Chapter 19 - The Sovereign OathBy the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, the snowstorm outside had blanketed the Westchester estate in a thick, pristine layer of white silence.
Dominic and I stood alone out on the wide stone balcony of the master suite, wrapped in heavy cashmere coats, looking out over the frozen Hudson River as distant fireworks burst in brilliant colors across the Manhattan skyline.
The cold winter air bit at our cheeks, but the warmth of his hand holding mine was absolute.
“Do you ever miss it?” Dominic asked quietly, his slate-gray eyes catching the multicolored flashes of the distant fireworks. “The quiet life? Pouring coffee in a diner, worrying about rent, living as a ghost in the crowd?”
I turned my head, looking up at the man who had upended my entire universe, rewriting every rule of survival and power.
“I was never a ghost, Dominic,” I replied, my voice steady, clear, and filled with quiet pride. “I was just waiting for the right storm to wake me up.”
Dominic smiled—a rare, unguarded smile that made the ruthless crime boss vanish, leaving only the man who loved me with terrifying intensity.
He reached out, his fingers tracing the heavy gold band on my finger—the ring he had slid onto my unconscious hand while surgeons fought for my life in a sterile hospital room.
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“And now?” he asked softly.
“Now,” I said, leaning in closer, pressing my lips against his in a slow, possessive kiss that tasted of winter air and absolute victory, “we own the storm.”
