He's her enemy. Her obsession. And the only man who has the power to destroy her.
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My name is Frank Monroe, and I am the most dangerous woman in Chicago. Not because I kill, but because I make it legal. I'm the lawyer the Irish mob calls when...
"No trait is more justified than revenge in the right time and place."
- Meir Kahane
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The cold this morning had a real bite to it, and I could still feel the restless energy from a night spent wrestling with my own mind.
I came awake with a start, the last traces of that same old nightmare finally loosening its grip, leaving me to face a day that felt just as heavy. It seemed there was no real peace to be found anywhere, not in my dreams and certainly not here in the pale morning light.
I managed to get myself up, pushing my hair back from my face before changing out of my black pajamas into something that felt a little less miserable. Without even thinking, I found myself walking down the hall to Noah's room.
I pushed the door open and put everything I had into sounding light. "Morning, baby!" I said, hoping the effort didn't show too much.
When he looked up at me, his face was so open and gentle it almost stopped my heart. That expression of his, so full of untouched goodness, had a way of cutting straight through all the noise in my head. His small smile didn't fix everything, but it quieted things down for a little while.
"Morning, Frankie," he said, his voice soft and clear in a way that always brought me back to what matters.
I bent and kissed his cheek, then gave the other one a little pinch just to see if I could make him grin. "So, got any big plans today?" I asked, already hoping for something, anything, we could latch onto.
He just shrugged, and I watched the little bit of light in him dim almost right away. "Don't want to do anything, Frankie."
I tried again, a little more insistence in my tone this time. "What if we went out? Just the two of us? We could spend the day together, away from everything."
But his answer was so quiet it felt fragile. "No, Frankie. I don't want to go out. I just... I just want to stay here."
And then I understood my mistake. The city outside would be draped in holiday lights and all that false cheer, a constant, glaring reminder of everything we were desperately trying to avoid. How could I have been so careless? I should have known better.
I rushed to find a better idea, trying to make it right. "Okay, okay. Forget going out. How about this? We stay in, order pizza, and binge-watch Harry Potter instead?"
I saw it then, just a flicker in his eyes, the beginnings of a smile touching his mouth. "Pizza's good... yeah, we can do that," he murmured.
I cupped his face in my hands and leaned in close so he could see nothing but me. His eyes, that pale blue full of a sadness far too deep for him, threatened to unravel my composure completely. "Noah," I whispered, "I love you more than anything in this world. And no matter what, we're going to get through this. Together. I promise."
