He Replaced His Wife And Lost His Mafia Empire Chapter 23
A year later, my marriage was officially over.
But when I went back to Chicago, it wasn’t to wait for a court to settle things for me.
There was still one final internal witness hearing to conclude. In front of local captains and allied representatives, the Moretti family had to strike my name from its records of debts, commands, and protection, and formally acknowledge that my work records and private assets belonged to me alone.
Miles came with me to a neutral club used for handling family disputes. My parents waited at a nearby hotel.
They didn’t bring a crowd to make a spectacle. They only made sure Dominic could no longer get near me alone.
Dominic looked even more worn down than the last time I saw him.
The Moretti family had already sold off most of its hotels and casinos. The old Lake Geneva house was on the market, burdened by debt.
Sloane sat behind him, heavily pregnant, with none of the triumph of a woman about to enter the family’s inner circle.
They had not married.
Margaret refused to recognize her, and Dominic, stripped of power, could no longer promise her anything. Yet Sloane still held Moretti secrets, which left the two of them trapped—wary of each other but unable to sever their ties.
The neutral adviser called our names.
The procedure went faster than I expected.
The recorder struck out the line that read *Evelyn Costa, under the command and protection of Dominic Moretti*, and wrote into the witness register: *Previous commands, debt guarantees, and protection obligations are all void.*
Dominic’s signet ring had long since been taken away.
But when that line was written, he still looked as if he had lost something all over again.
After the hearing ended, he suddenly grabbed my wrist.
Before I could pull free, Miles had already stepped between us.
Dominic let go at once.
“Evelyn, I really am sorry.”
His voice was low.
“I dream about you in that boathouse every night. I want to go back and open that door.”
“But you can’t go back.”
I picked up the completed witness papers.
“And I won’t go back either.”
Dominic’s eyes reddened.
“You loved me for ten years.”
“Which means I already gave you far more than one chance.”
I turned and walked out of the club.
The wind outside was cold. Miles immediately settled my coat over my shoulders.
This time, no one asked me to apologize before I was allowed warmth.
My parents had already booked our flight back to California, and they had arranged a dinner with only family and close friends.
As the car pulled away, I saw Dominic still standing in the doorway in the rearview mirror.
Sloane went over and began arguing with him, but he just kept staring in the direction our car had gone.
I looked away.
Chicago slowly fell away behind the window.
At last, my life had stopped orbiting that cold city.