Chapter 18 - Sunrise Over Chicago
I waited until sunrise to open Dad’s letter.
Mateo sat beside me on the roof terrace.
Chicago glowed beyond us.
For once, nobody was shooting.
Nobody was chasing us.
Nobody was secretly related to somebody else.
Hopefully.
I opened the envelope.
My Harper,
If you are reading this, then you know far more about my life than I ever wanted you to.
My eyes blurred.
First, understand something before anything else.
You were my daughter from the moment I held you. Biology never had a vote.
I cried.
Mateo squeezed my hand.
I continued.
Dad explained Dominic had told him the truth before I was born.
Robert chose to stay.
He chose me.
He chose our family.
Every day.
Dominic made terrible choices, Harper. So did I. The difference between a good man and a bad man is not whether he ever fails. It is what he does after he understands the damage he caused.
I looked at Mateo.
He stared toward the skyline.
Dad wrote about Mateo too.
I met Mateo only twice. He was angry, proud and carrying more responsibility than any young man should. I believed then—and still believe—that if someone ever convinces him he deserves a life beyond survival, he might become the man Elena hoped he would be.
Mateo looked away.
“Your father was annoyingly perceptive.”
I smiled through tears.
The letter continued.
Dad apologized for the secrets.
Then:
Do not spend your life finishing my war. Finish your own life instead.
That sentence changed me.
For weeks, I had been moving from danger to danger because people who were already dead had left unfinished battles.
My father was giving me permission to stop.
Dominic eventually pleaded guilty to multiple financial crimes and conspiracy charges.
He cooperated fully.
His testimony brought down corrupt officials and business partners connected to the old network.
Samuel Novak accepted a deal after recovering from his injuries.
Vincent faced kidnapping, attempted murder, racketeering and multiple financial charges.
Rosa visited him in prison.
Not because she forgave him.
Because she was his mother.
Sarah entered witness protection after testifying.
Before leaving, she asked to see me.
We met once.
She cried.
“I don’t expect forgiveness.”
“Good.”
She laughed through tears.
“I miss you.”
“I miss who I thought you were.”
That hurt both of us.
Maybe someday it would become forgiveness.
Not yet.
My mother moved closer to Emily.
Our relationship was awkward.
Complicated.
Real.
She couldn’t recover fourteen years.
But she could show up tomorrow.
Sometimes that had to be enough.
Then there was Mateo.
Federal investigators dropped several allegations against him after discovering fabricated evidence.
Other investigations remained.
Mateo did something nobody expected.
He cooperated.
Fully.
He shut down every illegal operation still associated with people under his control.
Sold businesses tied to underground gambling.
Created an independent compliance board for Valente Transportation.
It cost him millions.
Maybe hundreds of millions.
One night I asked why.
We were sitting in his kitchen.
He was eating marshmallow cereal again.
He shrugged.
“I became tired.”
“Of being rich?”
“No.”
“Powerful?”
“No.”
“Terrifying?”
He looked at me.
“Of surviving.”
I stopped joking.
He continued.
“I want to live.”
My heart tightened.
“With me?”
“If you’ll have me.”
“You are aware I make nineteen dollars an hour.”
“You don’t anymore.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
“Mateo.”
He looked innocent.
Terrible performance.
I discovered later he had arranged an interview for me with a hospitality management firm.
Not a fake position.
A real interview.
I got the job myself.
I made sure of that.
Six months after the hotel incident, I stood outside room 716 again.
The hotel had renovated.
New door.
New plaque.
Mateo stood beside me.
“Why are we here?”
“You booked this room?”
“Yes.”
“That is psychologically questionable.”
“I thought it was romantic.”
“You need better advisers.”
He opened the door.
No guns.
No shattered furniture.
No blood.
A beautiful view of Chicago.
I walked toward the bed.
“This is weird.”
“Very.”
I turned.
Mateo looked nervous.
Mateo Valente.
Nervous.
My stomach flipped.
“Oh God.”
“What?”
“You’re doing something.”
“I’m standing.”
“You’re standing suspiciously.”
He laughed.
Then reached into his pocket.
I held up both hands.
“No.”
His face fell.
“Harper—”
“I swear, if that is a ring, do not kneel.”
He blinked.
“Why?”
“Because after everything we’ve been through, I refuse to have a normal proposal.”
His smile returned.
“So what would you prefer?”
I looked at the bed.
Then at him.
“Wake me at two thirty.”
His eyebrow lifted.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
I climbed into bed fully dressed.
“This time I’ll know exactly whose bed I’m entering.”
Mateo laughed.
A real laugh.
The sound still surprised me.
I pulled the blanket over myself.
“Turn off the lights.”
He obeyed.
I smiled into the darkness.
For the first time, room 716 didn’t feel like the place my life almost ended.
May you like
It felt like the place it had started over.
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