Chapter 13 - Breaking the Silence
The sun rose over the Hudson Valley,
painting the sky in brilliant shades of amber and violet.
The November rain had stopped,
leaving the sprawling gardens glistening like polished glass.
Morning news broadcasts across the country erupted with breaking headlines.
Marcus Caruso,
candidate for state attorney general,
arrested in a massive federal corruption sweep.
Caruso Holdings shares flickered,
but stabilized instantly as public statements confirmed that Gabriel Caruso had cooperated with federal authorities to purge corruption from the family empire.
I stood on the stone balcony of the estate,
sipping a cup of hot black coffee.
The crisp morning air filled my lungs.
For the first time in five years,
the suffocating weight on my chest was gone.
Footsteps crunched on the gravel terrace below.
I looked down to see Gabriel walking through the gardens with Lucy riding proudly on his shoulders.
She was holding a makeshift scepter made of fallen twigs,
laughing as Gabriel pointed out a flock of migrating geese overhead.
The dark,
ruthless mafia boss I had feared for eleven months looked entirely different in the morning light.
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