Chapter 7 - The Unbroken SovereignMatteo didn't just step into the room; he descended upon the surviving enforcer with a cold, terrifying, and absolute violence.
Within four seconds, the second intruder was disarmed, pinned flat onto the hardwood floor by Matteo's broad boot resting heavy against his chest, his Kimber .45 pointed flat between the man's terrified eyes.
"Who sent you?" Matteo's voice carried a tone so dark, so lethal, that even the howling storm outside seemed to go quiet in fear.
"Vance... Vance paid us fifty grand to take the girl..." the enforcer wept, blood pouring from his nose onto the rug. "Please, Conti! Don't kill me!"
"Marco," Matteo commanded softly, never taking his eyes off the man on the floor. "Call the federal marshals. Tell them the Providence leadership has been liquidated."
Ten minutes later, the remaining estate security operators had secured the main house, cleared the lower levels, and restored the primary auxiliary power grid.
The library was flooded once more with warm, amber light.
Matteo stood near the broken window frame, his dark coat wet with rain, his hands spotless, looking across the room at me.
I stood near the stone fireplace, still holding the 9mm pistol, my cream cashmere sweater dusted with tiny flecks of glass, my posture fluid, tall, and completely unshakeable.
Leo Mercer stepped into the library, looking at the fallen intruders, then looked at me holding the empty pistol, his jaw sagging open in absolute, speechless awe.
"Miss Miller..." Leo stammered out. "You... you took down the lead contractor...?"
"She has good form," Matteo murmured softly, walking slowly across the rug toward me.
He stopped two inches away, reaching out his broad hand, taking the pistol gently from my fingers, setting it flat onto the mantelpiece.
He looked down into my hazel eyes—taking in my unyielding courage, my sharp intelligence, and the quiet, fierce light that burned inside my soul.
"Are you hurt, Maya?" Matteo asked, his deep baritone thick with a rare, raw vulnerability that cut straight through his terrifying reputation.
"I'm fine, Matteo," I answered softly, a warm, genuine smile touching my lips. "Though your library window is going to cost a fortune to replace."
A low, breathtaking laugh escaped Matteo's chest. He reached up, his broad, calloused palms framing my face, his warm thumbs stroking my cheekbones, leaning down until his lips were a fraction of an inch from mine.
"You poked me in the chest at the Velvet Room twenty-four hours ago, Maya," Matteo whispered against my lips, his gray eyes shining with an absolute, eternal devotion. "And you destroyed my dark world forever."
"Are you going to drop me home now, Conti?" I teased softly, wrapping my arms around his broad neck.
May you like
"No," Matteo promised, closing the distance, pressing his lips to mine in a deep, sweet, and consuming kiss that sealed our lives together under the storm-swept sky. "Never."
Outside the glass fortress, the winter rain continued to fall over Boston, but standing in the arms of the sovereign king of the city, wrapped in the warmth of his unbroken protection, I knew that my dark shifts were over—my life, my mother's peace, and my future were finally, beautifully, and forever home.
