# HE PAID ME TO DISAPPEAR WHILE I HID HIS BABY — SIX YEARS LATER, OUR SON ROLLED A TOY CAR TO THE MAFIA KING WHO NEVER KNEW HE EXISTED

"No."

The word hung in the air, defiant and sharp. Storm stared at me as if I had spoken a foreign language.

We were standing on the tarmac of a private airfield, the engines of a Gulfstream whining in the background. Leo was already inside with Mrs. Higgins—whom Storm had managed to safely extract from Boston to keep Leo calm.

"Juliet, get on the plane," Storm commanded.

"I am not running again," I said, stepping closer to him. The wind whipped my hair across my face, but I didn't blink. "I ran six years ago because you made me. I am not leaving you to die in Chicago."

"I am not going to die."

"You are walking into a war zone to play a hero!" I shouted, hitting his chest. "You think dying for us makes you a good father? Living for him makes you a good father, Storm!"

Storm grabbed my wrists, pulling me flush against his chest. His eyes were wild, desperate. "If I don't end them, they will hunt you forever. I have to sever the head of the snake. I have to protect you."

"Then let the feds do it!" I cried. "Give them the ledgers. Give them the evidence. Step down, Storm. Walk away from all of it."

He froze. "If I walk away, I lose the empire."

"If you don't, you lose us!" I stared up at him, tears finally spilling over. "I love you. I never stopped loving you. Not for a single day of those six years. But I will not let my son watch his father get lowered into a grave because of pride. Choose us, Storm. Be the man who walks away."

Storm stared at me, the conflict tearing him apart. The empire was his blood, his legacy. It was everything he had built since he was a ruthless kid on the streets of Brooklyn.

But then he looked past me, toward the window of the jet.

Leo was pressing his small hands against the glass, watching his father.

Storm’s shoulders dropped. The rigid, terrifying posture of the Mafia King dissolved. He let go of my wrists and cupped my face, kissing me with a fierce, crushing desperation that tasted like salt and promises.

"Malcolm!" Storm shouted, breaking the kiss but keeping his forehead pressed to mine.

The lawyer stepped forward. "Boss?"

"Call Agent Harris at the FBI. Tell him Vanguard Holdings is ready to make a deal. Full immunity for my family. Complete handover of the Chicago and New York syndicates."