All Chapters of Salvatore's Ruin: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Luca didn't leave the bedroom for two days. He slept, woke up screaming from nightmares, slept again. Dante stayed with him the entire time, working from the bedroom, answering emails and phone calls while Luca tossed and turned.Dr. Patel came by on the second day. She sat on the edge of the bed while Luca stared at the ceiling."You're crashing," she said. "Completely normal after an adrenaline event like that.""I can't stop seeing their faces. The men who died." Luca's voice was flat. "I keep thinking about their families. People who loved them who are never going to see them again.""That's called empathy. It's a good thing.""Doesn't feel good.""No, it doesn't. But it means you're not becoming what was done to you. You still care about people. That matters." Dr. Patel pulled out her notepad. "Tell me about the moment you offered to trade yourself for me.""I didn't think about it. I just did it.""Why?""Because you didn't deserve to die for helping me. None of this was your fa

Elena ran background checks on everyone in their inner circle. Every employee, every associate, every person who'd had access to their operations in the past two years. She found nothing suspicious."Either Anya was lying, or whoever it is is very good at covering their tracks," Elena said, frustrated. "I've gone through financial records, communications, travel logs—everything's clean.""Too clean?" Dante asked."Maybe. Or maybe we're paranoid." Elena closed her laptop. "I'll keep digging, but we might be chasing ghosts."Marco had a different theory. "What if it's not someone in the organization? What if it's someone personal? Someone we trust outside of work?"They all looked at each other. The idea was worse than a mole in the business. Those you could handle professionally. Personal betrayals cut deeper."Make a list," Dante said. "Everyone who knows about Luca, about what happened, about our operations. Family, friends, doctors—everyone."The list was shorter than expected but s

They decided on a small wedding. Just family and close friends. Luca didn't want anything elaborate—no press, no business associates, no reminder that Dante ran a criminal organization that was slowly becoming legitimate."Garden ceremony," Luca said, planning with Elena six months after the proposal. "Right here at the villa. Simple, intimate.""Boring," Elena said. "You need at least some drama. It's a wedding.""My entire life has been drama. I want boring.""Fine. Boring it is." Elena made notes. "Guest list?""You, Marco, Dr. Patel, maybe a few people from the foundation I work with." Luca counted on his fingers. "That's like fifteen people max.""What about Dante's people?""He said he doesn't care. He just wants to marry me.""He's such a sap now. It's disgusting." Elena grinned. "I love it."The wedding was set for October, three years almost to the day after Luca was taken. He chose the date deliberately—taking back that anniversary, making it about love instead of loss.Dr.

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

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