Chapter 9 - THE ART GALLERY
The waiting room of Chicago General Hospital was sterile, bright, and suffocatingly quiet.
Sadi sat in a plastic chair, staring at her hands. They were scrubbed clean, but she could still see the ghost of Roman’s blood on her skin.
She wore a pair of hospital scrubs, her beautiful emerald dress having been seized as evidence.
The gold family ring rested heavily on her index finger.
The past forty-eight hours had been a blur of federal agents, police statements, and lawyers.
Because of the confession letter Sadi’s father had hidden in the deposit box, Salvatore’s entire network was dismantled. The Moretti family, implicated in the conspiracy, was raided by the FBI.
Sadi’s father was exonerated. He wasn't a thief; he was a martyr who had protected his daughter at the cost of his own life.
Footsteps echoed down the hallway.
Sadi looked up.
Her mother, Diane, stood there, looking older, smaller, and incredibly fragile.
Diane slowly walked over and sat in the chair next to Sadi.
"The FBI agent told me everything," Diane whispered, tears spilling down her cheeks. "Your father... he did it to keep us safe."
"I know, Mom," Sadi said softly.
"I was so hard on you, Sadi," Diane sobbed, reaching out to hold Sadi's hand. "I pushed you away because you reminded me so much of him. Your kindness. Your stubbornness. I'm so sorry."
Sadi squeezed her mother's hand. For the first time in her life, the wall between them was gone. "I forgive you, Mom."
Suddenly, the heavy double doors of the ICU swung open.
A surgeon in green scrubs walked out, pulling off his mask.
Sadi shot up from her chair, her heart in her throat.
"Mr. Rossi's surgery was complicated," the doctor said, his expression serious. "The bullet missed his heart by a millimeter."
The doctor smiled faintly. "But he is awake. And he is demanding to see you. Only you."
Sadi didn't wait. She practically ran down the hallway, bursting into the private ICU room.
Roman was lying in the hospital bed, connected to a web of monitors and IV tubes. He looked pale and exhausted, but when he saw her, his dark eyes lit up with a warmth she had never seen before.
"You're okay," Sadi cried, rushing to his bedside and carefully wrapping her arms around his neck.
Roman grimaced slightly in pain but wrapped his large hand around her waist, holding her tight.
"I told you," Roman rasped, pressing a kiss to her temple. "I'm hard to kill."
He pulled back slightly, looking at the gold ring on her finger.
"You kept it," he noted.
"I'm giving it back," Sadi smiled through her tears, starting to pull it off.
Roman covered her hand with his. "No. Keep it. I meant what I said, Sadi. I'm done."
Sadi frowned. "Done with what?"
"The mob," Roman said, his voice steady and resolute. "My uncle destroyed the last of the old guard. The federals have the rest. I'm liquidating the legitimate assets and stepping away completely. I want a quiet life."
He looked up at her, his eyes entirely vulnerable.
"But I don't want it alone."
Sadi felt a hot tear slip down her cheek. "You're asking the plus-size maid to stick around?"
"I'm asking the most beautiful, terrifying, brilliant woman I have ever met to give me a chance," Roman corrected smoothly. "A real date. Not an alibi."
Six months later.
The afternoon sun poured through the massive floor-to-ceiling windows of the newly renovated art gallery in the West Loop.
Sadi stood in the center of the room, wearing a stunning, tailored burgundy suit that hugged her curves perfectly. She held a clipboard, directing a team of art handlers as they hung a massive Renaissance painting.
She wasn't scrubbing cast-iron skillets anymore.
Roman had used a fraction of his legitimate liquidated assets to purchase the gallery in her name. He told her it was back pay for saving his life twice in one night.
The bell above the front door chimed.
Sadi turned.
Roman walked in. He was wearing a casual black sweater and jeans, looking relaxed, healthy, and devastatingly handsome. He carried a bouquet of deep red peonies—her favorite.
"How is the grand opening looking?" Roman asked, handing her the flowers and wrapping his arm around her waist.
"It's perfect," Sadi smiled, leaning up to kiss him.
She looked around the gallery, then out the window at the bustling Chicago street. She thought about Derek, who was buried in a cheap grave, and Chloe, who had moved back to Ohio. She thought about her father, whose name was finally cleared.
She looked at Roman, the man who had seen her when the rest of the world looked right past her.
Sadi leaned her head against Roman’s chest, feeling the steady, strong beat of his heart.
May you like
She didn't need a boyfriend by tomorrow anymore.
She had a partner for the rest of her life.
