Chapter 14 - Ashes of the Empire and the Vow Written in Blood
Roman took one agonizing, shuffling step forward, then another, until he reached the side of my hospital bed. The monitors beside him beeped erratically, but he ignored the nurses begging him to return to surgical intensive care.
Slowly, painfully, Roman sank into the chair beside my bed.
He looked at our daughter. His entire body trembled with an emotion so immense it rendered the feared mafia king completely defenseless.
“Is she...?” Roman’s voice broke, tears streaming freely down his pale cheeks.
“She’s perfect,” I whispered, shifting our daughter gently into the crook of his trembling arm. “Hold your daughter, Roman.”
Roman cradled the tiny infant against his bandaged chest with infinite tenderness. He looked at her miniature face, her dark lashes, and the fierce little pout that mirrored his own.
He leaned down, pressing his lips to her soft forehead, and wept silently.
“Her name is Grace,” I said softly. “Because she saved us both.”
Roman lifted his gaze to mine, his dark eyes brimming with reverence and an unbreakable devotion.
“The Carter syndicate is gone, Evelyn,” he said, his voice raspy but clear. “The federal agreements were fully signed three hours ago. Bennett’s faction is completely eradicated. All assets have been liquidated into clean, legitimate trusts. There are no soldiers. No weapons. No empire.”
He reached out, his hand covering mine where it rested on Grace’s blanket.
“I am just a man now,” Roman whispered. “A man who wants to spend the rest of his life earning the right to be your husband and her father.”
I reached up, tracing the sharp line of his jaw, wiping away his tears with my thumb.
“You don't have to earn it anymore, Roman,” I said softly. “You proved it when you bled for us.”
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He leaned down, pressing his forehead against mine, our breaths mingling in the quiet hospital room while Grace slept peacefully between our beating hearts.
The nightmare was finally over.
