Chapter 10 - The Unbroken Circle
Two days later, the sun over Evanston was bright and warm, casting a golden glow across the red-brick pathways of the Loyola University campus.
A sleek black Suburban idled quietly near the edge of the quad.
Inside, sitting in the back seat, Brielle stared out the tinted window at a young woman with dark hair and bright, expressive eyes who was sitting at an outdoor metal table, sketching in a spiral notebook while laughing with a classmate.
Her heart hammered against her ribs, not with fear, but with a terrifying, beautiful anticipation.
The door beside her clicked open. Dante slid into the seat, closing it softly to give her privacy. He didn't say a word; he simply reached out, his warm, strong hand covering her trembling fingers where they gripped her knee.
"She looks happy," Brielle whispered, a tear slipping down her cheek, catching in the corner of her smile.
"She is," Dante said softly. "And she’s waiting for you."
Brielle took a deep, steadying breath, letting go of the last remnants of the eleven-year nightmare that had defined her survival. She turned to Dante, her pale blue eyes shining with a clarity and strength that belonged entirely to her now.
"Will you wait here?" she asked.
"I'll be right here," Dante promised, his dark eyes filled with a devotion that money couldn't buy and time couldn't erode. "For as long as it takes."
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Brielle pushed the car door open, stepping out onto the autumn grass. The wind caught her hair as she walked across the quad, leaving the shadows behind her, stepping forward into a future she had finally earned.
Dante watched her go through the tinted glass, knowing that the mafia king who ruled Chicago had finally found the one thing worth more than an empire: a reason to truly come home.
