(tw: extremely evil character - arsonist , criminal , torturer . mafia associate and control freak!)
[name_m]Salvino[/name_m] [name_m]Dante[/name_m] Pellegrini [ 47 ] is someone whom [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] knows even though he would certainly prefer not to. He is the son of the Italian-American mafia boss who orchestrated the kidnapping of [name_m]Paul[/name_m] and his biological mother (even though he uses the world mother in relation to 3(!) people - his current adoptive mother, [name_u]Tatum[/name_u] , his adoptive father’s previous wife before she was sent on an FBI mission to [name_u]England[/name_u] and his biological mother who was killed in the kidnapping ordeal. He considers them all mothers equally, since one birthed him and cared for him for 16 years, the other saved his life after [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] gave him literal poison and the third - [name_u]Tatum[/name_u] - embraced him as a son when he felt unworthy of love and despite the fact of him being deeply damaged by trauma, even if [name_u]Tatum[/name_u] isn’t fully aware of what that trauma is because of [name_m]Paul[/name_m] 's and his adoptive father’s concern for her own safety.)
The reason [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] knows [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] is a little bit complicated. [name_m]Way[/name_m] back when [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] was in his 20s he and his mafia wanted to take control of [name_u]Maryland[/name_u] , [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] reported a suspicious package being placed in the post office and it turned out that the package contained someone’s finger placed in a jar and three bags of drugs. Since it was a small town [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] figured the post office workers would simply get spooked and nobody would report that to the authorities , but they were dead wrong - because [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] did. This way [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] 's brother spends life in prison and even though [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] threatened [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] and then beat him along with saying he would kidnap [name_f]Róża[/name_f] or seduce his wife, [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] was relentless since he knew how much damage organised crime could do through his policeman father who died during service whilst trying to save a 20-year-old college student from getting kidnapped - unfortunately both the victim and her would-be saviour were shot. After [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] having reported the suspicious package incident to the authorities the Italian mafia would demand " protection money " from the post officers and terrorize the entire small [name_u]Maryland[/name_u] town , [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] definitely the most.
[name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] would not tell his wife that the majority of money for salaries was being given to mobsters so she would accuse him of cheating or gambling away the money, at which point he would naturally get easily offended and the defensiveness stayed with [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] for years to come concerning even the smallest things
However it all ended after [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] 's brother , who had contacts with the corrupt officials of the town , was imprisoned , the mafia was forced to relocate to Oregon and target foreigners instead of locals since they figured that people in tight-knit American communities can be easily spooked but it is also relatively easy for one brave person to narrowly escape execution and report it to a honest sheriff or someone in the authorities who is committed to their work. That gave way to their elaborate plan to kidnap the entire Norwegian family of [name_m]Paul[/name_m] Stendahl [name_m]Rasmus[/name_m] Stendahl , [name_m]Soren[/name_m] Stendahl and [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] Stendahl , but since it was not possible due to [name_m]Soren[/name_m] Stendahl not enjoying travelling , [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] and his father figured that [name_m]Paul[/name_m] and his mother would suffice , given the fact that [name_m]Paul[/name_m] 's mother would often meet with American businessmen and even politicians to lobby and try to sell his eco-friendly garbage disposal machines. This was a plan that he held onto for years , even when the mafia was in shambles after the imprisonment of [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] 's brother and he had bigger things to worry about , like establishing himself as the de-facto boss when his father got very old and showed signs of illness , taking control of some parts of Oregon and setting up a
secret location for kidnapees over in Oklahoma, - ensuring that the 26 hours of a car ride would make the victims disoriented, scared and in turn helpless.
When [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] got to executing the plan he was ruthless - separating [name_m]Paul[/name_m] from his mother , psychologically ridiculing [name_m]Paul[/name_m] for keeping a plushie nearby, not giving him any food besides crackers and water and allowing neither victim to bathe or have a place to dispose of human waste.
