Chapter 10 - ASHES TO EMPIRES
The aftermath of the docks massacre shifted the balance of power in New York. With Marco dead and the truth revealed, I systematically dismantled the corrupt factions within my own family. I paid reparations to the surviving Romano siblings, forging a shaky but bloodless truce.
I spent the next month tearing down the violent empire I had inherited, transitioning our assets into legitimate real estate and shipping enterprises. The fear that had ruled my life was gone, replaced by a desperate need for redemption.
I hadn't seen Elena in three weeks. After she pulled me from the water, I had ordered my most trusted men to take her back to her quiet life, leaving her with a heavily guarded, anonymous trust fund. I was radioactive. I needed to sanitize my world before I could even dare to breathe her air again.
But the silence in my penthouse was deafening. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her in those cartoon scrubs, or bandaging my gunshot wound in a freezing barn, or pulling me from the ocean.
I stood in my office, looking out at the glittering skyline, a fractured man trying to become whole. My phone buzzed. It was a text from an unknown number.
May you like
“The children’s wing received a ridiculous anonymous donation today. You promised to stop throwing money at me, Mr. Morelli.”
A slow, genuine smile broke across my face for the first time in a decade. I grabbed my coat.
