Chapter 6 - The Siege and the SanctuaryBefore Vanessa could panic further, the heavy front door didn't just open—it swung wide with a splintering crash as the deadbolt sheared cleanly away from the frame.
Diana gasped, pulling Vanessa behind her as three men in tactical gear poured into the hallway. But right behind them, stepping through the ruined threshold with his coat collar turned up against the rain, was Carter Battalia.
His face was a mask of cold, unyielding granite, and across his knuckles, a faint, dark bruise marred his skin.
Vanessa let out a choked cry, pressing herself flat against the wallpaper. "Wh-What is this? You can't break into our home! I'm calling the police!"
Carter didn't even spare Vanessa a single glance. His dark eyes scanned the hallway until they locked onto Diana. He crossed the distance between them in three long strides, his hands coming up to cup her face, his thumbs gently brushing her cheekbones as if verifying she was real and unhurt.
"Are you alright?" he demanded, his voice stripped of its usual cool composure, rough with an underlying urgency.
"I'm fine," Diana breathed, her hands resting instinctively against his chest, feeling the steady, powerful thrum of his heart beneath his shirt. "What happened? What are those men outside?"
"Marcus tried to make a statement tonight," Carter said, his gaze dropping to her lips before snapping back to her eyes. "He thought hitting my supply line while I was occupied would break me. He was wrong. Marcus is no longer a factor in Philadelphia."
Vanessa let out a terrified whimper from the corner. "You... you killed someone? Oh, my god, you're a criminal, you're an animal—!"
Carter finally turned his head toward Vanessa, and the sheer malice in his expression made Vanessa instantly clamp her mouth shut, her knees buckling slightly.
"If you ever raise your voice in this house again," Carter said softly, his voice cutting through the room like a razor blade, "or if you ever force my wife—"
Diana’s breath hitched. "Your... your what?"
Carter looked back down at her, a faint, possessive warmth finally breaking through the ice in his eyes. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small velvet box, opening it with one hand to reveal a vintage diamond ring that caught the amber light of the hallway.
"I told you yesterday, Diana. I don't negotiate invitations, and I don't waste luxuries," Carter said, his voice steady and absolute. "Marcus is gone. Your old life ends tonight. You are coming with me."
Vanessa stared at the ring, then at Diana, her face pale with absolute disbelief. "Diana... you can't. He's insane! He'll ruin you!"
Diana looked at Vanessa—her sister, who had spent a lifetime keeping her small, invisible, and broken. Then she looked up at Carter Battalia—a man who had torn down an entire criminal syndicate because someone had dared to cross his path, yet looked at her as though she were the only anchor in a violent storm.
She didn't feel afraid. For the first time in her life, she felt entirely invincible.
Diana slowly slid her hand out from under Carter’s grip, but instead of pulling away, she reached out and took the ring from the velvet box herself.
"You didn't ask me properly," Diana whispered, a daring, mischievous smile touching her lips.
Carter stared at her, stunned for a single heartbeat before a slow, dark laugh rumbled deep in his chest. He took her left hand, sliding the diamond onto her ring finger with steady, possessive precision.
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"Marry me, Diana," he murmured against her skin. "And let the rest of the world burn."
"Yes," Diana whispered.
