Chapter 238 Death

I walked through the lobby, spotting Luca at the chair, head cast downwards and his hands under his chin.

When I neared him, he shot to his feet, every bone in his body in distress.

"How’s sis? Is she okay?" he asked, worried, sparing a look at the door. "I wanted to go see her, but I had to stay and wait. They keep making that annoying rotation, and they haven’t said anything—"

"Luca..."

His lips pressed into a thin line as he avoided my gaze.

"Go take a drink or something."

"I don’t wanna—"

"Drink, Luca. You haven’t had anything for hours, or perhaps a change of clothes."

He pointed to the door like a child who didn’t wanna leave something behind. "I have to—"

"Look at me, Luca."

He did, eyes teary.

"I will stay."

He sighed, hesitant, but I wasn’t gonna let him stay out here knowing the toll it took on him. Sooner or later he was gonna lose his shit, and that wasn’t what I wanted.

He nodded, and I placed my hand at the back of his neck and pulled him into a hug. He hugged me just as fiercely.

After a moment, I pulled back and gave his shoulder a firm squeeze.

"Get out of here."

He nodded before leaving.

I sat down, mindful of my side. I rested my back against the wall, and I stared at the white lights.

I was in this position again, and this time, it wasn’t my wife fighting for her life but my brother.

For as long as I could remember, my brothers and I have lived a life of danger and violence, but never once did it get to this point where I didn’t know what the fuck I was supposed to do, except sit and wait for what would happen when that door opened.

I have prepared myself for a lot of things, but not this. God, not this. I had so many enemies, but none of them affected me this way. But this wasn’t done by an enemy.

I clenched my teeth tightly as my fist followed too. I wasn’t devastated about the whole thing like my brothers. I wasn’t breaking. The only thing I felt was pristine rage that made the blood running through my veins burn.

The door opened, and the doctor stepped out, pinning me with a look that got me to my feet.

"He suffered multiple gunshot wounds, and several of his injuries were extremely severe. We did everything we could to stabilize him, but his heart stopped during surgery. We couldn’t revive him. I’m sorry, Mr. Salvero..."

My chest tightened.

"We lost him."

I have controlled basically everything in my life. I have lived to control, and I did it fucking well. But there was one thing I couldn’t, one thing that stared me right in the face.

Death.

I was suddenly teleported to the day I lost my parents. The day my little hands had failed to open the door to the room they were trapped in. If only I had been strong enough.

If only I had circled back and gotten them out. If only I hadn’t passed out from the fumes.

So many ifs.

That was the cruelest thing about death. It had a fucking twisted sense of humor. It left you with nothing but memories and endless questions about what you could have done differently.

If only I could have seen the signs around Caleb. If only I could have seen right through him.

"Brother?"

Luca was back.

"Hey, what did the doctor say? Is he... Is Dante gonna be okay?"

When I didn’t say a word, he looked to the doctor, who spoke to him, but I didn’t hear him anymore. My brain had chosen silence as the best possible way to deal.

Luca’s face twitched between grief and anger. He barked about something, and the doctor was trying to calm him down, but he couldn’t until I held him down to sit, and he broke there, hands covering his face.

"Doctor!"

A loud voice came through, and a nurse emerged from the operating room, her voice urgent.

"You need to come back. Now!"

He was already moving.

"What’s wrong?" I demanded, following him.

"Mr. Salvero, you need to stay here."

He disappeared through the operating-room doors, leaving me standing there, my heart pounding.

~☆~

A Few Days Later

"We still haven’t found Caleb. It’s almost like he has vanished," Elliot said, pacing. "At this point, we are never gonna find him."

I was starting to believe that too, but there wasn’t a chance I was gonna let him get away with this.

We combed the city for days, but it was like finding a needle in a haystack. My phone vibrated, and I pulled it out, clenching it tightly when I saw the caller.

I stole a look at Elliot, who was making a call and deeply engrossed in it. I haven’t been that active at the company, so he had been the one holding it together.

I pushed myself to my feet and walked toward the window, eyeing Hightower City as I picked up the call.

"Hello, brother..." Caleb’s voice vibrated from the speakers.

His voice wasn’t shy or repressed as it always had been. I finally found out who took after my cockiness.

"Little brother," I said, my voice devoid of emotion. "You have given us quite the trouble. This wouldn’t be the first time one of you has tried to run away. I haven’t told the story, have I?"

I eyed Elliot briefly.

"Your brother, Elliot, was in his rebellious youth and tried to run away with a girl twice his age."

"Who said I ran away?" he said, amused.

I continued my story nevertheless.

"I found him on time, whipped him back into shape, and made sure his lover never had the chance to exploit him again. And the twins? They were a handful. They were two miscreants who always knew mischief and once had a run-in with one of my enemies. They got tangled up in their mess and ended up kidnapped. I had thought they ran away, but imagine my surprise when they asked for a ransom. Had to deal with those unfortunate bastards, and I made sure the twins got what was coming to them."

"If you think someone’s behind me pulling the strings, perhaps an enemy, or if this is some hostage situation, then you’re wrong. This is all me, smart and deeply entertained."

"Either way, I’m gonna find you," I promised.

"I heard Dante’s gonna pull through."

I didn’t miss the disappointment in his tone.

"He has always been the toughest amongst us. Luca was the more delicate part of us, and Elliot has been the glue, also responsible for keeping you from detonating, that is, until sweet Anastasia walked into our lives. Me? I have always been the smartest of us."

Yes, he was. He needed special schools and a lot of special things. But I should have known there was more to it.

"Or maybe..." he continued. "I was the one who took all the ugliest traits that looms over the Salvero family, and it was never you, big brother."

"Let’s end this." My voice dipped lower. "You and me. No one else. That’s always what you wanted, wasn’t it? The reason you raced cars was to get my attention. You did things I couldn’t understand, but I understood that one."

"Fine. Sounds good to me. In fact, I’ve been counting for you to find me the whole time. I’m dying to see you."

"Where are you?"

"One place you didn’t think to look... twice."

Of course.

"I’m sure you know the only way this ends is with one of us walking away alive," he said, then ended the call.

I turned to Elliot, and when he caught my intense stare, he ended the call and asked.

"Something wrong?"

"Monarch Group. It’s yours now."

He scoffed, amused, but when he saw how serious I was, his smile dropped.

"If this is some sort of apology—"

"No," I shook my head. "You were right... I never should have brought Anastasia into our world."

He narrowed his eyes, mouth parting, but he couldn’t find the words to use.

"Maybe it never mattered..." I blinked. "Because she was always gonna be in danger. She was born into the mafia. We were born into the mafia, and it didn’t matter if we were born a boy or girl. We were always gonna be tied to it, by choice or by legacy. In our case, we can’t escape our legacy, but you can."

"Zade, what are—"

I walked closer to him. "Monarch Group has always been the legitimate part of the family. Which is why no matter how tempting it was... I never did business with Shane or any undercity members. Do you know why?"

He grew confused.

"Because one day... I was gonna make you CEO. I was gonna make your dream come true."