Page 125 of Hidden Memories

The sound tears through me, igniting violent, red-hot rage.

I should stay in the truck until Gabriel gets here. I have no way of taking Damon down, but that doesn’t stop me.

I’m out the door before the engine shuts off, sprinting toward them. My body moves before my brain catches up. One second, my feet are planted—the next, I’m lunging forward like instinct has ripped me loose.

“Damon!” I roar with a fury that could be heard miles away. “Let him go!”

Damon turns, his grip on Theo is unrelenting. He moves my boy toward the edge of the quarry. Damon’s usual calm demeanor is gone, replaced by something colder, harder.

“Stay back!” Damon shouts.

That’s when I hear it. A chance. There’s uncertainty there.

“Don’t come any closer or any negotiation is off,” he spits.

Negotiation.

Fuck, please… I’d give anything to have that boy back right now.

I stop, raising my hands in a show of surrender. My heart pounds against my ribs, but I force myself to stay calm. “Damon, listen to me. You don’t have to do this. Let the boy go, and we can figure this out. No one has to get hurt.”

“It’s not that simple,” Damon barks. “This isn’t about me. It’s bigger than you, bigger than this ranch. I don’t have a choice.”

“There’s always a choice,” I counter, taking a cautious step forward. “Don’t let them turn you into a monster, Damon. Whatever they’ve promised you, it’s not worth this.”

His eyes flicker, uncertainty flashing across his face for a brief moment before his jaw clenches. “You don’t get it,” he snaps. “If I don’t do this, they’ll kill me,” Damon mutters, his eyes flicking between Theo and me. “I didn’t sign up for this. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”

“Who are they, Damon?” Kat tries to keep her voice steady, knowing we need this detail. “The ’Ndrangheta?”

All I know is whoever they are, they’re taking what’s mine—my family, my reason for fighting. I’ll wreck everything in my way before I let them take this.

Behind me, there’s a faint crunch of tires on gravel a hundred feet behind. Gabriel. Relief flickers through me, but I don’t dare take my eyes off Damon.

“Let’s end this now,” I reason. “You don’t need Theo. Take me instead.”

“What?” Damon’s eyes narrow in confusion.

“You don’t need him,” I press. “You need leverage, right? Let Theo go, and I’ll go with you.”

“Santi, no!” Kat’s voice cracks behind me, thick with panic.

But I don’t look back. My focus stays on Damon, on the subtle shifts in his expression. I try not to let my gaze rest on Theo, whose silent tears are nearly bringing me to my knees.

For a moment, the world seems to hold its breath. Damon’s grip on Theo loosens slightly, doubt creeping into his stance.

Damon swallows hard. “I’ll give you the boy, they don’tneed you.” Regret creeps into his features. “I don’t want to hurt him…”

At that, Theo winces, and my heart splits with the force of the universe breaking.

“Just tell me what you want…” I say, as steadily as I can.

“GhostEye can help me disappear. Right? A new identity… I can’t hand him over without that…”

But before I can agree, a small radio clipped to Damon’s belt crackles to life.

“Damon,” a woman’s voice on the other end is calm, cold, and unyielding. “Bring the boy. Now.”

Who the hell is on the other end? Is it M?

---