Chapter 8 - The Last Ride in the Yellow Taxi
Adrien decided to destroy the organization officially.
Not sell it.
Not transfer it.
Dismantle every illegal piece and rebuild what could survive lawfully.
That decision nearly killed him.
The final opposition came from old captains who believed the Vale name belonged to them as much as Adrien.
They gathered at an abandoned transportation depot near the Delaware River.
Adrien insisted on going.
I insisted he was an idiot.
“I'm not debating this.”
“You always say that right before we debate something.”
“Tessa.”
“Adrien.”
Daniel laughed from the doorway.
“You two are exhausting.”
Adrien ignored him.
“This started with my family.”
“And now you're building another one.”
He looked at me.
That stopped him.
I touched his jacket.
“Come home.”
“I intend to.”
“No. Promise.”
His expression softened.
“I promise.”
He left.
Three hours passed.
No call.
Four.
Then Marco called.
“Ms. Bennett.”
My stomach dropped.
“Where is he?”
Silence.
That was enough.
I drove toward the depot.
Marco ordered me not to.
I hung up.
Rain had returned.
Exactly like the night Adrien and I met.
Near Broad Street, headlights appeared behind me.
Black sedan.
My hands tightened.
The car accelerated.
I turned.
It followed.
I took another street.
Still there.
Then, out of nowhere, a yellow taxi cut between us.
The black sedan braked.
The taxi door opened.
Daniel.
“Get in!”
I abandoned my car and jumped into the taxi.
“You drive his cab?”
“Apparently bad decisions are genetic.”
“Where is Adrien?”
“Depot.”
“Alive?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Last I knew.”
The black sedan returned.
Daniel accelerated.
The heater blasted hot air.
I stared at the vents.
“You've got to be kidding me.”
Daniel glanced over.
“What?”
“The heater.”
“What about it?”
“Nothing.”
We reached the depot.
Police surrounded one entrance.
Gunfire sounded farther inside.
I ran before Daniel could stop me.
“Tessa!”
I followed the noise.
Warehouses blurred past.
Then I saw Adrien.
Kneeling behind a concrete barrier.
Blood darkened his shoulder.
“Adrien!”
His head snapped around.
Horror crossed his face.
“What are you doing here?”
“Excellent question later.”
A man appeared behind him.
Gun raised.
I shouted.
Adrien turned.
Daniel tackled the shooter.
The weapon skidded away.
Marco rushed in.
Police followed.
The remaining captains surrendered.
Adrien sagged against the wall.
I reached him.
“Let me see.”
“It's nothing.”
“I swear to God, if you say that word one more time—”
He smiled weakly.
“Missed you too.”
The bullet had passed through soft tissue.
Painful.
Bloody.
Not immediately life-threatening.
I pressed gauze against the wound.
Adrien watched me.
“You came.”
“Of course I came.”
“You could have been killed.”
“So could you.”
“I was handling it.”
“You were bleeding behind a warehouse.”
He smiled.
“This feels familiar.”
“What?”
“You yelling at an injured stranger.”
Despite myself, I laughed.
Then I cried.
I hated that.
Adrien touched my face with his uninjured hand.
“Hey.”
“I thought you were dead.”
“I promised.”
“You lie.”
“Not about that.”
I kissed him while police shouted around us.
Marco looked away politely.
Daniel did not.
“Should I call the wedding planner?”
Adrien raised one finger toward him.
Daniel laughed.
Federal indictments followed.
Charles Renner cooperated.
Kevin Foster was arrested in Delaware.
Victor Moretti accepted a plea agreement that would keep him behind bars for decades.
Adrien testified.
That was the biggest shock.
The Mafia Boss who had spent his life distrusting government entered a courtroom and told the truth about everything he could prove.
Some people called him a traitor.
Others called him a reformer.
Adrien called himself tired.
Six months later, Vale Holdings had been restructured.
Legitimate transportation.
Real estate.
Construction.
Healthcare logistics.
No hidden crews.
No collections.
No street operations.
Adrien kept one unusual asset.
The taxi.
I found it in his garage.
Freshly restored.
New paint.
Same scratches left intentionally on one hubcap.
I opened the passenger door.
The heater immediately turned on.
“You kept it.”
Adrien leaned against the hood.
“It mattered.”
“To who?”
“Me.”
I smiled.
He walked toward me.
“Take a ride?”
“Where?”
“Anywhere.”
I climbed inside.
He drove without guards for the first time.
Philadelphia moved beyond the windows.
Normal traffic.
Normal people.
At a red light, I looked at him.
“What do you do when you're not driving strangers around after midnight?”
He glanced at me.
This time, no lies.
“I run a transportation company.”
“Anything else?”
“I annoy a nurse.”
“Full-time position?”
“Extremely demanding.”
I laughed.
May you like
He reached for my hand.
For once, nothing followed us.
