Page 129 of Vito

"Triple S, are you okay?" I ask, trying to settle and focus.

She swallows and nods. "I'm fine."

"And my little niece or nephew?"

She smiles at that. "All good." She squeezes Creed's hand as he sits on the arm of the sofa beside her.

"Mamma?" I walk to her and hug her.

She squeezes me tightly. "I'm fine,il mio ragazzo." My boy.

Then I ask tightly, "Is anyone going to tell me what the fuck is going on?"

Raf comes to me, the lines around his mouth and eyes are pulled tight. "Eden called me, asking if Gina was with us. She met us at the medical building."

"How did Eden know that you'd be there?"

"When I was meeting to talk to her about the link with the tattoos,Mammacalled me," Massimo explains. "The ultrasound andMammaattending were mentioned. Afterward, she tried calling me, and I assume she tried calling you, too." He points at my phone lying discarded on the floor from my struggle with him and our men.

"That's why she called me." Raf picks up my phone and hands it to me.

Seeing Eden's missed call is like a bullet to my gut. If I had answered, this could've played out very differently. I also had multiple missed calls from Raf, Massimo, and Gus.

Mammapulls the wooden cube Eden had gifted her from her purse. "Eden apologized, but explained she needed to request this gift back." She holds it out to me. "I keep this with me wherever I am."

I take it, feeling its weight in my hand. "How did they get her? How did they take her?"

"Vito…" Raf swallows. "She told me to tell you she's sorry that she has to break her promise."

Understanding lances my heart. "Eden gave herself up."

To protect my family.

"She also said to tell you it's the cube. Aiken loves puzzles; she thinks something might be inside."

Mammacups my cheek. "When the gunfire started, Eden pushed me back into the middle of our guards. To protect me." Her brown eyes glisten. "She came today for the cube but didn'ttake it. Eden gave herself up willingly; she wanted to keep this safe."

Suddenly, it feels much heavier in my hand.

In my mind, I see Aiken dying on the floor in the video of his murder, and he mouths,The box.

The cube.

I lift my head and look at Massimo. "I think the recordings for Aiken's hidden cameras are inside this."

He comes to my side. "It may give us an idea who took Eden."

Eden, not Ed. Massimo is calling her Eden.

She's Eden Dallas Fallen.

She's the woman who stood between the attackers and our family, the woman who willingly gave herself up.

Twenty-five guards were there today to protect Sophie,Mamma, and Creed. Eden could've hidden behind them and had them protect her. Raf would've guarded her just like our other family members. However, Eden sacrificed herself. To protect them, to protect the Santoros.

She's the woman I love, and she loves me right back, just as fiercely.

As Massimo stands beside me, looking at me, the last sliver of acceptance slides into place between my us.

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