Chapter 17 - the shadow council
The lakeside compound in Geneva Lake was an fortress surrounded by high wrought-iron gates, dense pine forests, and round-the-clock security patrols. By midnight, the storm had moved inland, leaving the lake smooth as black glass under a half-moon.
In the grand living room overlooking the water, a roaring fire crackled in the stone hearth. Sarah was sitting on a soft leather sofa, wrapped in a cashmere blanket, a warm cup of herbal tea resting on the table beside her. Her color had improved dramatically over the past forty-eight hours; the pale, ghostly look on her cheeks was slowly giving way to a healthy flush.
Lily was sitting on the rug near the hearth, fast asleep, her head resting on the lap of Nathan's heavy guard dog—a massive black Neapolitan Mastiff named Nero that had attached himself to the little girl the moment she arrived at the compound.
Nathan stood near the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, watching his security team inspect the outer perimeter fence with thermal scopes. The three leather-bound ledgers were laid out on the mahogany coffee table behind him, opened to the pages detailing thirty years of syndicate operations.
"You're going to dismantle the entire council, aren't you?" Sarah asked softly, her voice breaking the quiet rustle of the fire.
Nathan turned around, looking down at her. "The council is built on rot, Sarah. My father allowed Domenico to turn our family business into a protection racket. My mother tried to stop them, and they killed her for it. I spent fifteen years running their streets, thinking I was honoring my family's legacy, when all I was doing was protecting the men who destroyed my life."
Sarah reached out from beneath her blanket, her thin fingers touching Nathan’s hand as he walked past the sofa. "Nate... I never stopped loving you. Not for a single day in those seven years. When Domenico told me you would die if I didn't run, I would have walked to the end of the earth to keep you safe."
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Nathan looked down at her hands—the soft skin that had haunted his memory through a thousand lonely nights in Chicago. He sat down beside her on the edge of the sofa, taking her hand in his massive palm, his dark eyes softening completely.
"I know," he murmured, raising her hand to his lips and pressing a gentle kiss against her knuckles. "I know now. And I am sorry for every day I let you suffer alone in that cold room."
