Chapter 6 - THE CONFESSION IN THE KITCHENAs federal agents swarmed the dining room, cuffing uncles, cousins, and legal associates one by one, Daniel turned away from the chaos and walked back through the swinging doors into the quiet sanctuary of the kitchen.
Evelyn was standing by the stainless-steel counter. The ceramic bowl of red rice and roasted peppers still sat there, untouched, cooling under the harsh fluorescent lights.
Daniel walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and burying his face in the crook of her neck. His shoulders finally lost their rigid tension, trembling slightly with the exhaustion of a war that had lasted eight agonizing years.
"You knew," Evelyn whispered, her hands resting over his on her stomach. "You knew they were going to try to kill you tonight on the bridge."
"I knew they would try something as soon as the transfer papers cleared," Daniel murmured against her skin. "I just didn't expect them to target you at the dinner table. When I walked in and saw that plate... I almost forgot my own name."
"You were terrifying," Evelyn said with a faint, ironic smile. "I thought you were going to shoot half the table."
"I considered it," Daniel admitted without a trace of humor. "Especially Marcus."
Evelyn turned around in his arms, looking up into his dark, tired eyes. The cut above his eyebrow had stopped bleeding, leaving a jagged purple mark against his skin.
"What happens now?" she asked. "The estate is federal property. The company assets are frozen. The family is going away for a very long time."
"Now," Daniel said, a genuine, soft smile finally breaking through his hard exterior, "we pack two bags, catch the red-eye flight to Savannah, and open that southern-style restaurant your grandmother always dreamed of."
May you like
Evelyn blinked in surprise. "You want to move to Georgia? Leave all of this behind?"
"I left it behind the moment I married you, Evie," Daniel said, kissing her forehead gently. "The empire was never mine to keep. It was just a cage I had to tear down to find my way out."
