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Chapter Eighteen
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Salvatore's Ruin Chapter Thirty-Two
Twenty years after Vienna, Luca woke up to find Dante already awake, watching him."Creepy," Luca said. "How long have you been staring at me?""Long enough to count every gray hair.""I don't have gray hairs.""You have three. Right here." Dante touched Luca's temple. "They're distinguished.""I'm thirty-nine. I'm not supposed to have gray hair yet.""I'm fifty-seven and completely gray. You're doing fine."Luca rolled over to check his phone. An email from the foundation—they wanted him to keynote a conference in New York next month. Another from Sofia, now running the Athens house with Anya. A text from Elena about quarterly financials."Busy day?" Dante asked."When isn't it?" Luca sat up. "New York wants me to speak at a conference. You want to come?""Can't. I have meetings with potential donors in London that week.""We're like two ships passing in the night.""We're in the same bed right now.""You know what I mean." Luca got up and headed for the shower. "We've been so busy l
Salvatore's Ruin Chapter Thirty-One
Three years later, Marco was released from prison. Luca found out from Elena, who'd been monitoring his status."He's out," Elena said over the phone. "Released this morning. He's staying at a halfway house in Florence.""Okay," Luca said. "Thanks for letting me know.""You want me to make sure he stays away from you?""No. If he reaches out, he reaches out. I'll deal with it then."Marco didn't reach out for two months. Then Luca got an email. Simple, direct.*Luca,**I'm out. I'm in Florence working at a legal aid clinic. Helping people who can't afford lawyers.**I'm not asking to see you. I just wanted you to know I'm trying to do something useful with whatever time I have left.**I understand if you never want to hear from me again. But if you ever do want to talk, I'm here.**— Marco*Luca showed the email to Dr. Patel during their session."Do you want to respond?" she asked."Part of me does. Part of me wants to tell him to fuck off and never contact me again.""Both are valid
Salvatore's Ruin Chapter Thirty
Fifteen years after Vienna, Luca stood in front of a mirror adjusting his tie. They were having a celebration at the main safe house—fifteen years since the network began, over two thousand survivors helped, twelve houses across nine countries."You look nervous," Dante said, coming up behind him."I'm speaking in front of three hundred people. I'm allowed to be nervous.""You've spoken to crowds twice that size.""This is different. These are the people we've actually helped. The residents, the staff, the donors. They know the real story." Luca turned to face Dante. "What if I mess up?""Then you mess up and keep going. Like you always do." Dante straightened Luca's tie. "You ready?""No. But let's go anyway."The safe house courtyard was packed. Current and former residents, staff from all twelve houses, politicians who'd helped change trafficking laws, donors who'd funded everything. Sofia was there with her fiancé. Anya had flown in from Greece. Dr. Patel sat in the front row.Luc
Salvatore's Ruin Chapter Twenty-Nine
Marco's trial lasted three weeks. Luca didn't attend. He couldn't sit in a courtroom and look at the person who'd sold him out, who'd pretended to love him while knowing exactly what he'd done.Dante went to the sentencing. Marco got twenty years for conspiracy, human trafficking facilitation, and accessory to kidnapping. He'd be sixty when he got out."He cried when they read the sentence," Dante told Luca that night. "Asked if you'd ever forgive him.""What did you say?""Nothing. It's not my forgiveness to give."Luca thought about forgiveness. He'd forgiven Dante for pushing him away. He'd made peace with what Viktor and Sergei had done. But Marco felt different. Marco had been family."I don't know if I can forgive him," Luca said. "Is that wrong?""No. You don't owe him anything. Not forgiveness, not closure, nothing."Two weeks after the sentencing, Luca got a letter from Marco in prison. He stared at it for an hour before opening it.*Luca,**I don't expect you to read this. I
Salvatore's Ruin Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ten years after the wedding, Luca got a phone call that changed everything."Mr. Romano-Salvatore? This is Detective Caruso from Rome police. We need you to come to the station. It's about Alessandro Ricci."Luca's blood went cold. Ricci had died at the warehouse. He'd bled out before the ambulances arrived."What about him?" Luca asked."Just come to the station. Please."Dante drove him. At the station, Detective Caruso led them to an interrogation room where a woman sat—mid-thirties, nervous, holding a folder."This is Maria Ricci," the detective said. "Alessandro's sister. She has some information you need to hear."Maria looked at Luca with something like pity. "I'm sorry. I should have come forward years ago, but I was scared.""Come forward about what?" Luca asked.She opened the folder and pulled out photographs. Luca in his early twenties, leaving the university, walking through Rome, sitting at cafés. Hundreds of photos spanning months."My brother was obsessed with you," Ma
Salvatore's Ruin Chapter Twenty-Seven
Five years after the wedding, Luca woke up to find Dante already gone. Not unusual, Dante still had early morning meetings sometimes, but there was a note on the pillow."Come to the garden when you wake up. —D"Luca showered and dressed, curious. When he walked outside, he found the entire garden transformed. Not with decorations or flowers, just people. Dozens of them.Sofia was there, now twenty-one and working as a counselor at the safe house. The other residents he'd helped over the years. Survivors from the foundation. Dr. Patel, Marco, Elena. Even Anya, who'd flown in from Greece where she now ran a women's shelter."What is this?" Luca asked.Dante stepped forward. "It's been ten years since Vienna. Ten years since I found you again. I wanted to do something to mark it.""We all did," Sofia said. "You've helped so many of us. We wanted to show you what that means."One by one, people stepped forward. They told their stories—how Luca's words had given them hope, how the safe ho
Salvatore's Ruin Chapter Seventeen
Dr. Patel showed up at the villa an hour after Luca's call. She didn't look happy."This is a terrible idea," she said, standing in Dante's study with her arms crossed. "You're enabling his need for control by putting him in actual danger.""I'm respecting his autonomy," Dante said."You're letting
Salvatore's Ruin Chapter Ten
The coordinates Viktor sent led to an abandoned warehouse by the docks. Cliché, but effective, lots of space, multiple exits, and far enough from civilization that gunfire wouldn't draw immediate attention.Dante and Luca arrived at midnight. Elena's team was already in position, hidden in the shad
Salvatore's Ruin Chapter Nine
Elena set up the meeting for neutral ground, a restaurant in Milan that catered to people who needed privacy and didn't ask questions. Dante arrived first with Marco, who'd insisted on coming despite the risk. Luca came twenty minutes later with Elena, playing the part of reluctant merchandise.Vik
Salvatore's Ruin Chapter Eight
Dante didn't sleep that night. He sat in his study with Elena, planning what came next while Luca slept upstairs, unaware that his nightmare had a name and that name had just issued an ultimatum."We need to move him," Elena said, scrolling through secure locations on her laptop. "Somewhere Viktor
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