Chapter 6: The Shattered Glass
Three weeks passed, and the De Luca estate transformed from an intimidating fortress into the first real sanctuary I had ever known.
The medical specialists were miracle workers. Under their relentless, world-class care, Leo’s color returned. The terrifying rattle in his chest faded into a quiet, healthy rhythm. He spent his afternoons running through the massive gardens, closely shadowed by Salvatore’s terrifyingly loyal, heavily armed guards who treated the eight-year-old boy like absolute royalty.
And then there was Salvatore.
He was a kingpin. A man who commanded a criminal empire that spanned the Midwest. But with me, he was entirely different. We spent our evenings in the library by the roaring fireplace, surrounded by silence. We didn't need to speak a single verbal word. Our conversations were a beautiful, intricate dance of hands and expressions. He told me about how he had lost his hearing in a violent explosion when he was a teenager, a brutal hit ordered by a rival family. He told me how he had ruthlessly clawed his way to the top of the syndicate, turning his supposed "weakness" into a lethal advantage.
I was falling in love with him. Deeply, irrevocably, and dangerously.
But peace in Salvatore’s world was a fragile, fleeting illusion.
It happened on a Tuesday evening. Salvatore was in his downtown high-rise dealing with syndicate business. I was in the estate's massive solarium, a beautiful glass-walled room filled with exotic orchids, reading a book while Leo played a video game in the adjacent media room.
The sun had just dipped below the horizon, casting the estate in deep shadows.
Suddenly, a deafening explosion rocked the ground beneath my feet.
The massive reinforced glass walls of the solarium shuddered violently. Alarms instantly began screaming throughout the estate—a piercing, flashing red light that bathed the beautiful room in the color of blood.
An attack.
My heart slammed against my ribs. I dropped my book and sprinted toward the media room. "Leo!" I screamed, forgetting to sign, my vocal cords tearing with panic.
Before I could reach the door, the glass ceiling above the solarium shattered.
Heavily armed men dressed in tactical black gear dropped into the room, their assault rifles raised. The rival faction. The Moretti Syndicate had finally made their move, striking at the one place Salvatore had left vulnerable—his home.
I dove behind a heavy marble planter just as a hail of bullets ripped through the space where I had been standing. The orchids were shredded into a storm of green and purple confetti.
"Find the girl!" one of the men barked, his voice echoing over the alarms. "Moretti wants De Luca's new pet alive!"
I pressed my hands over my mouth to muffle my terrified sobs. I had to get to Leo. I had to protect my brother. I crawled on my hands and knees over the shattered glass, ignoring the sharp pain as the shards sliced into my palms.
Suddenly, a heavy boot slammed down directly in front of my face.
A brutal hand grabbed the back of my hair, dragging me violently to my feet. I screamed, kicking and thrashing as the mercenary held a cold, steel pistol to my temple.
"Got her," the man laughed, dragging me toward the shattered window.
Before he could take another step, the heavy oak doors of the solarium were entirely blown off their hinges.
Standing in the smoke and dust, looking like the absolute manifestation of death itself, was Salvatore.
He hadn't stayed downtown. He had come back early.
He wasn't wearing his tailored suit jacket. His white dress shirt was rolled up to the elbows, exposing the dark, intricate tattoos creeping up his forearms. He held a customized, suppressed tactical handgun in his right hand. His face was a mask of pure, unadulterated, psychopathic rage.
The mercenary holding me froze. "Drop the gun, De Luca! Or I blow her brains out!"
Salvatore couldn't hear the man’s threat. And even if he could, he wouldn't have cared.
Salvatore didn't negotiate. He didn't hesitate. His dark eyes locked onto mine for a fraction of a second, silently commanding me to close my eyes.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Thwip. Thwip.
Two suppressed shots echoed through the room. The grip on my hair instantly vanished. The mercenary collapsed onto the floor, two perfect, lethal bullet holes between his eyes.
I fell to my knees, gasping for air.
The remaining four mercenaries opened fire, but Salvatore was already moving. He was a phantom, a lethal shadow moving through the debris with terrifying speed and precision. I covered my ears as the room erupted into a violent, chaotic storm of gunfire. It lasted less than thirty seconds.
When the silence finally returned, heavy and suffocating, I opened my eyes.
The rival men were all dead on the marble floor.
Salvatore dropped his empty weapon. He didn't look at the bodies. He sprinted across the ruined solarium, dropping to his knees on the shattered glass right in front of me. He pulled me into his chest, burying his face in my neck, his massive frame shaking with a terrifying intensity.
“Are you hurt?” he signed frantically, pulling back just enough to inspect my face, his hands covered in blood that wasn't his. “Tessa, look at me. Are you hurt?”
“I’m okay,” I signed, my hands trembling violently. “Leo. Where is Leo?”
“He is safe. The guards locked down the media room the second the perimeter was breached,” Salvatore signed.
May you like
He pulled me back into his chest, holding me so tightly I could barely breathe. But I didn't want to breathe. I wanted to drown in him.
"They touched you," Salvatore whispered aloud, his voice raw, heavily accented, and terrifyingly dark. It was the first time I had ever heard him use his voice. "I am going to burn their entire world to ash."
