Chapter 6 - Rebuilding the ThroneOne by one, the capos lowered their eyes.
Salvatore Vance swallowed hard, swallowed his pride, and slowly pushed his chair back, standing up to offer a stiff, formal bow of his head. "To the new Don. Long live the Rossi family."
The rest of the table followed suit. In a matter of minutes, the internal coup was settled without firing a single shot. The syndicate belonged entirely to me now, not as an inheritance handed down by a tyrant mother, but as a kingdom conquered through blood, fire, and absolute resolve.
By evening, the heavy rain outside had finally cleared, leaving behind a crisp, cool Chicago night.
I returned to the east wing, dismissing the guards stationed outside the door. When I stepped into the bedroom, Grace was awake. She was propped up against a stack of fluffy pillows, holding little Leo in her arms, looking down at him with a soft, radiant smile that seemed to wash away the haunting shadows of the past six months.
The sight of her—survived, unbroken, and holding our son—hit me with a wave of profound emotion that nearly knocked me off my feet.
I walked quietly to the edge of the bed. Grace looked up, her dark eyes meeting mine, softening instantly.
"Is it over?" she whispered softly, not wanting to wake the baby sleeping soundly against her chest.
"It's over," I murmured, sitting down on the edge of the mattress and gently wrapping my arms around both of them, pulling them close. "The syndicate has accepted my leadership. My mother is locked away, never to touch you or our son again. And the men who helped her... they've been dealt with."
Grace leaned her head against my shoulder, letting out a long, shuddering sigh of pure relief. "I was so afraid, Christian. Down in that dark room... every day I thought I would never see you again. I thought our baby would be born in a cage."
"You never have to be afraid again," I swore, pressing my lips firmly against her hair. "I spent the last six months fighting the wrong wars across the ocean, thinking I was protecting our future. But our real battle was right here under our own roof. That ends tonight."
"What happens now?" she asked, looking up into my eyes with a mixture of exhaustion and fierce hope.
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"Now, we rebuild," I smiled, tracing a gentle finger down Leo’s tiny, perfect cheek. "We leave this cursed estate behind. We take our son, we buy that quiet home by the coast you always looked at in the magazines, and we live a real life. The mafia will run from a distance, but my family will never spend another second inside a prison."
Grace smiled, her eyes shining with tears of joy as she leaned in and pressed her lips softly against mine.
