Chapter 10 - A New Legacy
Six months later.
The news of the "Federal Reserve Leaks" had rocked the entire globe. Victor Vance, along with forty high-ranking federal officials, three senators, and over fifty members of Constantine’s syndicate, were now serving life sentences in federal penitentiaries. Constantine himself would spend the rest of his natural life in a maximum-security facility, his vast empire liquidated and destroyed by the very cipher he had sought to control.
The sun was setting over the Amalfi Coast in Southern Italy, painting the sky in brilliant hues of gold, pink, and violet.
I stood on the stone balcony of a private cliffside villa, watching the sapphire waves of the Mediterranean crash against the rocks below. I wore a simple, flowing white linen dress, my long hair catching the warm sea breeze.
I was no longer Amelia Reed, the invisible waitress hiding in the shadows of Queens. I was free. My father’s name had been officially cleared, his legacy honored as a tragic hero who had sacrificed everything to bring down a global evil.
A pair of strong arms wrapped gently around my waist from behind. Dominic pulled me back against his broad chest, burying his face in the crook of my neck, kissing the soft skin tenderly.
He had traded his dark, tailored New York suits for a relaxed linen shirt, his dark hair slightly ruffled by the wind. The mafia king of New York had stepped down, leaving his legitimized logistics businesses in the hands of trusted lieutenants, choosing instead a quiet life in paradise with the woman who had conquered his heart.
"What are you thinking about?" he murmured, his voice rich and deep, sending a familiar warmth straight to my heart.
"I was thinking about the night at The Sterling," I said softly, turning in his arms to wrap my hands around his neck, looking up into those dark eyes that no longer held ice, but an endless depth of love and devotion. "You offered a shy waitress ten million dollars to read a book."
Dominic smiled, that mesmerizing, rare smile that still made my breath catch after all these months. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box, opening it to reveal a breath-taking, cushion-cut canary yellow diamond ring that sparkled like the Italian sun.
"I made a mistake that night, Amelia," Dominic said softly, taking my hand and slipping the ring onto my finger—a perfect fit. "I thought ten million dollars was a high price. But the truth is... you are priceless. And I spend the rest of my life trying to prove it to you."
I looked at the ring, then up into the eyes of the man who had saved me, protected me, and loved me beyond measure.
May you like
"Is this another deal, Dominic Russo?" I asked, a playfully wittiness dancing in my voice.
"No deals," Dominic whispered, leaning down to capture my lips in a slow, deep, unending kiss as the golden sun dipped beneath the Italian horizon. "Just forever."
