I study the folder. The weighty papers feel delicate in my hands, like a pollinated flower that will lose the petals if I touch it.
Brody clicks his tongue against his teeth. “Grigori spewed a bunch of BS to sweeten the pot for you.”
I meet his eyes.
He shakes his head, disgusted. “The drive was of the utmost importance, and he’d have said anything to obtain it, Trinity. But he wasn’t going to keep up his end of the bargain. Guys like him?—”
“You don’t have to convince me. I watched him shoot at his own son while trying to kill you.” I exhale a shaky breath. “No honor in that one.”
Brody reaches across the table and grabs my hand. “After these two fled New York and Rostov’s team, they ran to Chicago and joined an outfit that had business with Declan.”
Connor taps the folder. “One of them is dead, but the other one is still in Chicago, rotting in federal prison.”
My heart skips a beat.
This is what I’ve been searching for this whole time. The men who snatched my oldest and only friend and ended her life. One of those men is still alive, and he’s not far from me.
Convincing these brothers to detour to the federal prison wouldn’t take much, if any, effort. They might even have connections that could get me in. They seem to have “friends” and “colleagues” in every nook and cranny, every hospital and hideaway, every five-star restaurant and burlesque club all over the country. Prison doesn’t seem like a stretch.
I touch the living man’s file and wipe my eyes on a napkin. Read through it, front to back.
Fresh tears drip onto the pages, wrinkling the ink.
I’m not sure why I’m crying again. From anger? Relief? Reliving that awful trauma?
Maybe I’m experiencing some cathartic release because this ordeal’s finally over. Now…I truly feel content and complete.
“Trinity?” Brody’s soft voice intrudes on my thoughts.
I glance up at him.
“Do you want to confront this man? We can take you there after breakfast. I can go in with you or wait outside. Whatever you want.”
Connor nods beside his brother.
I close both the folder and my eyes. Suck in a breath of stale coffee and syrup. “I don’t think so. Whatever hell this man is going through is justice enough for me.”
Brody offers me both his hands, and I accept them.
My regrets, my burdens, will never truly disappear, but I am letting them rest.
Confronting this man wouldn’t bring Angelica back, and I now understand that.
With Brody by my side, I’m finally ready to live.
Epilogue
Finn
A black G-Wagon rolls up to the estate, and Trinity steps out, flanked by two men.
I know their names—Brody and Connor Gallagher—because Kellin gave me all the details when he first touched down in LA.
But I never expected my baby sister to bring them with her to New York.
I don’t have a clue what she’s thinking, but she’s home safe, and that’s all I care about at this point.
I leave the window and head for the front door.
