Chapter 20 - The Unwritten Oath|
I stood up from the rocking chair, holding Leo tightly against my hip, watching Silas’s face as he read the encrypted message on the screen.
"Who is it from?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
Silas looked up from the screen, his expression dark, serious, and complex.
"It's from New York," Silas said quietly. "The Commission."
"What do they want?"
"The Castigliones collapsed two weeks ago," Silas revealed, walking toward the edge of the porch, looking out over the misty valley. "Their internal war destroyed their leadership. The other families in Chicago are tearing the city apart."
He turned back to look at me, holding up the tablet.
"The elders sent a message. They are offering to restore the Vance name, clear all bounties, and hand full control of the Midwest back to me... if I return to Chicago by winter."
A cold heavy dread settled back into my stomach.
I looked down at Leo, then up at my husband—the man who had built an empire, destroyed his enemies, and given up everything to save my life.
"What are you going to do?" I asked, my heart pounding in my chest.
Silas looked at the tablet, then tossed it into the stone fire pit burning near the porch steps.
The screen melted into a black smudge of plastic and ash within seconds.
He walked over to us, wrapping his arms around me and taking Leo into his broad chest, holding us both under the warm autumn sun.
"Chicago can burn," Silas whispered, kissing my lips with a deep, fierce passion. "My empire is right here."
A soft rustle sounded from the thick pine forest at the edge of the property line.
Silas didn't look back, but his hand subtly dropped to the grip of the concealed pistol tucked into his belt.
Far down in the trees, a single black vehicle sat parked in the shadows, its engine idling quietly in the cold air, waiting.
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Whether it brought peace or a new war, one thing was certain:
The King of Chicago was no longer running.
