Chapter 7 - The Cleansing of the Estate
Three weeks later.
The Hudson Valley was bathed in the warm, golden light of late spring. The damage from the night of the siege had been completely repaired; the glass of the conservatory had been replaced, the stone balustrade restored, and new rosebushes planted along the lower courtyard.
The Vitale estate no longer looked like an impenetrable military bunker.
The heavy steel grates on the ground-floor windows had been removed, allowing the sweet mountain breeze to sweep through the high-ceilinged corridors.
In the grand study where Domenico Vitale had died twenty years earlier, Damiano sat behind his desk. But he wasn't looking at ledgers or hit lists.
He was watching a small wooden toy boat float across a glass bowl of water on the corner of his desk, pushed along by a tiny, grass-stained finger.
Lily sat on a high cushion beside his chair, giggling as she made splashing sounds with her hands.
"Careful, Lily," Emma said, walking into the room carrying a tray with two porcelain cups of coffee and a small plate of fresh lemon cookies. She wore a beautiful yellow summer dress that matched her daughter's, her blonde hair falling softly around her shoulders.
"It's alright, Emma," Damiano smiled—a genuine, warm smile that had become a frequent sight on his face over the past three weeks. "She's testing the naval defenses."
Emma set the tray down on the desk, setting a cup of coffee in front of Damiano. She didn't step back. Instead, she rested her hand casually on his shoulder, her thumb gently caressing his collarbone.
"Enzo said the final settlement with the New York commission was signed this morning," Emma said softly.
Damiano leaned back into her touch, reaching up to cover her hand with his own. "Yes. The Bellandi territories have been completely liquidated. The commission accepted our terms without a single objection. The Vitale family is officially out of the narcotics and extortion business. We are transitioning entirely into shipping and real estate."
"And Renato?" Emma asked quietly.
Damiano’s eyes grew cool for a fraction of a second, though the old dark rage was gone. "Renato will spend the rest of his life in a federal maximum-security facility. Marco provided the Justice Department with twenty years of his private financial ledgers. He will never see the light of day again."
Emma leaned down, pressing a soft, lingering kiss against Damiano’s cheek. "You kept your promise."
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"I always keep my promises to you," Damiano whispered, turning his head to catch her lips in a tender, lingering kiss that made Lily cover her eyes with Daisy the cloth doll.
"Eww! Yucky!" Lily giggled, making both Damiano and Emma burst into warm laughter.
