"Only three had died of natural causes. Things got messy when your family was, essentially, a crime syndicate." Love it - and the goose - and the hoard of golden eggs, with no way to money-launder them, and yet the greed for more is unabated. I like the visions of starting life over again, if she can just break away from the family... given the mortality rate, I hope she does!
I hope she does too. Actually I'm the author - so yes, she does! Of course it's the how that's really interesting, not the fact that she does. Thanks for reading :)
This is why "Spoilers" never bother me - we all know Romeo and Juliet are gonna die. It's the HOW that kills us every time we read it. Each decision made has consequences, and each event that coincides with it magnifies and compounds the consequences. It's why millions of women continue to buy romances - making women readers and romances the #1 share of book sales (last I read, anyway). We are guaranteed the happy ending, the ill-fated couple finally getting together at last. It's the HOW they get there that sells the books. And sometimes Nicholas Sparks kills off his hero/heroine and still sells millions, but I have no explanation for that. (I never did like any of his novels or movies.) Thank you @sidequest for reassuring me that the "black sheep" of the golden-egg mafia family will find her day in the sun. :)