Chapter 9 - TWO CHERRIES
Six months later, the sun was shining brightly over the Hudson River.
The park was crowded with families enjoying the early spring weather. Children chased seagulls, dogs barked, and the smell of roasted peanuts drifted from a nearby vendor cart.
Sitting on a green wooden bench, dressed in a sharp but casual gray sweater, was Adrian Moretti.
Beside him sat Lily, wearing a bright yellow sundress and eating a massive chocolate ice cream cone.
Adrian watched her, a deep, profound peace settled over his features. The dark circles under his eyes were gone. The cold, ruthless edge of the mafia boss had been replaced by the quiet strength of a father.
He shifted his weight, crossing one leg over the other.
He still walked with a slight limp, and he used a polished black cane on bad weather days, but the wheelchair was gone forever. Dr. Evans’s poison had been flushed from his system, and months of grueling physical therapy had given him his life back.
“Daddy, look!” Lily pointed excitedly toward the water.
A large mallard duck was waddling aggressively toward them, demanding a share of the ice cream cone.
Adrian laughed, a rich, genuine sound that he hadn’t made in three years. He reached into a paper bag beside him and tossed a handful of cracked corn toward the duck.
“You can’t feed him chocolate, Lily. He’s on a strict diet.”
Lily giggled, wiping a smudge of chocolate off her nose.
The world had changed drastically since the night at the warehouse.
The explosion had blown the lid off the Moretti syndicate. Adrian hadn’t run from the police. Instead, he had handed the FBI the audio cassette tape, Claire’s diary, and the entire ledger of his father’s offshore accounts.
In exchange for full immunity and the dismantling of his own criminal empire, Adrian had given the federal government everything they needed to tear down the old Don’s operation root and branch.
Adrian’s father had been arrested in his luxury penthouse and transferred to a federal supermax medical facility, where he would spend the rest of his miserable life staring at a concrete wall.
Uncle Paulie had awoken from his concussion in police custody and immediately flipped on the rest of the captains to save himself, causing the entire New York underworld to cannibalize itself.
As for Marcus… Marcus had survived the sniper wound. In a twisted act of redemption, he had pled guilty to his role in the car bombing and the orphanage fire, but he had used his extensive knowledge of the syndicate’s operations to corroborate Adrian’s evidence, ensuring the old Don went away forever.
Marcus was currently serving a thirty-year sentence in a medium-security facility in upstate New York. Every month, Adrian sent him a photograph of Lily, just so Marcus would know his daughter was safe and happy.
Adrian had used the five million dollars in Claire’s blind trust to set up a legitimate real estate development firm, building affordable housing in the neighborhoods his family used to extort.
He had legally adopted Lily two months ago. The judge had finalized the paperwork on a Tuesday afternoon, and Adrian had cried in the courtroom.
“Are you sad, Daddy?” Lily asked, noticing him staring thoughtfully at the water.
Adrian blinked, pulling himself back to the present. He looked at the little girl swinging her legs on the bench next to him. She still carried her ragged stuffed rabbit everywhere, but it had been carefully stitched up and washed until it smelled like lavender detergent instead of cheap soap.
“No, sweetheart,” Adrian smiled, wrapping an arm around her small shoulders and pulling her close. “I’m not sad at all. I was just thinking about how lucky I am.”
Lily nodded sagely, taking another bite of her ice cream.
She looked down at the bottom of her cup.
“I saved the best part for last,” she announced proudly.
She held up her plastic spoon. Resting perfectly in the bowl of the spoon were two bright red maraschino cherries.
Adrian’s heart skipped a beat. He stared at the two cherries, a wave of bittersweet memory washing over him. Sophie’s voice echoed in his mind. Good things go last.
He looked up at the sky, a silent, profound thank you forming on his lips. Claire had given him this second chance. She had reached from beyond the grave to save him, to give him back the family he thought he had lost forever.
“Can I eat them now?” Lily asked.
Adrian smiled, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.
“Yes, little bird,” Adrian said softly, kissing the top of her head. “You can eat them now.”
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Lily popped the cherries into her mouth, a massive grin spreading across her face.
They sat together on the bench, watching the ducks, completely safe, entirely loved, and exactly where they were meant to be.
