Chapter 9 - I Married Roman Twice—But the Second Wedding Was the First Time We Were Truly Free
Our second wedding was small.
No politicians.
No criminals.
No cameras.
Just family and friends.
My mother walked me down the aisle.
My father stood beside Roman.
Noah carried the rings.
And the man who once ruled Chicago's criminal underworld stood before me as simply my husband.
When Roman took my hands, he whispered:
“Thank you for choosing me.”
I smiled.
“You made it easy.”
“I didn't.”
“You did.”
We promised each other honesty.
No secrets.
No disappearing.
No protecting one another by lying.
The wedding ended with everyone dancing inside the diner.
Even my father.
Even my mother.
Roman laughed when he saw me laughing.
“What?”
“You're different.”
“So are you.”
He kissed me.
That night, we sat on the roof.
Chicago glittered around us.
I thought about the night Preston poured soda over my head.
How small I had felt.
How helpless.
Then I thought about what came afterward.
Not revenge.
Not violence.
Truth.
Roman put his arm around me.
“I wish I had found you sooner.”
I looked at him.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I needed to become who I am before I could love someone like you.”
He smiled.
“That might be the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me.”
“I have a second one.”
“What?”
“Your coffee is terrible.”
He laughed.
Our lives finally became peaceful.
Until one afternoon, my mother handed me a letter.
It was from my grandmother.
She had left it years before her death.
The letter contained one final secret.
My grandmother hadn't created The Chairman.
She had created the first organization to destroy it.
The criminal network had been a corrupted copy.
The real mission had always been to expose corruption.
That meant the DeLuca and Marino families weren't destined to be enemies.
They had been manipulated into becoming them.
My family had been fighting the wrong battle for generations.
Now it was over.
We burned the final copies of the ledger.
Not the evidence given to authorities.
Only the secrets that no longer needed to control anyone.
I watched the pages burn.
Roman stood beside me.
“Feels good.”
I nodded.
“Very.”
Then he took my hand.
“Ready to go home?”
I looked at the diner.
At my family.
May you like
At the city.
“Yes.”
