Page 131 of Legacy
Six of them, maybe more. They’re packed in, some curled in the corners, others blinking against the sudden light like they’ve been trapped in the dark for hours—days maybe. Young. Eighteen if that. Maybe not even.
They’re bruised. Thin. Dressed in scraps of lace and sheer cloth that doesn’t pass for clothing. One’s lip is split. Another has a chain around her ankle.
Pietro curses under his breath in Russian.
Maksim lets out a low hiss between his teeth. “These fuckers…”
I step forward, hands raised slightly, slow and careful. One of the girls flinches when I crouch.
“It’s okay,” I say softly. “We’re not going to hurt you. You’re safe now.”
Safe.I don’t even know if the word means anything to them anymore.
The other men come forward—Gio, Nico. They help the girls out gently, murmuring comfort. Gio gives his jacket to one who’s shaking. Nico wraps a blanket from the back of the truck around another.
They all wear the same expression. Tight. Sick.Angry.
Same as mine.
I pull out my phone and call my doctor on standby at the hospital.
The one where Cosa Nostra sits on the board.
“Dr. Esposito, I need beds prepped. Six, possibly more. Female victims. Young. Malnourished. Abused. I want any trauma nurses you have on standby.”
“Yes, Don Amato.”
I hang up.
One girl grabs my wrist as I move. Her fingers are shaking. Her eyes, brown, wide and sunken—look into mine with silent terror.
“You own us now?” she whispers.
My heart sinks.
I shake my head, crouching to her level, forcing her to look at me.
“No. Never. You’re going to a safe place. We’re going to take care of you.”
She blinks, like she’s trying to believe it. Like no one’s ever said that and meant it.
I feel it then.
Not rage. Not vengeance.
Justhate.
A deep, acidic hate that burns through every part of me—at the men who did this, at the system that allows it, at myself for not stopping it sooner.
Adriana’s silence has been drowning me for days.
But this?
This pulls me back to the surface.
Because this.Thisis why the Armenian gang needs to die off.
And right now, all I want is to tear it all down.