The problem started when [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] 's wife and his then-16-year-old daughter had to move to [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] 's Oklahoma location because of a fire that consumed their Oregon home. This was due to a conflict with another mafia family – [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] and his wife knew that but kept their daughter oblivious. [name_m]Even[/name_m] though [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] significantly improved the living conditions of [name_m]Paul[/name_m] and [name_f]Christiane[/name_f] Stendahl while they were living in his basement for the sake of his daughter not finding out, she eventually figured out that the noises from below her room were not mouse , fishers or other small mammals – it was a socialite popular on TikTok and his mother , no less! [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] ‘s daughter would sneak out downstairs and bring them homecooked Italian food. Her parents kept the winery and basement where they held them hostage locked, but they were not aware of the fact that [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] ‘s daughter was able to make a passkey out of a safety pin and therefore keep helping the kidnapped people whenever she was left home alone. She knew she couldn’t go to the police nor report her own father – it would be classified as an act of omerta, so mafia-related betrayal that has to do with “snitching” to the police with regards to your family members and lead to her execution or injury, probably at the hands of a relative. It’s through [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] ‘s daughter that Mr. [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] was able to begin the FBI-operation, first behaving as the 16-year-old’s tutor preparing her for the IB exam , then feigning interest in joining the mafia. [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] himself isn’t as fluent in [name_f]English[/name_f] as he could be. Despite being born in the US he exclusively socialized in Italian circles throughout his life, that’s why he hired the tutor and then trusted him with his translations into [name_f]English[/name_f] when he had trouble understanding his captives , not realising that Mr. [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] and Salvino’s daughter were both actively working to release the prisoners. One thing led to another between Salvino’s daughter and [name_m]Paul[/name_m]. When [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] found out that his daughter knew about the captives all along and was actively helping them, he was furious at [name_m]Paul[/name_m] for “seducing” his daughter , not realising it was a natural progression of their relationship and a manifestation of how much Salvino’s daughter began resenting and even hating her family after discovering that they were not, in fact, winemakers, but ruthless mafia affiliates. [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] gave [name_m]Paul[/name_m] poison in the food that he caught his daughter preparing for him and waited till she gives it to him to reveal that he knows the truth…At which point Salvino’s daughter revealed that she is pregnant and therefore [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] can’t kill [name_m]Paul[/name_m] because it would mean killing his own blood and committing blatant betrayal against the mafia. She also offered to have her finger severed in exchange for Paul’s and his mother’s ear , but she was quickly taken away by other mobsters and the operation proceeded. She lied about the pregnancy , but it was enough to get Mr. and Mrs. [name_m]Roberts[/name_m] involved in detoxifying Paul’s organism from the poison and giving them one more opportunity to convince Mr. Stendahl that his family’s life is in immediate jeopardy, which nullifies the need to receive a tax exemption from the 17 million dollars of ransom money. The ransom money was transferred to the mobsters a few days after, however [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] was furious that Mr. Stendahl’s patent was missing and as revenge set the gas station with the kidnap victims on its premises on fire. All he meant was getting the last laugh. At that point he knew he won’t be getting what he wants and that his daughter will be an outcast in the community for having a child out of wedlock so he took it all out on his victims one last time. When Salvino’s daughter revealed that the pregnancy was a lie and that she only did it to save [name_m]Paul[/name_m] from poisoning, all they truly did was briefly kissing once , he disowned her. As a result , after turning 19 [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] ‘s daughter ran away from home and left a note saying
Runaway note of [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] 's daughter
“ I need to get closure from [name_m]Paul[/name_m]. I want to apologise for developing feelings for him. You humiliated and abused him, you contributed to the death of his mother. You lied to me about being a winemaker while you were a common criminal. I have no respect for you or my mother. If I get killed for betraying this wretched family, so be it. The fact remains , [name_m]Paul[/name_m] is the only person who ever truly loved me. I want him to know that he is free to move on but I will never move on from him because he let me be free from what this family represents and from the lies I’d been fed before. The one kiss we shared between us was real even if it was covered in a veil of fear and paranoia that you sewed for both of us. Never, ever look for me or I’ll get the FBI involved.”
[name_m]Salvino[/name_m] however has no plans to listen, despite disowning his daughter he wants to still control her and make her live in shame for the rest of her life because of betraying the family. This means only one thing – he has to get accomplices who will help him look for his daughter out of fear… And who could be a better accomplice than [name_m]Tadzio[/name_m] , a former victim whom [name_m]Salvino[/name_m] has been invigilating for years and knows exactly about his plans to move to [name_u]Tennessee[/name_u]?