Page 93 of Salvatore

Chapter Twenty-Five

Aedry

Sal keeps me close against him as we step onto the runway. Puddles litter the tarmac, the leftover rain giving it an added shine. It’s cool, but not so much to make me shake. Yet that’s precisely what I’m doing.

I glance behind me to make sure Apollo and Gianno remain within reach. They look as bad as I feel, the lack of sleep and the stress from the night ringing circles around their eyes. Ahead of us, Autumn follows closely behind Devan and his “cousins,” as they carry Lucca toward the private plane.

Lucca backed Salvatore’s story, as did Devan and his family to some extent. I should believe them, but I can’t. I don’t believe anything he tells me anymore.

When I saw Salvatore last night, covered in blood . . . every fear about losing him came crashing around me in one horrible rush. I was beside myself, hurrying to gather our things, and helping Autumn with Lucca’s care.

Autumn was a Godsend. She took control in a way I’ve never seen, and that I am completely incapable of. My knees buckled when she located the bullet and dislodged it from Lucca’s thigh.

“It was only imbedded in the muscle,” she said, as if it was the best news ever. Perhaps for Lucca, it was.

The supposed good news didn’t stop poor Apollo from vomiting in the sink. Lucca, who only received a local anesthetic and Tylenol for pain was (understandably) out of control during the procedure. Sal, Devan, and Gianno held him down, but it was Autumn, all Autumn, who calmed him with her voice. She was more than the mother hen I’m used to, the person who used to insist I wear a scarf in the winter and who fed me chicken soup when I didn’t listen and caught a cold. She was . . . amazing. Salvatore noticed it, too. And he wasn’t alone.

After an hour or so of sleep, I woke to find Autumn curled up next to Lucca, trying to keep his body warm. He spoke softly to her as he gently stroked her face. Lucca is rough and startling like Sal, but in many ways more dangerous. The look he gave Autumn was one of awe, as if this angel who found him was the one he’d been waiting for.

“Get in the plane and get settled,” Sal says, his expression so laced with ire the ground crew passing him gives him ample space. “I have to take care of business before we can take off.”

A few weeks ago, I would have questioned him, but today I don’t. It’s not that I’m weak or too tired to argue. It’s more like I’m afraid, not of Salvatore, the man who shields me with his body as he walks beside me, but of the secrets he shields himself with.

He bends to kiss my cheek, but I withdraw, my reaction stinging us both. But I don’t pause to apologize or to offer a reassuring smile. Right now, there are others who need me more.

I reach for the boys, wrapping my arms around their waists and hurrying them along. Apollo wraps his arm around me, too, needing comfort and someone to soothe his lingering fear. Gianno surprises me by draping his arm around my shoulders, as if to assure himself we’re all still alive.

An odd sense of doom churns my gut, but it’s the foolishness I feel that keeps my head lowered. Just hours ago, when I thought Salvatore was proposing, I was out of my mind with joy. There’s nothing more I wanted than to tell him yes and promise him forever. And now . . . now I’m not certain we’ll make it to next week.

Whatever he really went out for risked our safety. Not just mine and his, but Autumn and the boys. I can’t spend my life with a man who’d risk so much, so easily.

“We’re going home?” Apollo asks me, his voice oddly vacant.

I stroke his arm. “Yes, sweetie. We’re going home.”

We reach the steps to the private jet and it’s all I can do not to freak out. We rode a commercial airline to the island and now we’re on a luxury plane, yet another red flag signaling Sal’s lies.

Apollo hesitates, stopping at the base of the metal stairs.

My instinct is to haul him forward, to where the first step toward safety lies. But his pallor and features keep my motions gentle. “Apollo . . . what’s wrong?” I ask.

His weakened expression stays ahead. “We didn’t get to swim with the dolphins,” he answers.

The place that conducts the dolphin excursion shut down shortly after they arrived due to the approaching storm. But that’s not what he means. He’s telling me his vacation was not what he envisioned, and it became something out his worst nightmares. It’s too reminiscent of what his life was supposed to be, back when his mother was still alive and he felt safe.

“I know,” I tell him, acknowledging his fears. For now, it’s all I can do.

Gianno glances my way, recognizing how close Apollo is to losing his composure. “Let’s just get the hell out of here,” he says, leading him up. He freezes at the top, before rushing back down and dragging Apollo with him.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, readying to run for our lives.

“Lucca?he’s freaking out,” he says.

It takes me a moment to digest what he’s saying before I race up the steps. The jet is large. A row of seats takes up the right, but it’s the sofa running along the opposite side that holds my attention. Devan and his men are struggling to hold Lucca down.

Lucca is flailing wildly, swearing and flinging his fists. I rush forward as his hand punches out and strikes Autumn across the face, sending her flying and her glasses shooting to the floor.

I expect her to react with shock or to edge away in fear. But before I can reach her, she’s already to her feet and back at Lucca’s side.

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