Chapter 10 - The Empire We Built
One year later, the Chicago underworld looked very different.
Dante Moretti was a fugitive hiding somewhere in South America, his syndicate shattered and absorbed piece by piece into the expanding empire of the Romano family. The Northern Syndicate was stronger, richer, and more secure than it had ever been in its history.
And inside the Romano estate, the sound of industrial bleach and silent terror had been replaced by something entirely unexpected: laughter.
In the sunroom—now fully restored with reinforced, crystal-clear glass—seven-year-old Leo was sitting on the heated floor, building an enormous tower out of wooden blocks.
I sat on a velvet sofa nearby, nursing a cup of tea, watching as Leo carefully balanced a final block on top of his creation.
"Look, Clara! It's taller than the piano!" Leo cheered, turning around with a wide, bright grin.
"Careful, or it'll come tumbling down," I smiled, setting my teacup aside.
The heavy double doors of the sunroom opened, and Victor walked in. He had discarded his suit jacket; his white shirtsleeves were rolled up, and his dark hair was slightly tousled by the wind outside.
He walked over, stopping behind the sofa. Without a word, his large, warm hands settled gently onto my shoulders, massaging the old, faded scars where the bullets had torn through me a year ago.
I leaned back against his chest, closing my eyes and breathing in the familiar scent of cedar, rain, and expensive cologne.
"How are the docks?" I asked softly.
"Quiet," Victor murmured, pressing a soft, lingering kiss to the crown of my head. "Nobody's foolish enough to test us anymore. Not after what happened last year."
Leo looked up from his blocks, grinning at his father. "Dad, can we go horse riding in the courtyard before dinner?"
Victor looked down at his son, then over at me. The cold, ruthless syndicate boss who terrified half the city melted away completely, leaving only the man who had found his salvation in the arms of an invisible girl.
"Only if your mother says yes," Victor replied, a rare, genuine smile touching his lips.
May you like
I looked up at my husband—the monster king who had given me his world, his heart, and his protection—and smiled.
"Yes," I said. "We can all go."
