Chapter 6 - The Golden Cage and the Little Boy
By the following Monday, Mave had been moved from the sterile recovery room into a sprawling guest suite on the top floor of the Colazo estate — a fortified, heavily guarded sanctuary surrounded by iron gates and towering stone walls on the outskirts of Boston.
She had fought the move at first, insisting with stubborn, exhausted pride that she needed to go back to her apartment on 4th Street, that Finn would be scared if he woke up somewhere unfamiliar. But her argument had dissolved the moment Dante personally escorted Finn and his favorite stuffed bear through the front doors of the estate.
Finn hadn't been scared at all. In fact, upon seeing the indoor heated pool, the private tutor waiting in the library, and the fact that a cheerful chef named Mrs. Gallo baked fresh chocolate chip cookies every afternoon, the nine-year-old boy had looked up at Mave with wide, glowing eyes and whispered, "Mom, are we rich now?"
Mave had laughed through her tears, realizing for the first time in her life what safety actually felt like.
She was sitting in a plush velvet armchair by the library window now, a soft cashmere shawl draped over her uninjured shoulder, watching Finn play chess with Dante in the corner of the room. Dante, the terrifying enforcer who had broken a hitman's collarbone with a single knee strike, was currently losing to a nine-year-old because he was intentionally letting the boy take his rook.
"Checkmate in three moves, Mr. Dante," Finn announced proudly, tapping his knight against the board.
Dante raised his hands in mock defeat, chuckling darkly. "You got me again, kid. You're ruthless. Must run in the family."
Mave smiled softly, turning her gaze back toward the French doors leading to the courtyard.
That was when Rafe walked in.
He had just returned from a meeting downtown, his overcoat unbuttoned, his tie slightly loosened. As he entered the room, both Dante and Finn immediately stood up with an instinctive show of respect.
"At ease, Dante. Good game, Finn," Rafe said, nodding to the boy with a warmth he reserved for almost no one else on earth. "Your mother and I need to talk for a few minutes. Why don't you and Dante check out the koi pond in the East Garden?"
"Can we feed them?" Finn asked eagerly.
"Mrs. Gallo has a bucket of fish food waiting by the door," Rafe replied.
Within seconds, the room emptied, leaving only Mave and Rafe alone in the quiet, book-lined sanctuary.
Rafe walked over, pulling up a chair opposite her. He studied her face, noting that the bruised pallor of her skin had been replaced by a healthy glow, and the chronic tension lines around her mouth had finally begun to soften.
"How is the shoulder?" he asked, his voice low.
"Better," Mave said, meeting his eyes. "Dr. Aris said I can drop the sling for a few hours a day. Though... I still feel like I'm living in a dream, Rafe."
It was the first time she had used his first name without adding 'Mr. Colazo'. The informality hung in the air, sweet and natural.
"It's not a dream," Rafe said quietly. "It's reality. You earned every square inch of this, Mave."
"I didn't do it to earn anything," she replied softly, looking down at her hands. "I just... I saw her laughing. She reminded me of how happy Finn looks when he's playing outside. I couldn't just let her get hurt."
Rafe reached across the small gap between their chairs, his warm, strong fingers closing gently over her knuckles. Mave’s breath hitched slightly, but she didn't pull away.
"I know," Rafe murmured, his thumb brushing over her skin. "And that's why you're here. Because in a world full of predators and parasites, you are entirely, impossibly real."
Before Mave could find the words to answer, the heavy double doors of the library burst open.
Gianna rushed into the room, her dark hair flying, her face flushed with excitement, holding a thick manila envelope in her hand.
"Rafe! Mave! You have to see this!" Gianna gasped, stopping short when she saw how close their chairs were. A bright, knowing smile flashed across her young face, though she politely ignored it. "The federal marshals just dropped off the final deposition package from the federal prosecutor's office."
Rafe stood up, his professional mask sliding back into place, though his thumb lingered on Mave’s hand for one extra second before he released it. "What did they find on Moretti?"
"Everything," Gianna said, tossing the envelope onto the coffee table. "The encrypted servers we seized from his warehouse on Pier 14 contained the financial ledgers for three years of arms trafficking, tax fraud, and — most importantly — the wire transfer receipt for the hit on me."
Rafe’s eyes darkened into obsidian. "Is it enough?"
"Federal indictments came down twenty minutes ago," Gianna beamed. "Victor Moretti and his top four lieutenants were arrested at their North End headquarters before they even finished breakfast. They're looking at federal racketeering charges with zero chance of bail. Moretti's empire is officially finished."
The room fell silent.
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Mave exhaled a long, slow breath she felt like she'd been holding for days. The shadow that had hung over the city — the invisible war that had nearly cost her life and shattered her family — was finally over. Victor Moretti was gone.
"Good," Rafe said coldly, walking over to the window and looking out over the iron gates toward the city skyline. "The city just got a lot cleaner."
