26. Salvatore
SALVATORE
“David Hale is the fucking Reaper,” I report to Robert over the phone. “I want you outside of my apartment block in five minutes with a team of assassins. Make sure the men are well fed and watered, ready to face a shit ton of Crows.”
“Five minutes doesn’t give me much time to—”
“Complain when David is dead. We don’t have time to spare for your moaning.” I hang up the phone, sharpening a knife in the kitchen and slotting it under my belt.
When Robert notifies arrives outside, I lock up and jump straight into my fastest car, driving out of the parking garage.
I connect Robert to the hands-free. “Stay close behind me.”
“What does David want?”
I slam my foot to the floor, grinding my jaw. “He has Ophelia.”
“You dragged five of us out of bed for your fucking assistant. Get another.”
“My patience is already running thin. Don’t test me.”
“We could lose everything. I warned you—”
“Well aware, but there is more to this than Ophelia. Power thrives in isolation—you said it yourself. David is already unstoppable. Imagine how powerful he becomes when these boys turn into adults?”
“Fair point.”
“David conquered the overground space a very long time ago. The second he rules underground spaces, he starts controlling things.”
“Not to mention we lose our empire and spend the rest of our lives in prison cells.
That, too, but I’m more focused on getting Ophelia away from David Hale.
“We should get the fuck out of here,” I hiss at my group.
“I agree,” says another. “Sunrise starts in a few minutes.”
Exhaustion crashes over me.
Running around Manhattan the entire night takes a toll on your body. I’m ready to get the fuck back to Brooklyn and shut my eyes.
Of course, David is a nocturnal bastard who never knows when to call it a day.
“Where’s his family?”
“What?”
“His fucking family,” he growls, staring down at the man with anger. “They should pay the price of his actions.”
“That’s not how this works,” I say.
“Yeah,” agrees another. “Renato only asked us to take care of him. He never said anything about the family.”
“This man tried reporting the Crows to the police, and you want to spare the family? People talk. Families become angry,” explains David, shaking his head disapprovingly as he stares at the dead body in front of us. “His family are only a block away. I know the address.”
“You’re taking this a step too far,” says Ben, shoving his hands into his pockets.
“Look who decided to show up all of a sudden and voice his opinion.” David rolls his eyes. “You disappear for weeks and show up, thinking you know what’s best.”
“I do know what’s best. His wife and daughter are innocent, and we only kill on command.”
“We kill for the greater good.”
“There is no fucking greater good,” hisses Ben. “Just endless misery, so long as Renato lives.”
I wipe my knife clean, sheathing it under my belt. Ben is proof that you cannot escape the Crows. Ever.
He has been trying to live a double-life, but he will never succeed.
While we’re following orders, risking our lives countless times a week, he fucks off like a coward, which makes him no better than the man he hates.
Unfortunately, in this instance, he has a point.
I’m starting to see the grittiness, the flaws in the system. Renato tells us to set an end goal—who do we want to see dead most of all?
For David, that is his father.
For me—Richard Cambell.
And as I rise through the ranks, becoming more handy with a knife, I come closer to seeking my revenge.
But what happens when Richard is dead? When I no longer have a goal? Who do I become then?
Ben is right. We’re stuck in the hamster wheel, and this misery never ends. We all signed an oath to Renato, and his death is the only thing that can break it.
“Let’s head back. It’s late.”
“Fucking boring,” yawns David, snapping his fingers at the dead man. “Someone clean this piece of shit off the floor. His family home is a few minutes away.”
I rake my hair away from my face, studying David’s determined face. He has never believed in family. The Crows is all he has.
Ben flashes me a look, subtly shaking his head at me as two of the other boys deal with the mess on the floor, which is not a fucking pretty sight.
I avert my gaze, seeing David already making tracks.
“His daughter is twelve.”
“I don’t care if she’s straight out the womb. This bastard almost fucked everything up for us.”
“But he didn’t.”
“Get the fuck out of my way,” snaps David, angling his knife my way.
I grind my jaw, halting down the alleyway.
David can do what he wants. I’m sure karma will be back to eat us one day.
I slam the car door shut when we arrive at our destination. I’ve seen graveyards with more character.
“Are you sure this is it?”
“Positive,” I say to Robert as he steps out of the car, the team of enforcers following.
They pop open the trunk, inviting me to grab weapons.
