26. Salvatore #4
Ben perches beside David, twirling the knife.
“And not a single one of you suspected anything. Why would you, when you were all too blindsided to see the truth? Too focused on destroying things? I disposed of his body. The rest of you were floating around, too busy planning your next kill to even realize he was dead. Word on the street was that he died of natural causes, and the group was left to perish. A body needs a heart in order to survive, and the heart had been destroyed. You were a bunch of strays looking for someone else to answer to, and during that time of uncertainty, you found yourselves. You became strong leaders.” Ben angles his head to the side, watching David. “Well, some of you.”
“You killed Renato,” I say, “but you still chose to abandon your daughter.”
Ben looks straight at Ophelia, like he already knows who she is.
How the fuck would he know her? They never met.
“Ophelia…”
Ophelia’s mouth gapes all the way open as she stares at her father, the truth finally coming out.
“Explain yourself.” I clench my jaw, standing at Ophelia’s side.
“I found out Elanor was pregnant, but going back was the wrong thing to do.”
Ophelia twists in the chair beside me, holding herself relatively well, all things considered.
“I had torn apart families, caused unimaginable pain. How could I possibly create a family after that? The two of you would be better off without me dragging you down, tainting your lives. These hands,” he says holding them up in the air, “have touched knives, guns; they were inside a victim’s stomach once as I opened up their intestines, pouring bleach inside.
My own parents were killed, and I was on a mission to seek justice.
That was until I met your mother, Ophelia. I realized good people still existed.”
Ophelia places a hand over her mouth, shaking. The entire room falls silent, everyone fully invested.
“Holding a newborn in the same pair of hands I used to kill people with would be even more evil than some of the acts I’d committed.
I needed to stay away, so I used my savings from the Crows, hopped on a plane to Miami and never looked back.
That was until two years ago when your aunt told me that Elanor had passed away.
She was in tears, sobbing through the phone, saying she had something to tell me.
I found out she was the one who exposed my location to the Crows, and I couldn’t fucking face her.
She told me about my daughter.” He turns to Ophelia.
“How she had grown into a beautiful young woman, charming, resilient. She was making a life for herself, and Vivian was extremely proud.”
“Proud, and a liar,” adds Ophelia.
Ben clenches his jaw, reliving the memory all over again.
“I wanted to meet you, but I had my doubts. Demons always found me in my sleep, warning me to never go back. Flying back into New York would reunite me with the past… and then Vivian tells me someone else is already starting to unpack things. The Crows are rebuilding, and I need to get my ass to New York before my daughter uncovers too much and becomes collateral damage.”
“And here I am,” says Ophelia, throwing up her hands. “Being used as collateral.”
“I won’t let that happen,” I interject, receiving an interesting glare from Ben.
He stares at me hard, the childish youth gone from his eyes.
“I tried to warn you to stay away,” says Ben, focusing on his daughter.
Realization hits me the same time it hits Ophelia.
She shoots up from the chair. “It was you in Queens.” She searches the ground, processing more. “You broke into my apartment and stole all of my mother’s things.”
“Before David got there first.” Ben levels the bastard a glare, teasing his knife over his chest.
David whistles, Crows circling around Ben on command.
I nod at Robert, at my men. I bring my gaze forward to Ben, and rush forward.
Chaos breaks as my team and I disarm the boys, giving Ben the opportunity to shove his knife straight into David’s chest.
A blood curdled scream fills the room as Ben stabs New York’s beloved philanthropist in the heart.
Blood gushes, streaming across the floor, sending the boys into chaos.
I grab two, locking their arms behind their back, and for a brief second, I see myself again.
I see the naivety, the deep longing to be loved.
“The rest of you want to end up like him?” Robert steps out into the room pointing at David.
“You can either die for your leader, or flock together and make a statement to the police. You have a chance to make the world listen, to finally be seen as something brave. Do what your previous generations were too cowardly to do. Make a change.” Robert rips off his shirt, exposing the tattoo, causing some boys to falter.
“Be remembered for something good. Expose your leader’s true colors and make the right people pay.
Silence drifts through the room as David passes away.
The Crows look between each other, the silence stretching.
Ben rises from the floor, heading past me to meet his daughter for the first time. Something heals within me when I see them reunite after all these years. Even if Ophelia is unsure now, she’ll learn to love and accept in time.
I smile to myself, even though Ben looks like he might want to murder me next. Fuck knows how much he’s seen and heard.
The morning sun filters into the window, catching something silver and sharp. And moving.
A single boy threads through the crowd, moving toward Robert.
I’m over there a second too late, his blade sinking into Robert’s stomach.
“Die, Mr. Preacher,” laughs the boy, glancing around the room for others to back him up.
But his friends take a big step back, leaving me to deal with my wounded cousin.