Chapter 9 - Twenty-Six Months LaterSilas served twenty-six months.
Good behavior and cooperation shortened the original sentence.
Nora visited twice each month.
Not every week.
That mattered to both of them.
She built a life outside him.
Thomas Hayes improved slowly.
Against almost every early prediction, he regained limited speech and movement in his left hand.
He would never return to the man he had been.
But he could communicate.
Laugh.
Argue.
And, most importantly to Nora, complain about hospital food.
Nora founded Hayes Forensic Advisory.
Her first office occupied half a floor in downtown Chicago.
Within eighteen months, she employed twenty-seven people.
Half specialized in forensic accounting.
The rest included investigators, compliance attorneys, cybersecurity experts, and former federal auditors.
Her company became known for one thing.
Finding what powerful people believed they had successfully hidden.
She liked the irony.
On the morning Silas was released, Nora did not wait outside the prison gates.
He had expected her to.
A black sedan collected him instead.
The driver handed him an envelope.
Inside was an address.
And one sentence.
YOU STILL OWE ME DINNER.
Silas laughed.
The driver looked terrified.
Silas had forgotten people still reacted that way.
The address led to Le Triomphe.
The same restaurant.
The same place everything began.
Silas entered at 7:58 p.m.
The general manager nearly dropped a wineglass.
“Mr. Mercer.”
“Relax.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I have a reservation.”
“Of course.”
The Obsidian Room doors opened.
Nora stood inside.
Not in an apron.
Not in a gown.
A dark green dress.
Simple.
Elegant.
Powerful.
Silas stopped.
Twenty-six months disappeared.
“Hello,” she said.
“Hello.”
“You’re late.”
He looked at his watch.
“Two minutes early.”
“I’ve become demanding.”
“I noticed.”
He approached.
For a moment, neither knew what to do.
Letters.
Phone calls.
Visits separated by glass.
None prepared them for this.
Nora solved it.
She hugged him.
Silas closed his eyes.
The feared man who once controlled half the city simply held the woman he loved.
When they separated, he touched her cheek.
“You look different.”
“So do you.”
“Prison.”
“Entrepreneurship.”
“Which is worse?”
“Depends on the quarter.”
They sat.
Dinner was quiet at first.
Strangely awkward.
Silas noticed.
Nora noticed him noticing.
“This is weird.”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Good?”
“If it felt exactly the same, that would mean nothing changed.”
Silas considered.
“You became wiser.”
“I was always wiser.”
“There she is.”
She smiled.
They talked.
Really talked.
About Thomas.
Her company.
Silas’s legitimate holdings.
The world outside prison.
Then dessert arrived.
Chocolate sphere.
Silas looked at it.
Nora stared.
The waiter left quickly.
“Did you arrange this?”
Silas asked.
“No.”
“Suspicious.”
“Very.”
He tapped the shell with his spoon.
It cracked.
Nora laughed.
Silas looked at her.
“I thought about that night frequently.”
“The night Victoria humiliated me?”
“The night you destroyed everyone in the room with vocabulary.”
“I was angry.”
“You were magnificent.”
“I was unemployed.”
“For approximately eleven hours.”
Nora’s smile faded slightly.
“Silas.”
“Yes?”
“What happens now?”
He knew what she meant.
Not tonight.
Them.
“I don’t know.”
“Good.”
He frowned.
“Why is uncertainty suddenly good?”
“Because previously you always had a plan.”
“I like plans.”
“You like control.”
“That too.”
Nora leaned forward.
“I don’t want to resume where we stopped.”
Silas became still.
She saw the fear.
Interesting.
Silas Mercer feared very little.
But he feared losing her.
“I don’t either,” he said.
Nora relaxed.
“I want something new.”
“What?”
“A normal relationship.”
Silas looked genuinely alarmed.
“Define normal.”
“Dates.”
“We’re currently on one.”
“Arguments.”
“We’ve had hundreds.”
“Vacations.”
“I own—”
“No private jets.”
Silas looked offended.
“That seems unnecessary.”
Nora laughed.
“Friends.”
“I have several.”
“Employees don’t count.”
“Then perhaps two.”
“Progress.”
She reached across the table.
“And no secrets.”
Silas took her hand.
“No secrets.”
“No bodyguards sitting at the next table.”
Silas glanced toward the wall.
Nora narrowed her eyes.
“How many?”
“Two.”
“Silas.”
“They’re outside.”
“Still counts.”
“One?”
“No.”
He sighed.
“This normal relationship sounds dangerous.”
“You survived prison.”
“Barely.”
They left Le Triomphe shortly before midnight.
Outside, Chicago was cold.
Silas offered his coat.
Nora accepted.
They walked.
No convoy immediately visible.
No entourage.
Just two people moving through the city.
At the river, Nora stopped.
“There’s something else.”
Silas looked at her.
“What?”
“Thomas wants to see you.”
That surprised him.
“Why?”
“He wants to thank you.”
“He doesn’t need to.”
“I told him that.”
“And?”
“He said you’re arrogant.”
Silas smiled.
“I like him.”
“He also wants to threaten you.”
“Better.”
“Apparently fathers are required to threaten men dating their daughters.”
“I’m familiar with threats.”
“He has limited speech.”
“Still dangerous.”
“Extremely.”
Silas looked across the river.
Then Nora noticed his expression change.
“What?”
“I spent most of my life believing power meant never needing anyone.”
Nora waited.
“I was wrong.”
“That must be painful.”
“Extremely.”
She smiled.
“What does it mean now?”
Silas looked at her.
“Being able to need someone without owning them.”
Nora’s smile disappeared.
The answer hit deeper than she expected.
Silas continued.
“Being trusted when they’re free to leave.”
Nora stepped closer.
“And?”
“Being worth coming back to.”
She kissed him.
This time there were no bullets.
No federal agents.
No betrayal.
No crisis.
Just Chicago.
Cold air.
Traffic.
River lights.
And two people who had spent years surviving finally learning how to live.
But the final test arrived three months later.
Nora entered her office one morning and found a package waiting on her desk.
No return address.
Inside was a photograph.
Thomas Hayes.
Taken yesterday.
Nora’s blood went cold.
Behind the photograph was a note.
YOU DESTROYED STERLING.
YOU DESTROYED MERCER.
NOW WE DESTROY YOU.
Nora immediately called Silas.
He arrived twelve minutes later.
He read the note.
The old Silas appeared instantly.
Cold.
Violent.
Terrifying.
“Who?”
“We don’t know.”
“I’ll find them.”
“We will.”
Silas looked at her.
“Nora.”
“We.”
His jaw tightened.
Then he nodded.
Nora turned the photograph over.
There was writing on the back.
An address.
Silas recognized it.
“What?”
Nora asked.
He stared.
“It’s an abandoned freight terminal.”
“Whose?”
His face changed.
“Mine.”
“Formerly?”
“No.”
Nora looked at him.
Silas continued.
“It belongs to a company I never surrendered.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t know it existed.”
Nora felt the familiar shift inside her.
A hidden account.
A forgotten company.
A structure designed to survive.
Someone had built a final contingency.
May you like
Gabriel.
And if Nora was correct, it had been waiting for years.
