Chapter 14 - The Don's Surrender
Vincent stepped back half a pace.
Slowly, deliberately, the most feared man in North America sank down onto one knee in the white snow.
My heart stopped beating entirely. The breath left my lungs.
Vincent pulled a small, black velvet box from his pocket and clicked it open.
Resting inside was the most exquisite diamond ring I had ever seen in my life. A massive, flawless emerald-cut diamond was flanked by two vivid green emeralds set into a band of pure, hand-forged platinum.
Vincent looked up at me, his slate-gray eyes shining with raw, undisguised vulnerability.
“Claire,” he began, his deep voice carrying over the quiet whisper of the winter wind. “Before I met you in that broken elevator, I was a ghost walking through an empire of blood and ashes. I believed that power was the only thing worth living for, and that trust was a fatal weakness.”
He reached out, his warm, strong hand gently taking my trembling left hand into his.
“You slapped my hand away in the dark. You looked into the eyes of a monster and told me that power isn’t permission. You taught me how to live, how to fight for something real, and how to love.”
A tear broke free from my eyelash, sliding down my cheek.
“I cannot promise you a life without enemies,” Vincent whispered, his voice thick with emotion. “I cannot promise you a world without shadows. But I swear on my life, on my blood, and on my soul, that as long as I draw breath, no harm will ever touch you or your family again. You will be my partner, my equal, and my queen.”
He raised the ring toward me.
“Claire Montgomery... will you marry me?”
The entire universe seemed to hold its breath.
All the fear, all the chaos, the gunshots, the broken elevators, and the bloodstained ballrooms dissolved into nothingness. There was only this man—the fierce, protective, broken man who had taken a bullet for me and given me an entire world of safety.
“Yes,” I cried out, the word bursting from my lips in a breathless sob of joy. “Yes, Vincent! A thousand times, yes!”
Vincent’s face broke into the most radiant, breathtaking smile I had ever seen on him.
He slid the heavy platinum ring onto my finger—a perfect fit—before surging to his feet, wrapping his powerful arms around my waist, lifting me off the snow, and spinning me around in the winter air!
May you like
I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck, laughing through my tears, and when he set my feet back down onto the terrace, he crashed his lips against mine in a kiss of pure, unbridled passion and eternal promise.
From the doorway of the conservatory, Grandma Clara and Elena were watching, wiping away tears of joy and clapping their hands in celebration.
