Page 93

Ten Years Later
Boone watched as his wife continued to water the herb-and-vegetable garden she’d been planting all spring. For the summer, she loved to harvest it, and tried to feed them for as long as possible without going to the grocery store. It was kind of pointless, as their four children were hungry little devils.
Phillip, their oldest son, ate everything between bread. He was pretty sure if he could get away with it, he’d even eat his morning cereal between two slices of bread. Thankfully, they were able to get him to eat cereal and toast.
Talia, their oldest daughter, was a little tomboy. She was rolling around with the dogs. They had kept all of Betty’s litter.
Betty and her pups were still going strong, and they had also adopted a few more dogs from the local animal shelter, and they were all playing beautifully.
As well as Sean, their next child, and Penelope, their youngest.
He had the grill all fired up and ready to go for dinner.
At the sound of the bell, he made his way through the house. They no longer lived in his country home that had been invaded, but now lived in a small, remote town, on an old ranch.
He was even considering starting to ranch, but at the moment he was just learning the lay of the land. The kids loved the house and had spent multiple Christmases here now. They wanted to ranch as well, but the final decision would be his.
Howard and Nancy had arrived. He shook Howard’s hand, and hugged Nancy.
Next were Frank and Amy. Their children had already gone off to college, so they wouldn’t be attending their barbeque. He’d gotten close to them.
Ronald arrived next, but he didn’t have a date.
Lucia refused to cut them off. They didn’t change their identity either.
Any enemies from the past were dead, and there would be no repercussions for it.
As for the Bonaldi empire, with the cop working the case, it was neatly taken care of. One of the easiest jobs he’d been part of.
Boone made his way back out into the yard and watched his wife, Lucia, embrace their friends. He wondered if Enzo Senior figured it out.
It wasn’t his own father’s death that caused him to seek vengeance. It was Lucia. Seeing the treatment she endured had sparked a fire inside him, and had set the course for the Valdez and Bonaldi downfall. For Boone, it was quite simple, he couldn’t have the men who had hurt his wife walking the streets. They all needed to be punished.
Lucia looked toward him, and then made her way to him. The moment she was within touching distance, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her on the head. They had removed the chip her father installed in her.
“How are you?” she asked.
“I’m good.”
“Are you happy?”
Lucia had gotten into the habit of asking him many times over the years if he was happy, and he always responded, “With you in my arms, yes.”
She had given him so much. Lucia loved him and gave him a home, a family, everything he thought he didn’t need. The last time he felt this happy, or even recalled being so at peace, he’d been a boy surrounded by his own family.
Now, so many years later, he finally had everything he needed—a wife, a family, friends, and happiness.
The End