“By the way,” I said, pointing to the floor. “The FBI is seizing this house as an instrument of criminal enterprise. That includes the rugs. We’ll be using them as evidence of domestic battery. I hope the dry-cleaning bill was worth it.”
PART 5: THE CLEANUP
Six months later.
The Thorne Empire was gone. The headlines had been relentless. Julian was facing twenty-five years to life for a cocktail of racketeering, money laundering, and attempted murder. Beatrice, found complicit in the financial fraud, was serving a five-year stint in a federal “country club” prison, though she found the lack of silk sheets to be “a violation of her human rights.”
I sat on the porch of a small, sun-drenched cottage on the coast of Maine. There was no marble here. Just weathered wood and the smell of the salt sea.
Lily came out of the house, her belly now a prominent, beautiful curve. She looked healthy. She looked free. She sat down in the rocker next to me and handed me a cup of tea.
“Mom?” she asked, looking out at the waves. “Did you ever actually like baking those cookies?”
I chuckled, taking a sip. “I hated the kitchen, Lily. I only did it because it was the best way to keep people from looking at me too closely. People see what they expect to see. They expected a grandmother. They didn’t expect a Viper.”
Lily smiled and rested her head on my shoulder. “I’m glad you’re just my mom now.”
“I always was, honey,” I said. “The rest was just… taking out the trash.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket. A private number. I hesitated, then answered.