Page 76 of Vito

Until he lets go and Aiken slumps to the floor. The smallest of the three—I can't tell if it's a woman or a man—shoves a knife into his gut and twists, before yanking it free.

Then they leave.

Aiken lays there; his fading groans are audible, his movements slow and slight.

He's lying on his side and fumbling, trying to do something. I know what comes next.

Aiken pulls out his phone. "Vito… I need Vito… Protect… Tell…"

He's talking to himself, not making sense to me. I can see him fighting death, trying so fucking hard to do this one last thing.

He finally unlocks his phone. I close my eyes, feeling like I'm straddling the past and the present: receiving Aiken's phone call, hearing the words he spoke, and hearing them now on the recording.

"Vito…" He chokes on his blood, and I watch it spurt from his mouth. "Call Ed."

His hand collapses and the phone drops beside him. I can almost hear myself shouting over the line for Aiken to talk to me.

I've always felt Aiken wanted to say more.

From the angle of the hidden camera recording this, I can see his face clearly. His eyes are fighting not to close, and as I watch, I lean closer. His mouth moves, but there's no sound.

I rewind the section to be sure.

He mouthed, the box.

Aiken doesn't move again, and his shallow breaths soon stop altogether.

I'm a killer, a predator to my enemies. I've killed numerous men, tortured and played with them before I ended them.

This video was hard for me to watch. I can't fucking imagine Eden watching it. Alone.

I push that down for now because Eden needs Vito Santoro. The man her brother called with his dying last words.

Vito… I need Vito… Protect… Tell…

Vito… Call Ed.

The box.

What does it all mean?

I fast-forward the recording to see if anything else happens before Raf and I arrive and kick down the front door. Once that happens, I stop the video.

Eden watches me. Her tears have stopped, but her eyes glisten with more that she's holding back.

She wants an outside perspective—my perspective as a mafia man who wades in this dark, bloody world. I'll give her that, and then Vito—the man,herman—will give her what she needs emotionally.

"They were professionals, not some street thugs making a hit. Sealed up. Uniform execution of their task, efficient. Quick in, quick out."

We already knew they had a way of getting in and out undetected and bypassing the security system. We hadn't figured out how yet, and the video, unfortunately didn't provide the answers.

"The primary task was to kill Aiken." I think again of how the largest one kept speaking in his ear and Aiken telling him to get fucked. It could be that they were trying to get some information, or they possibly could've also been taunting and toying with him.

"This wasn't personal to these three. Someone sent them." My predator instinct is sure of that. "If Aiken was supposed to break and give them some kind of information, that was secondary. The kill orders were that the hit needed to occur at Gilly's," I guess, going with my gut again.

"This was a big fuck you to Gilly's as much as Aiken." Eden's voice is flat, and I hate that she's put up walls to shield her emotions. I know it's not to keep me out; it's her coping mechanism. "What else?"

"The biggest one was certainly a male. It's less clear if the smallest one is male or female. Their shoulders are broad for what you'd typically see on a female; they didn't have a glorious rack of tits like someone I know." Eden's lips quiver. I lean forward, needing to be closer to her, even if I don't touch her yet. "I'll take screenshots. Ohith and Axin might be able to help."

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