Chapter 15 - A Clean Slate and a New RingSix months later.
The Grand Moretti Hotel downtown had never looked more magnificent.
The lobby chandeliers sparkled with newly polished Austrian crystal.
Fresh white lilies filled the marble vases.
Soft jazz piano drifted through the grand ballroom.
Tonight was the grand reopening gala.
Every legitimate business leader, politician, and socialite in Chicago was in attendance.
Michael Torres stood near the grand staircase.
He wore an impeccably tailored tuxedo.
He smiled broadly as guests shook his hand.
Luca had officially named him Chief Executive Officer of the Moretti Hospitality Group.
Michael saw me and raised his champagne flute with a wink.
I smiled back.
I wasn't wearing a maid uniform.
I wore a floor-length emerald green satin gown with an open back.
My hair was swept up in elegant curls.
Diamonds sparkled at my ears.
I had spent the last five months restructuring the hotel group’s entire accounting and compliance division.
As the new Chief Operating Officer, I had rooted out every single shadow account.
The Moretti name was completely legitimate now.
Clean.
Untouchable.
Suddenly, a warm hand rested gently against the small of my back.
I didn't need to turn around to know who it was.
The scent of cedarwood, expensive scotch, and crisp air surrounded me.
Luca leaned down, his lips brushing against my ear.
“You’re outshining the chandeliers, Emma.”
I turned to face him.
Luca looked breathtaking in a bespoke black tuxedo.
The dangerous edge was still there in his dark eyes, but the cold cruelty was gone.
Replaced by a quiet, steady peace.
“You’re late to your own party, Mr. Moretti,” I teased gently.
“I was waiting for the crowd to settle,” he murmured.
He took my hand and led me away from the noise of the ballroom.
We walked out onto the private terrace overlooking the glittering Chicago skyline.
The summer breeze was warm and gentle.
Lake Michigan lay calm beneath the starlit sky.
Below us, the city lights reflected in the water like scattered diamonds.
Luca stopped by the carved stone balustrade.
He looked down at me.
His expression was softer than I had ever seen it.
“Do you remember what you said to me in the interrogation room?” Luca asked.
“I said a lot of things, Luca.”
“You told me you were just doing your job.”
He reached into his inner jacket pocket.
He didn't pull out a gun.
He pulled out a small black velvet box.
My breath caught in my throat.
My heart began to race.
Luca opened the box.
Inside rested a flawless, radiant-cut sapphire ring surrounded by a halo of brilliant white diamonds.
Deep blue.
Like the ocean at midnight.
“This belonged to my grandmother,” Luca said softly.
“She was an honest woman from Sicily who built a bakery with her own two hands.”
He took the ring from the velvet cushion.
“She refused to wear blood diamonds. She only wore what was earned with honor.”
Luca looked directly into my eyes.
He didn't kneel like a theatrical suitor.
He stood before me as an equal.
A partner.
“Vanessa thought you were nothing because you carried a duster,” Luca said, his voice husky with emotion.
“She was blind.”
He lifted my left hand.
His fingers were steady.
“You saw the truth when everyone else was bought. You stood in the fire beside me and never broke.”
He paused, his eyes searching mine.
“Emma Reed, will you run this empire with me? Will you be my wife?”
Tears welled in my eyes.
Happy, beautiful tears.
I looked at the sapphire gleaming under the Chicago stars.
Then I looked into the eyes of the man who had protected my mother, cleaned his slate, and given me his heart.
“Yes,” I whispered.
A breathtaking smile broke across Luca’s face.
He slipped the sapphire ring onto my finger.
It fit perfectly.
Luca wrapped his strong arms around my waist, lifting me slightly off the stone floor.
He pulled me into a deep, passionate kiss beneath the summer sky.
The music from the ballroom drifted out onto the terrace.
The shadows of the past were gone.
May you like
The ghosts were buried.
And the girl who was once called a clueless maid had just become the queen of Chicago.
