Chapter 16 - One Sandwich, One Life
The newspapers called it the Belladonna Harbor Reckoning.
Dozens of arrests followed.
Gabriel surrendered financial records voluntarily.
He closed illegal gambling operations.
Ended protection rackets.
Sold properties tied to trafficking and smuggling.
His own attorneys thought he'd lost his mind.
Harper understood.
He wasn't destroying his empire.
He was deciding what parts deserved to survive.
Months later, Harper returned to the alley where she'd found him.
Gabriel followed.
“You know,” she said, “you still owe me half a grilled cheese.”
“I bought you an apartment.”
“I didn't ask for it.”
“You refused it.”
“Correct.”
“I paid your rent.”
“You secretly paid my landlord. I made him return it.”
Gabriel sighed.
“You are extraordinarily difficult to repay.”
Harper smiled.
“Maybe stop trying.”
He looked at her.
“Then what do I do?”
“Live differently.”
Gabriel glanced toward the place where he'd nearly died.
“I can try.”
“For Adrian.”
“For your mother.”
Harper shook her head.
“For yourself.”
May you like
Gabriel had no answer.
But he remembered it.
