Chapter 15 - A New Empire
The gunshot echoed through the Preston Hollow estate like a clap of summer thunder, shattering the crystal chandelier above the dining table into a thousand sparkling fragments.
When I walked back out through the grand front doors into the cool Texas night, the air felt lighter for the first time in four years.
The empire was mine.
Not the syndicate of drugs, cartels, and backroom assassinations that my mother and Julian had tried to forge in the shadows, but something entirely different.
I climbed back into the armored Escalade and pulled the heavy door shut.
Madison sat in the back seat, wrapped in her blanket, watching me with wide, tear-filled eyes.
"Is it over?" she whispered, her voice trembling slightly.
I slid onto the leather seat beside her, wrapping my arm around her fragile shoulders and pulling her against my chest.
"It's over," I said softly, resting my chin against her hair.
"We're going home, Mads."
"Not this house."
"Somewhere far away from Dallas."
"Somewhere where there are no ledgers, no guns, and no lies."
She closed her eyes, a genuine, peaceful sigh escaping her lips as she leaned into my warmth.
May you like
The black SUV shifted into gear, gliding smoothly down the limestone driveway through the iron gates that opened wide into the dark, limitless Texas night.
For the first time in four years, the ghost in the rearview mirror was finally laid to rest.
