Chapter 25 - The Return to Sanctuary
By Sunday evening, the Gulfstream had touched down back at Teterboro Airport, and the family was safely enclosed within the quiet, secure walls of the Manhattan penthouse.
Willa was fast asleep in her crib, exhausted from the weekend travels, her breathing soft and regular.
Vincent and Sloan sat together on the sofa in the living room, a bottle of aged Macallan open on the coffee table between them, though neither had poured a glass.
Sloan stared out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the glittering lights of the Manhattan skyline, her expression contemplative, as if a heavy anchor that had been dragging her down for six years had finally been cut loose.
“It’s really over, isn't it?” Sloan whispered, turning her head to look at him. “She can’t hurt us anymore.”
Vincent reached over, taking her hand in his, interlocking their fingers.
“It’s over,” Vincent confirmed softly. “The federal receivership will liquidate what’s left of her offshore holdings to establish a permanent trust fund for maternal healthcare and single-parent support—funded directly out of her accounts.”
Sloan blinked, surprised. “You’re giving her money away?”
“We’re turning her poison into an antidote,” Vincent replied, his dark eyes steady and warm. “It seemed like the only appropriate closing entry for that ledger.”
Sloan let out a long, shuddering breath, a brilliant, unburdened smile finally breaking across her face. She leaned over, resting her head against his shoulder.
May you like
“You know, Mr. Brooks,” she murmured, “you’re remarkably thorough when you want to be.”
“Only when it comes to the things that matter,” Vincent whispered, pressing a tender kiss into her hair.
