Chapter 9 - Ashes of the Empire
An hour later, inside the cabin of the yacht cut through the dark waters toward international territory, I performed emergency surgery on Dante using the boat’s first-aid kit and standard surgical scalpels I had packed in my medical bag.
I clamped his bleeding arteries, stitched his torn flesh, and extracted a 9mm bullet from his left shoulder without anesthesia. Dante didn't make a sound. He kept his dark eyes locked on Mia, who had fallen asleep on the cabin sofa, holding his bad hand in her small fingers.
“The evidence on the flash drive,” Dante rasped as I tied off the final suture on his chest. “Did you hand it to the feds?”
“No,” I said softly, wiping his brow with a damp towel. “Marcus leaked it to the Department of Justice from an encrypted server ten minutes ago. Valerio’s entire network, every corrupt politician, every dock supervisor, every enforcer—they’re being arrested across five states right now. The Moretti crime family is dead, Dante.”
Dante looked up at me, his gaze searching my eyes for the woman he had left six years ago. “And what about us, Claire? What about the monster who broke your heart?”
I sat down on the edge of the cot, taking his blood-stained hand in mine.
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“You’re not a monster, Dante. You were a boy trying to keep the girl he loved from being murdered by devils,” I whispered, tears filling my eyes. “But you lied to me for six years. You stole my right to choose whether I wanted to fight beside you.”
“I’ll spend the rest of my life earning it back,” Dante vowed, his voice absolute. “If you let me.”
