Chapter 10 - The Unbroken Circle
That evening, the sun dipped below the Chicago skyline, casting long, golden ribbons of light across the pavement of Halsted Street.
I drove my new car—a reliable, midnight-blue sedan with power windows that rolled up and down with absolute perfection—down to the Cicero community center where I used to volunteer on weekends when I had a spare hour between night shifts.
The parking lot was quiet. Inside the gymnasium, a group of young girls in white gym uniforms were lined up on blue wrestling mats, listening intently to a trainer demonstrating a hip-throw.
I stood in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe, watching a twelve-year-old girl with dark hair and stubborn eyes struggle with her stance, fall down, get right back up, and try again.
Footsteps echoed softly behind me on the concrete walkway.
Dominic walked up beside me, holding a warm pretzel he’d bought from a street vendor down the block. He followed my gaze to the gym floor.
“Remind you of anyone?” Dominic asked quietly.
“Every time I look in the mirror,” I admitted, a soft, genuine smile touching my face.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out. A text message from Mom: ‘Dinner’s in the oven, honey. Don’t stay out too late working. And bring that handsome business partner of yours; I made extra lasagna.’
I laughed, locking the phone and slipping it back into my pocket.
“My mom’s making lasagna,” I told Dominic, turning toward him. “She wants to know if her favorite Cicero delivery man wants to join us.”
Dominic smiled, offering me his arm as the evening stars began to blink into existence across the Chicago sky.
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“Lead the way, Avery,” Dominic said softly. “I never turn down a good meal—especially one I didn't have to fight for.”
We walked out into the cool night air together, leaving the past buried in the shadows where it belonged, stepping forward into a future that was entirely, unshakeably ours.
