Page 90 of Salvatore

“I don’t need medical attention.” She shoots me a dry look. “Underwear would be nice though.”

The reminder of my sexual souvenir is a double-edged sword. Am I livid that my actions left her vulnerable when trapped with the most vile of men? Yes. Am I also incapable of ignoring the fact her pussy is bare beneath that torn dress? For the sake of what little humanity I have left, I’ll plead the fifth.

I navigate to the private airport and find a parking space close to the gates. The lot is mostly empty given it’s almost two in the morning, apart from what I assume are the staff necessary to get us off the ground. The area is dotted with large structural hangers, most dark and shadowed, with one casting a dim glowof illumination through its open doors, while the rest of the lot remains bathed in moonlight.

I kill the engine as my watch vibrates again, this time longer, with an incoming call—Lorenzo.

I release my belt and open my door. “I need to take this.”

I climb out and connect the call, anticipating a verbal onslaught, but given Lorenzo’s pension for hiding behind a sickeningly calm facade, I shouldn’t be surprised by the deathly silence. “I’ll explain once I get her somewhere safe.”

“You will explainnow,” he snarls, his Italian accent cutting. “You will tell me exactly why you put the family at risk by interfering with cartel business.”

“The cartel don’t know we were involved.”

“No?” he snaps. “Because you wore baseball caps and bandanas? It does not take rocket science, Salvatore.”

“I thought you’d be pleased. Don’t you have a soft spot for Olivia Pelosi? It’s her best friend we rescued.”

“Gesù Cristo!It is Gabriel Rodriguez’s daughter, you brainless fool.”

I gnash my teeth, hating how the insult feels eerily reminiscent to those my father leveled on me incessantly.

“You will bring her back here right now,” Lorenzo demands.

The passenger door to Bishop’s car opens and Ivy climbs out.

“That’s not going to happen.” I watch her walk toward me cautiously, her dress in tatters, her feet bare against the asphalt. “It also doesn’t take rocket science to know exactly what you’ll do to her.”

“Mio dio,” he snarls. “I swear to the Virgin Mary, Salvatore, if you don’t bring her back here?—”

“I’m not fucking bringing her back. Even if you weren’t a threat, the cartel will have eyes on your building by now if they think we’re to blame.”

Lorenzo mutters a string of biting Italian under his breath as she stops before me, brows pinched, eyes questioning in the moonlight.

“We cannot be aligned with this,” he spews. “You’re creating chaos and unnecessary bloodshed.”

“It was necessary.”

“Because of Olivia Pelosi?” he scoffs. “I think not. It wasn’t that long ago you wanted her dead.”True. “This is about Gabriel’s daughter. Do you think I’m unaware of the time you’ve already spent with her?”

“You mean when I was getting to the bottom of why we were moving in the same circles as someone with her lineage? Would you have preferred if I pushed that liability to the side?”

“I would’ve preferred if you didn’t shove your dick inside it. Do not lie to me and tell me you did this for your brother’s love of Olivia. Knowing your passion for upheaval, I bet your interest is because you finally found a woman who is as toxic for you as your own thoughts.”

I cut my gaze from Ivy and smile harshly into the darkness. The old bastard might have a point.

“You still have so much to learn,figlio,” he sneers. “But we will discuss it in person. For now, you will take her to Virginia Beach?—”

“For her to be detained by your?—”

“Take her. I don’t think you want to learn just how easily your brothers will turn against you to do my bidding.” He stabs the barb through my chest with deadly accuracy. “I vow she will be safe on my property. You have my word.”

“My father would’ve promised the same thing.”

“I am not your father.” The anger lessens in his voice. “I thought I had already proven this, but evidently your trust is harder to earn than that of your siblings.”

No shit.We may have lived under the same roof, but the way we were raised was worlds apart.

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