But he doesn’t listen.
That’s the strange contradiction that defines him. For all his obsession with control, for all the ways he’s built a world that bends to his will, he’s given me freedoms that don’t make sense. The cameras in my room are gone because I tore them out, and he let them stay that way. My calls are tracked by location but never monitored. I move through the estate without a guard hovering at my side, even though I know I’m never truly alone.
Why?
At first, I thought it was arrogance. Then strategy. Lately, in the quiet hours when sleep refuses to come and the weight of everything presses down on me, I’ve wondered, did he really fall in love with me?
My heart wants to say yes. It points to the way he looks at me, makes love to me, and relaxes around me. To the way his leg stills when I touch him.
But my mind knows better.
A man who loves you doesn’t hold your father hostage. A man who loves you doesn’t say he cannot when he means he chooses not to. Love protects what the other person holds sacred.
Salvatore won’t even try.
I unlock my phone and scroll to Lindsay’s name. My thumb hovers over the call button.
What if he’s listening? What if this is the one line he does monitor?
My heart hammers against my ribs. I glance at the library.
Fuck it.
I press call.
It rings four times. Each one feels like an eternity. Then—
“Val?”
“Hey, Lin.” My voice comes out steadier than I feel.
“Are you okay?” A pause, heavier than the silence. “Are you safe?”
I stand and move to the window, putting distance between myself and the door. “I’m safe. He wouldn’t hurt me.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
She’s right.
“I need your help,” I admit. “But first, I need to say I’m sorry. About everything.”
There’s a pause, then a long exhale. “I’m sorry too.” Her voice softens, then sharpens into something precise. “Val, if this man truly loves you, then that love should protect your family.”
The words land with brutal clarity.
“You’re right,” I concede. “And if he won’t protect my father, I will.”
“What are you saying?”
“I need to find him.”
She’s quiet at first. “You know what that means.”
“I do.”
“If I use my resources and they find out…”
“They won’t. My phone is tracked by location, not monitored. He trusts me.”
