly.

"No," I replied. "I enjoy protecting what belongs to me."

The second the words left my mouth, silence swallowed everything.

Lena's expression changed instantly. "There it is," she whispered.

"What?"

"That possessive crap you keep doing."

I stared at her calmly. "You dislike it?"

"Yes."

Lie. I could hear the change in her breathing. See it in the way her fingers tightened against her sleeves.

She looked affected. That made me dangerous.

I moved even closer until her back nearly touched the balcony railing.

"You should stop lying to me."

"You should stop acting like I'm yours."

My hand landed beside her waist against the railing slowly. Not touching her. Almost worse.

"You live in my house."

"is this a prison."

"You eat my food."

"I'd rather starve."

"You breathe because I allow it."

Anger flashed across her face instantly.

"There's the monster again."

The words should have irritated me. Instead, I leaned closer.

"And yet you stopped shaking around me days ago."

Her breath caught. Got you.

Lena realized it too because she immediately tried stepping sideways. I blocked her without thinking.

Her eyes widened slightly. Not fear. Awareness. Dangerous awareness.

"Move," she said softly.

"No."

Thunder cracked violently outside.

She looked up at me slowly. "What exactly do you want from me?"

Everything.

The answer nearly escaped before I killed it.

Instead, I studied her silently. Rainlight reflected softly across her skin while anger and confusion fought inside her eyes.

Beautiful. Too beautiful for a man like me.

"That's the problem, Lena," I said quietly. "I'm starting not to know anymore."

The honesty slipped out accidentally.

Her expression shifted instantly.

And for one terrifying second, I saw softness

Then alarms exploded through the fortress.

Every light in the hallway turned red immediately. Lena jumped slightly.

My hand instantly grabbed her waist. Protective. Instinctive. Wrong.

Voices shouted through earpieces across the fortress.

Then Diego's voice thundered through mine.

"Salvatore."

My attention sharpened immediately. "What happened?"

A pause.

Then—

"We caught one of Caruso's men sneaking through the lower docks."

My expression turned murderous instantly. Lena noticed.

"What is it?"

I ignored the question. "Alive?" I asked Diego coldly.

"Barely."

"Bring him to me."

Another pause followed.

Then Diego spoke again.

"He was carrying photographs."

Something about his tone made my stomach tighten. "What photographs?"

Silence.

Then

"Pictures of Lena.”