“I have everything I need, gents,” I say, gesturing to my fist.
Robert rolls his eyes. “Cockiness kills faster than bullets.”
I lift my shirt, showing him my knife. “I’ll leave this under my belt just in case. But trust me, fists are a lot more personal than knives.”
“I’ll remember that in the future when you’re dead.”
“The only person dying tonight is David Hale.”
The car beeps as I lock it up. I shove the fob into my pocket, rolling up my sleeves. This night should be eventful.
I gesture behind me, signaling for Robert and the four men to follow. We step onto the train platform, silence ringing through the atmosphere. This place is ancient. There is no departure board, no active trains running on this line as far as I’m aware.
The crow pecking around on the railway tells me we’re in the right place.
“The only place you’re catching a train to around here is your death,” says one of the assassins, his shoes scraping against the concrete as we walk down the platform.
The abandoned station building up ahead catches my attention. This place would be too small to house the Crows. If David has come out here to train them, he can’t have many inside.
I stare at the building, trembling as I remember the young boy shooting himself in the head. The ghost sound of the gunshot reverberates through me like I’m standing in the janitor closet, watching it happen all over again.
Death is the only way out, and we were lucky to escape for a while, but karma has come knocking on our doors. I must face the music and do what needs to be done.
To rescue these broken boys, to save Ophelia, I’ll give my life in a heartbeat.
I glance over my shoulder, nodding at my men as we gather around the station building. After silently counting to three, we burst through the door, and my heart immediately falters in my chest.
I expected a dozen Crows at most, but there are roughly thirty in here, lined up in rows, weapons at the ready.
Feeling a pair of eyes on me, I turn to the side.
I see Ophelia watching me and burst into flames. Her brows are parted in pain as she shakes her head, begging me to stop. She struggles against the duct tape, her mouth completely covered. Tears fall from her eyes, and she can’t even wipe them away, her arms and legs strapped to the chair.
“You know what to do,” enters David, taking measured steps across the room.
“Ah, I see you came looking your best.” I grimace at his choice in clothes. “You could have chosen a better shirt to die in. Blue satin washes you out.”
“You would be a fool to kill me and my Crows. Once upon a time, you were just as helpless.”
“So were you.”
“No,” barks David. “I was not. You boys were slacking, and Renato had terrible leadership skills.”
“Can’t be much better than yours.”
“Renato knew how to sell the dream, but he failed to create a legacy. You know why?”
“Shove your questions up your ass. We don’t have time for this.”
“He didn’t know how to lead, how to build an indestructible empire, but you, Salvatore…” David steps closer, pointing at me. “You created his dream.”
“Lucky me.”
“Indeed.” A smirk stretches across David’s face, sinking naturally into his features.
He acts every time he walks onto stage, flashing fake smiles at the cameras, fooling the entire world.
I thought I knew his true colors. Underneath the glitz and glamor was a broken boy using wealth as a band aid to hide the past.
But as I stand here, seeing him lead an army of second-generation Crows, I realize he fooled me too.
I latched onto him, thinking we were in a similar position, and I found comfort in that. He came onto the TV screen with his bullshit campaigns, and suddenly I felt less alone. He went through the same experiences as me.
And maybe we didn’t always see eye-to-eye, but we were in the same boat. We survived the Crows and established our own careers.
He was the only other person in New York who knew how it felt to go from nothing to everything.
We had a silent understanding.
At least I fucking thought.
This feels like a punch to the gut…
And then I see Ophelia watching me from across the room, her eyes sparkling at even the darkest of times, letting me know that I don’t have to do this alone.
One look into her eyes and I know what I have to do.
“Renato was weak. He died and the organization crumbled to pieces. But not us.” David steps closer, watching me carefully. “I became a media sensation, but you created something timeless that could outlive us all.”
I grind my jaw, fragments of the past coming back to haunt me. “Your orphan campaign was never about saving the fucking youth.”
“Yes, it was,” says David. “I have saved over forty lost boys, and I will save more. You know how it feels to be pushed aside, left to rot on the side of the road. I’m giving these boys a chance to seek their revenge, to destroy the people who never gave two shits about them.
After all you have been through, Salvatore, I expected you to understand. ”
“Nobody survives in the Crows.”
“Says a man who is almost fifty and thriving. We both are,” says David. “We’re hope for the future generations that life gets better. Make up your own rules. Win your own game.”