Chapter 10 - THE AWAKENING
The FBI raided the compound an hour later. They found a dismantled syndicate, a pile of broken mercenaries, and Marcus Thorne sitting in the dark, waiting to be handcuffed.
The Thorne Syndicate was erased from existence in exactly forty-eight hours.
Six months later.
The morning sun filtered through the sheer curtains of our bedroom. The harsh, sterile smell of the hospital was completely gone, replaced by the warm, sweet scent of vanilla.
I walked into the bedroom carrying a tray with two cups of black coffee.
Elena was sitting up in bed, looking out the window. The bruises had faded. The twenty-eight fractures had healed, thanks to the world-class surgeons I had hired using the cartel bounty money the government had quietly awarded me.
She turned to look at me. The scars were there, faint lines across her beautiful face, but they didn't make her unrecognizable. They made her a survivor.
She smiled, a genuine, radiant expression that lit up the room.
"You're staring again, soldier," she teased, reaching out to take her coffee mug.
"Just admiring the view," I smiled, sitting on the edge of the bed.
She leaned her head against my shoulder, tracing the outline of my hand. "I heard on the news that Marcus Thorne was sentenced to life without parole yesterday."
"Is that right?" I asked casually, taking a sip of my coffee.
"You didn't have to do it, you know," she whispered, her voice full of emotion. "You didn't have to go to war for me."
May you like
I placed my coffee down, wrapping my arms around her, holding her close against my chest. The devil I had brought back from the battlefield was gone, buried under the ashes of the men who had tried to destroy my family.
"Elena," I whispered, kissing the top of her head. "For you, I would burn the world down twice."
