Chapter 26
Even through the digital television screen, his stormy gray eyes were sharp, clear, and filled with an undeniable, tragic message meant for only one person in the world.
He reached up with his handcuffed hands, tapped his thumb twice against his left lapel—the silent hand sign he used to give me when we were young, meaning *“I surrender everything to keep you safe.”*
Then, he stepped into the back of the federal transport, and the heavy steel doors slammed shut behind him.
I sat frozen on the lounge leather chair, my phone trembling in my hand. By surrendering his entire organization to the federal government, Vincent had completely dismantled the syndicate. Julian's faction was destroyed, my traitorous parents were behind bars, and every single threat to Emily's future had been systematically erased by his own hands.
He had chosen absolute imprisonment and the total destruction of his legacy to guarantee that no mob war would ever reach our doorstep in Boston.
"Flight 412 to Boston now boarding at Gate B12," the airport announcer's chime echoed over the loudspeaker.
Emily stood up from her small table, carefully packing her colored pencils into her backpack. She walked over to me, holding out her small hand, her gray eyes shining up at me with pure, unconditional love.
"Mommy?" Emily asked gently, pulling softly on my sleeve. "Are you ready?"
I looked down at my daughter—the precious, brilliant girl who had survived the cold cruelty of her birth to become the brightest light in my life.
I wiped a single, silent tear from my cheek, took her small hand firmly in mine, and stood up.
"Yes, sweetheart," I said, a genuine, beautiful smile breaking across my face for the first time in seven years. "I'm ready."
We walked down the jet bridge together, stepping onto the plane that would take us back to our quiet, peaceful life in Boston.
As the aircraft taxied down the runway, accelerating into the bright blue sky above the clouds, I looked out the window down at the shrinking skyline of Chicago. The past was finally buried. The shadows were gone.
Beside me, Emily rested her head against my shoulder, holding my hand tightly as we flew toward the sun.
Chapter 1: My Mafia Boss husband abandoned me while I was giving birth because his mistress was delivering his son one floor away. L009
Three years passed in the quiet, historic neighborhood of Beacon Hill, Boston.