Chapter 8 - The King of New York Entered Court Without an ArmyThe arrests began Monday morning.
Police officers.
Former judges.
Union executives.
Contractors.
Two retired detectives.
A state senator’s former chief of staff.
The ledger detonated across New York.
News vans surrounded Crimson and Steel.
Reporters discovered James Warner’s story.
For the first time, Molly saw her father’s photograph on television without the word “debtor” attached to his name.
Instead:
WHISTLEBLOWER KILLED AFTER UNCOVERING CORRUPTION NETWORK.
Molly cried when she saw it.
Quietly.
Gerardo sat beside her.
He did not touch her until she reached for him.
Vittorio survived surgery.
He was charged with murder, conspiracy, kidnapping, racketeering, obstruction, and several crimes connected to the old construction network.
Then Gerardo surrendered.
Molly went with him to the federal courthouse.
Hundreds of cameras waited.
Gerardo wore a dark suit.
No bodyguards.
No armored cars.
No lieutenants.
Just an attorney.
And Molly.
At the courthouse steps, he stopped.
“You don’t have to walk in with me.”
“I know.”
“They’ll photograph you.”
“I know.”
“They’ll call you my girlfriend.”
“Are you?”
Gerardo blinked.
Molly almost smiled.
“That wasn’t the question.”
“What was the question?”
“Am I your girlfriend?”
Gerardo looked genuinely uncertain.
“I assumed asking might be dangerous.”
“It is.”
“Then I value my remaining freedom.”
She laughed.
The cameras captured it.
By evening, photographs of the feared crime boss smiling at a waitress appeared everywhere.
Molly hated the headlines.
THE WAITRESS WHO TAMED THE MOB KING.
She threw one newspaper across the room.
“I didn’t tame you.”
Gerardo, released temporarily pending cooperation hearings, picked it up.
“No.”
“You are not a wild animal.”
“Debatable.”
“And I didn’t save you.”
Gerardo looked at her.
“No.”
“We made choices.”
“Yes.”
“That headline makes me sound like some magical woman whose love fixed a criminal.”
“I agree.”
“You’re still annoying.”
“Yes.”
“You still manipulate people.”
“Less often.”
“You still scare restaurant employees.”
“I’ve been working on smiling.”
“Don’t. It’s worse.”
Gerardo smiled.
Molly pointed.
“That. Stop that.”
For a few minutes, life felt normal.
Then the court process resumed.
Gerardo pleaded guilty to racketeering-related financial crimes, conspiracy, and obstruction connected to earlier years of his organization.
His cooperation reduced the potential sentence.
But it did not erase it.
The judge sentenced him to thirty months in federal custody.
Molly sat behind him.
Gerardo did not turn around when the sentence was read.
She knew why.
If he looked at her, he might break.
Afterward, they had five minutes in a private holding room.
Gerardo stood in handcuffs.
Molly hated seeing them.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“For what?”
“Leaving.”
“You’re not leaving. You’re serving a sentence.”
“Feels similar.”
“It shouldn’t.”
He looked at her.
“You don’t owe me thirty months.”
“I know.”
“You don’t owe me visits.”
“I know.”
“You don’t owe me waiting.”
Molly stepped closer.
“You really enjoy explaining things I already understand.”
“I need you to hear it.”
“I hear it.”
Gerardo swallowed.
“If you meet someone—”
“Stop.”
“Molly.”
“No.”
“I need to say this.”
“You absolutely do not.”
He almost laughed.
She touched his face.
“You gave me a choice.”
“Yes.”
“Then stop trying to make it for me.”
Gerardo closed his eyes.
When he opened them, they were wet.
Molly had never seen him cry.
She kissed him once.
“I’ll decide what thirty months means.”
The guard knocked.
Time.
Gerardo leaned his forehead against hers.
“I love you.”
Molly smiled sadly.
“I know.”
His eyes opened.
“That’s all?”
“You’ll survive.”
“Molly.”
She kissed him again.
“I love you too.”
May you like
For once, Gerardo Romani had no answer.
He was taken away smiling.
