Chapter 15 - THE END OF THE LEDGER
Adrien picked up the envelope.
The paper was old, yellowed at the corners.
He handed it to Isabella.
Her fingers were steady now as she opened the flap.
Inside lay two items.
The first was a deed of clear title to an eighty-acre apple orchard in the hills of Vermont.
Signed by her father twenty-five years ago.
The second was a handwritten letter on the heavy cream stationery his father had always used.
Adrien recognized the bold, heavy slant of the ink immediately.
Isabella read the lines aloud.
Her voice was soft, clear, and steady against the sound of the ocean wind:
"To Isabella:
If you are reading this, my son has either killed Mercer or Mercer has killed him.
If my son is dead, take the orchard and run.
If my son is alive and sitting beside you, give him this letter.
Adrien:
A kingdom built on fear must be guarded with blood every hour of the day.
I chose the blood.
It cost me your mother.
It cost me my soul.
And in the end, it gave me a room full of paper that burned to ash in ten seconds.
Don't build a fortress, Adrien.
Build a life.
The girl has your mother's strength.
If she hasn't shot you yet, marry her.
Vincent Voss."
A single tear slipped down Isabella's cheek.
She let out a breath that was half a laugh and half a sob.
"The old bastard," she whispered, smiling through the tears.
"Even from the grave, he had to give orders."
Adrien took the letter from her fingers.
He folded it once and slid it into the breast pocket of his woolen sweater.
"He was right about one thing," Adrien said.
She turned to face him.
The wind caught her dark hair, blowing a soft strand across her cheek.
"What was he right about?"
Adrien reached into his pocket.
He pulled out a simple silver ring.
Not mafia gold.
Not a syndicate crest.
A band of clean, hammered silver he had bought from the village jeweler in Bar Harbor two days ago.
"You spent two years waiting on me in that house," Adrien said.
His voice was thick with an emotion he had never allowed himself to feel in thirty years.
"You watched me bleed."
"You watched me lose everything."
"And you pulled me out of the river anyway."
He took her left hand in his.
His thumb brushed the pale skin of her wrist where the bruise had completely disappeared.
"Will you stay with me, Isabella?"
"Not as my housekeeper."
"Not as my collateral."
"As my equal."
Isabella looked down at the silver ring in his hand.
Then she looked up into his gray eyes.
The storm had passed.
The sky above the bay was an endless, brilliant blue.
"Only on one condition," she whispered.
"Name it."
"You never let me pack a suitcase again."
Adrien smiled.
He slipped the silver ring onto her finger.
It fit perfectly.
"Never," he promised.
He leaned down and kissed her.
The ocean wind blew around them, carrying the scent of salt, cedar, and the clean, open sea.
The Voss empire was dead.
The blood was washed away.
May you like
And for the first time in their lives, they were free.
THE END
