CHAPTER 6 — After the Storm
Three months later...
Washington had moved on.
The news channels no longer opened with Anthony Caruso's face splashed across giant television screens.
The endless debates had faded.
Political commentators had found newer scandals.
Social media had already discovered different villains.
But for the people whose lives had been destroyed by the criminal network...
Nothing had truly ended.
Justice never erased scars.
It only gave people permission to begin healing.
Savannah understood that better than anyone.
She stood quietly outside Arlington National Cemetery with a bouquet of white lilies resting against her arm.
The morning air was cool.
A gentle breeze stirred the rows of American flags that lined the pathways.
Roman walked beside her in silence.
Neither of them had spoken during the drive.
Some places deserved quiet.
Atlas trotted several steps ahead before stopping near a polished white headstone.
Almost as if he remembered.
Savannah knelt.
Her fingers brushed away a few fallen leaves.
For several seconds she simply stared at the engraved letters.
Daniel Hayes
Beloved Father.
Servant of Justice.
He never stopped believing.
Her throat tightened.
"I remember more now."
Her voice barely carried above the wind.
Roman remained beside her without interrupting.
"When I first lost my memory..."
she continued,
"...I thought forgetting was the cruelest thing that had ever happened to me."
She smiled sadly.
"I was wrong."
Roman looked at her.
"The cruelest thing..."
"...was believing my father died alone."
She rested her hand against the stone.
"But he didn't."
"He died protecting people."
"He died believing someone would eventually finish what he started."
A tear rolled down her cheek.
"I finally did."
For the first time since the trial...
She cried.
Not from fear.
Not from anger.
Not from grief alone.
These were tears that had waited years for permission to exist.
Roman slowly wrapped one arm around her shoulders.
He didn't tell her everything would be okay.
He didn't promise the pain would disappear.
Some losses deserved honesty more than comfort.
After several quiet minutes, Savannah laughed softly through her tears.
"You know what memory came back yesterday?"
Roman smiled.
"What?"
"I remembered the first argument we ever had."
"Oh?"
"You accused me of overwatering your plants."
Roman frowned dramatically.
"You absolutely overwatered them."
"I did not."
"You nearly drowned a cactus."
She looked offended.
"It survived."
"It survived because the gardener rescued it."
She laughed harder.
The sound echoed gently through the cemetery.
Even Roman chuckled.
For a moment...
Life felt astonishingly ordinary.
Exactly the kind of ordinary both of them had fought so hard to earn.
...
Later that afternoon they stopped at Le Beaumont.
The restaurant looked almost identical.
The same polished windows.
The same elegant chandeliers.
The same piano music drifting through the dining room.
But Savannah felt different.
Months earlier she had entered through the employee entrance wearing a borrowed uniform.
Today every employee greeted her with genuine smiles.
Emma hurried over carrying a tray of desserts.
"I made something."
Savannah raised an eyebrow.
"You baked?"
Emma looked offended.
"I've been taking classes."
Roman whispered,
"This should concern us."
Emma pointed a spoon at him.
"I heard that."
She placed two slices of chocolate cake on the table.
Savannah tasted the first bite.
Her eyes widened.
"This is actually amazing."
Emma folded her arms proudly.
"I know."
Roman reluctantly took a bite.
Several seconds passed.
Then another.
Finally he nodded.
"I hate admitting she's right."
Emma nearly danced.
"I got Roman Volkov to compliment my cooking!"
Half the kitchen applauded.
Savannah couldn't stop smiling.
For years she had believed happiness needed grand victories.
Massive courtroom speeches.
Explosive confrontations.
Enemies defeated.
Now she realized happiness usually looked much smaller.
A shared dessert.
Friends laughing.
People no longer afraid.
That evening the restaurant manager approached their table.
"I've been thinking."
He looked nervous.
"I'd like to create a scholarship."
Savannah blinked.
"For what?"
"For employees."
He smiled.
"People working nights while trying to build better lives."
"You reminded me how many dreams wear aprons."
Savannah stared at him.
Then slowly smiled.
"My father would have loved that."
"We'll name it after him."
She looked down at the table.
When she looked back up...
Her eyes were shining.
"I'd be honored."
As the evening came to an end, Roman and Savannah stepped outside together.
The city lights reflected across the Potomac in the distance.
Roman slipped his hand into hers.
"No bodyguards tonight."
She looked around.
Indeed...
For the first time in months...
There were no black SUVs.
No armed security.
No surveillance teams.
Only two people walking beneath a quiet sky.
"Does it feel strange?" Roman asked.
"A little."
"Scary?"
She considered the question.
Then shook her head.
"No."
"What does it feel like?"
Savannah looked toward the river.
"It feels..."
"...like our life is finally ours."
Roman stopped walking.
"So..."
She looked up.
"So?"
"Would you like to go on our first real date?"
She laughed.
"We've been married for years."
"I know."
"But every dinner we've ever had involved gunmen, investigations, kidnappings, corrupt politicians, or someone trying to kill us."
She couldn't argue with that.
"I suppose that's true."
"So..."
Roman extended his hand with exaggerated seriousness.
"Miss Hayes..."
"Would you honor me by having dinner with me?"
She smiled exactly the way she had the first day they met.
The smile he had unknowingly fallen in love with.
"I'd like that very much."
Together...
Without fear following behind them...
They disappeared into the warm Washington evening.
For the first time in many years...
May you like
Tomorrow no longer felt like something they had to survive.
It finally felt like something they could look forward to.
