Chapter 7 - The Sunrise Over the HarborSix months later, the New York Harbor was alive with the roar of cargo ships, the hum of bustling union docks, and the bright, blinding promise of a summer sunrise.
The sprawling grounds of the Long Island estate were no longer a cold, heavily guarded fortress. Today, the gardens were alive with white roses, string lights, and the soft strains of a jazz quartet playing beneath a grand white marquee.
There were no federal prosecutors, no corrupt board members, and no terrified relatives in attendance. Just a hundred close friends, trusted associates, and people who had learned the true meaning of loyalty.
I stood in front of the full-length mirror in the master suite, smoothing down the front of a custom-designed, off-the-shoulder ivory lace wedding gown. There were no high collars, no long sleeves, and no stiff corsets to hide my body. The dress was designed specifically to let the sunlight catch the faint, silvery traces of old scars across my shoulders—not as a mark of trauma, but as a map of where I had been and how far I had climbed.
The bedroom door opened quietly.
Roman stepped inside, wearing a classic black tuxedo, his dark hair neatly combed, the scar near his eyebrow catching the morning light. He stopped dead in his tracks, his breath catching in his throat as he looked at me through the mirror.
"Evelyn," he whispered, crossing the room in two long strides.
He didn't care about the dress, or the hair, or the traditions. He wrapped his arms around my waist from behind, pulling me flush against his chest, burying his face in the crook of my neck.
"Is this legal?" I asked with a soft laugh, resting my hands over his. "Can you marry the same woman twice in one year?"
"In my city, I make the laws," Roman murmured against my skin, pressing a warm kiss to my shoulder right over the silver line of an old scar. "And according to my laws, I intend to spend the next eighty years reminding you every single day that you are safe, you are cherished, and you are completely free."
I turned around in his arms, wrapping my hands around his neck, looking up into the dark eyes that had once terrified me and now held my entire world.
"No threats this time, Mr. Caruso?" I teased, a bright smile breaking across my face.
Roman smiled back—a genuine, unguarded smile that made him look entirely human, entirely alive, and completely ruined for anyone else in the world.
May you like
"Only one promise, Mrs. Caruso," he whispered against my lips. "I love you."
And as the church bells from across the harbor began to ring in the bright morning sun, we walked out together to meet our future.
