Chapter 7 - The Iron Wolf's Promise
Back in Chicago, the rain had cleared, leaving behind a crisp, brilliant autumn afternoon.
On the observation deck of Marconi Tower, fifty-eight floors above the bustling streets, Natalie stood pressed against the reinforced glass, watching the gulls wheeling across the bright blue sky over Lake Michigan. She wore her new pink parka, the fur-lined hood framing her face, and her purple-laced sneakers tapped a happy little rhythm against the polished stone floor.
Claire stood a few paces back, talking quietly with Mrs. Gable about the move to Naperville.
Levi walked out onto the open-air deck, his black coat billowing slightly in the lake breeze. He stopped beside Natalie, looking out over the city he owned, governed, and protected with an iron fist.
Natalie looked up at him, her grey-blue eyes bright and curious. "Mr. Levi?"
"Yes, Natalie?"
"Are you still going to be the Iron Wolf?"
Levi looked down at the little girl. He thought of the empty years behind him—the cold apartments, the silent gym, the ghosts of a father murdered in a sterile hospital room, and the endless war against men who wore expensive suits while carrying poison in their pockets.
Then he thought of the future: a house in Naperville, a little girl going to school with a real backpack, and a mother who could finally sleep through the night without coughing into her sleeve.
May you like
He reached out and gently tapped the tip of her small nose with his gloved finger.
"No, Natalie," Levi Marconi smiled—a real, genuine smile that reached all the way to his eyes, washing away the last shadow of the past eight years. "I think... I think the Iron Wolf is finally retired."
