Chapter 9 - A New Family
The storm cleared by midnight.
In the back of the black SUV, Eli sat wrapped in a warm blanket, drinking hot cocoa from a thermos. His small hands were trembling slightly, but his eyes were fixed on Cassius, who sat across from him, quietly wiping a spot of rain from his silver watch.
"You came," Eli whispered.
Cassius looked up from his watch. "I told you I would."
"Were you afraid?" Eli asked.
Cassius paused, looking out the window at the flickering lights of the Las Vegas strip. "I used to think fear was something you had to destroy," Cassius said slowly. "I thought if I built a fortress high enough, no one could hurt me. But real strength isn't about having no fear, Eli. It's about having something worth protecting."
Two days later, Cassius made a series of public announcements that shook the state.
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The Wren Syndicate was officially dissolved into a legitimate global security firm. Maya was appointed as the director of a newly established fifty-million-dollar foundation dedicated to supporting single parents and underprivileged children in Nevada.
And Eli was officially adopted into the Wren family, his legal name registered as Eli Vance Wren.
