Chapter 8 - The Guard Dogs of Forever
Three months later, the iron gates of the Moretti estate had been completely rebuilt—taller, stronger, reinforced with biometric scanners and armored plating.
But inside those gates, the atmosphere had changed forever.
The armed guards no longer stood around in grim, silent clusters waiting for the next assassination attempt. They smiled more. They traded stories during shift changes. And occasionally, they took turns tossing a heavy rubber chew toy across the lawn for a one-hundred-and-fifty-eight-pound black Cane Corso who refused to let anyone else fetch it.
I stood on the second-floor balcony of the mansion, watching the morning sun rise over the manicured lawns of Lake Forest.
Down in the courtyard, Emma was running through the damp grass in a bright yellow raincoat, her laughter echoing off the stone walls. Right beside her, matching her stride step for step, was Bruno—his head held high, his stride completely healed, acting as both an unstoppable engine of war and the gentlest guardian a little girl could ever dream of.
Sophia walked out of the carriage house carrying a tray of fresh coffee, stopping beside the dog to hand him a special dog biscuit baked fresh in the kitchen.
My phone buzzed in my pocket.
I pulled it out and glanced at the screen. A secure encrypted message from my overseas coordinator: All syndicate assets liquidated. The board in New York has dissolved. You are completely secure, boss.
I locked the screen, tossed the phone onto the wrought-iron table beside my coffee cup, and let out a long, deep breath.
For twenty years, I had believed that fear was the only shield worth having. I had thought that an empire was built on blood, betrayal, and iron chains.
I had been wrong about almost everything.
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True strength wasn't found in the men who held the guns. It was found in the quiet loyalty of those who stayed when the storm hit—and in the fierce, unconditional love of a scarred dog who taught a cold-hearted king how to trust again.
I smiled, picked up my coffee, and walked down the grand staircase to join my family in the courtyard.
