Chapter 7 - The Final DawnThree years later.
The morning sun poured through the massive arched windows of the restored Hayes estate in Brooklyn—my mother’s brownstone, beautifully renovated, bursting with life, laughter, and the scent of fresh coffee and blooming hydrangeas.
Out in the sunlit courtyard, a golden retriever puppy bounded across the cobblestones, chasing a bright red ball, while Giovanni chased after it with a laugh that still occasionally shocked people who only knew him as the most feared financier in Manhattan.
I stood by the kitchen window, watching them from inside, wearing a simple linen dress, a small gold band resting securely on my left ring finger.
Heavy arms wrapped around my waist from behind, and a familiar, deep voice murmured into my hair.
“What are you daydreaming about?”
I leaned back against Giovanni’s broad chest, smiling as I felt the warmth of his embrace.
“I was just thinking about the night of that charity gala,” I whispered, turning my head to kiss his cheek. “If Celeste hadn't screamed that nobody wanted me... I never would have looked across that ballroom.”
Giovanni chuckled, wrapping his arms tighter around me, resting his chin comfortably on my shoulder.
“If she hadn't,” Giovanni replied without hesitation, his gray eyes sparkling with quiet amusement, “I would have had to storm across that room and drag you out by your hand anyway. Some things are inevitable, Willow.”
I laughed, turning in his arms to wrap my hands around his neck, looking up into the face of the man who had torn down an empire just to build a home for us.
“You really would have, wouldn't you?”
“Absolutely,” he whispered, his lips meeting mine in a soft, lingering kiss. “Nobody wanted you? Let the entire city see who has you now.”
May you like
And as I looked out over the sunlit courtyard, wrapped in the arms of the man who owned the city but belonged entirely to me, I knew the story of the girl holding the purse was finally over.
The story of the woman who ruled the room had just begun.
