Page 130 of Vito

A powerful urge to both strangle and kiss Eden rises in me. Pride and anguish war.

But first, I need to kill those who dared to take her. And if they harmed her, I wouldslaughterthe offenders and paint myself red with their blood.

I hold the cube gently in my hands.

Raf quirks his brow, looking at it."Want me to get a hammer?"

"If something is inside, it could destroy whatever it is," Sophie protests.

I agree with Triple S.

I think of Aiken. He called me on purpose while he was dying.

Protect… Tell… Call Ed… The box.

Suddenly, it's like Aiken is beside me, but instead of being in Massimo's office, we're sitting in Gilly's. Him with the fire whiskey he loved and me with bourbon.

'"Everything in life is a puzzle, Vito. The best and most important things in life often are, especially when there's a treasure trapped inside, just waiting to be found. A push, pull, twist, andvoilà…the puzzle is solved, and the treasured is revealed."

"A push, pull, twist." I look at the cube, then run my finger over it, feeling a tiny rough spot.

Eden had said Aiken was meticulous with his woodwork; the rough spot on the wooden inlay in her office wall was how she found the hidden compartment with the tablet.

"Did you really plant that clue in my head, you sneaky bastard?" I mutter to Aiken's ghost.

Push. Pull. Twist.

I push down on the spot on the cube. But nothing happens.

I try again, pressing harder this time. My heart hammers wildly as a different piece of interlinking wood lifts slightly. I can fit my fingernail under it and pull it up more. When I do that, I feel the tight compression of the cube ease, like it's loosening apart.

Holding my breath, I twist the cube—half in one direction, the other half in the other direction—and I have two perfect halves now in my hand.

Massimo is a bit slack-jawed. "Holy shit."

I tilt the two parts of the cube up, and a tiny USB is nestled inside one half. It would fit into the USB port and barely stick out from the computer.

I hand it to him. "I'm pretty sure this will have some answers, brother."

Massimo takes the USB and his phone rings. He answers it, and his eyes flick to mine as he listens. "Let them in; have guards accompany them to the office." When he hangs up, he says, "Dom and Ash are here."

What the fuck?

We don't know if Ash and Dom are a threat, and I turn to Creed. "Get Sophie andMammaout of here. Go to the far wing of the house and seal yourselves in."

Creed immediately springs into action but looks at Massimo and me with uncertainty. Not wanting to leave us but not wanting to leave Sophie or our mom's sides, either.

"We have over thirty guards on-site, so don't worry about us, baby brother," I say. "No one will protect Sophie and your unborn child more fiercely than you." Creed may not be a made man, but he's a Santoro through and through.

"Go, Creed," Massimo commands.

He grips Sophie's hand as they move to the door and wait forMammaas she hugs Massimo and me.

"Stay safe,i miei figli." My sons. Looking up at me, she says, "Bring that sweet girl Eden home, where she belongs."

Mammamay not know specific details about Eden and me, but she can see it written all over my face. She probably even suspected it atBabbo's funeral while I translated, as she played her silly game of pretending not to speak English.

My heart clenches, knowing the blessing she's just given me and the additional meaning of those words. Bring Edenhome. I swallow, my throat feeling thick. "That's what I intend to do,Mamma."

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