Chapter 6 - A City Built on Grace
One year later.
Spring had arrived in Chicago with a burst of cherry blossoms along the riverwalk and green grass stretching across Millennium Park.
The wedding of Dominic Russo and Chloe Hayes was spoken of in the city for months—not because of lavish extravagance or syndicate politics, but because it took place in the open courtyard of The Kitchen of Eleanor & Chloe, surrounded by five hundred guests that included city leaders, doctors, former co-workers, and families who had been served by the foundation over the past year.
Chloe wore a simple, breathtaking lace dress that floated around her like sea foam.
Dominic stood beside her in a black tuxedo, unable to take his eyes off his bride for a single second.
Gregory Bell was no longer in Chicago.
After his firing, he had been forced to take a low-level assistant manager job at a highway diner two hundred miles south, where he spent his days wiping down vinyl booths and reflecting on the cost of arrogance.
And Arthur Russo lived in the sunlit penthouse, his memory stabilized, surrounded by a family that adored him. Every afternoon, he could be found sitting at his favorite table at The Kitchen, eating potato-leek soup and telling visitors stories about the sweet girl who had saved his life on a rainy November morning.
On a warm May evening, Dominic and Chloe stood on the private balcony of their penthouse, looking out over the sparkling lights of the Chicago skyline.
Dominic wrapped his arms around her from behind, pulling her close against his chest. His hands rested gently over her waist, where a small, barely perceptible curve was beginning to show beneath her silk dress.
A new life. A new Russo.
“What are you thinking about?” Dominic whispered, kissing the sweet skin behind her ear.
Chloe looked down at the river reflecting the silver moon, feeling the solid, unbreakable warmth of the man holding her. She touched the ring on her finger, smiling into the soft night breeze.
“I was thinking about twelve dollars,” Chloe murmured softly.
Dominic chuckled, his deep voice vibrating through her back. “The most expensive bowl of soup in the history of Chicago.”
“No,” Chloe corrected gently, turning in his arms to look up into those pale gray eyes that held her entire world. “The best investment I ever made.”
Dominic smiled, leaning down to press his lips against hers in a soft, eternal promise.
The storm was over.
May you like
The cold was gone.
And in the city he owned, the only law that mattered now was the warmth they had built together.
