Chapter 10 - CHECKMATE (THE END)
The sun broke over the snow-covered peaks of the Green Mountains at 7:15 AM, casting a blinding, golden glare across the frozen landscape.
A single black SUV idled at the end of the logging road, its exhaust pipe puffing thick plumes of white smoke into the frigid morning air.
Matteo Vescari walked out of the cabin alone. His face was pale, his shoulders slumped beneath the heavy wool coat, his legendary aura of untouchable power utterly shattered. He didn't look back at the cabin. He climbed into the driver’s seat, slammed the door, and steered the vehicle down the winding mountain pass toward the highway leading south.
Inside the cabin, the fire was dying down to glowing red embers.
Vivien Cross stood by the frosted window, watching the tail lights of the SUV disappear around a distant bend in the pine-lined road. She picked up her wedding ring from the wooden windowsill where Luca had dropped it during the scuffle, turned it over once in her palm, and dropped it casually into the blazing hearth, watching the platinum glint disappear into the ash.
She walked over to the kitchen table, snapped the brass latches of the black case shut, and slipped on her leather gloves.
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The empire was hers. Every building, every dollar, every secret.
She grabbed her coat, zipped the duffel bag, and walked out the front door into the crisp mountain air, leaving the past buried in the snow behind her.
