Chapter 18 - The Purge
Clara didn't get on the plane. Julian carried her back to the Maybach, his grip on her so tight it left bruises.
They didn't go back to the penthouse. Julian drove them to a heavily fortified bunker beneath one of his casinos. For forty-eight hours, they stayed locked inside while the city of Chicago descended into invisible warfare.
Julian had unleashed his full power. He hadn't just withdrawn from the Syndicate; he actively dismantled it. He released the remaining financial dossiers to the FBI, burning the other five families to the ground. He paid off mercenaries to raid rival safehouses. He liquidated his offshore accounts to buy the loyalty of the police commissioners.
Clara sat in the bunker, watching the news reports of mass arrests and raids across the Midwest.
Julian sat across from her, calmly cleaning a Sig Sauer, though his hands were steady.
"It's over," Julian said on the third morning, watching a news anchor announce the indictment of the final Syndicate boss. "The Council is broken. Dante Romano is facing life in federal prison. My hotels are completely clean. Legitimate."
Clara looked at him, overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of what he had done. "You gave up your entire underworld throne... for me?"
May you like
Julian holstered his weapon and walked over to her, dropping to his knees before her chair.
"I gave up a prison," Julian corrected softly, taking her hands in his. "I was suffocating in that life, Clara. You were the only one brave enough to tell me I was wrong. You saved my soul."
