Chapter 6 - THE CONTRACT AND THE VOW
The next evening, Gabriel summoned Claire to his private study.
The room was vast, lined with mahogany bookshelves and smelling of leather and expensive bourbon. Gabriel was sitting behind a massive desk, staring at a stack of legal documents.
Claire sat in the leather chair opposite him, Emma sleeping soundly in a baby carrier on her chest.
"Ethan’s father retaliated," Gabriel said without preamble.
Claire’s heart dropped. "What did he do?"
"Richard Dawson is a desperate man," Gabriel explained, sliding a document across the desk. "He filed an emergency injunction in family court this morning. They are suing for immediate sole custody of Emma, claiming that you are mentally unstable, suffering from severe postpartum psychosis, and have kidnapped the child to live in the home of a known organized crime figure."
Claire gasped, the air leaving her lungs. "They're lying! The doctors at the hospital know the truth!"
"The Dawson family has bought the hospital administrator," Gabriel said grimly. "They've bought the judge handling the emergency hearing. They are building a narrative that you are a danger to your own child, and that I am holding you hostage."
Tears spilled down Claire’s cheeks. She gripped the edges of the desk. "Gabriel, they'll take her. They have all the power. I have no money, no job... no husband. The courts will look at me and see a destitute woman, and they'll look at the Dawsons and see billionaires."
"I won't let them take her," Gabriel said fiercely.
"How?!" Claire cried out, panic finally breaking her composure. "You can't shoot a judge, Gabriel! This is the legal system! They will send the police with a court order, and if I don't hand her over, they'll arrest me!"
Gabriel stood up, walking around the desk. He crouched beside her chair, putting himself at eye level with her. He reached out, gently wiping a tear from her cheek with his thumb. The touch was so tender, so at odds with his terrifying reputation, that it made Claire’s breath catch.
"There is a way to stop them," Gabriel said softly. "But it requires you to trust me completely."
"I trust you," Claire whispered without hesitation.
Gabriel looked at her, his dark eyes searching hers for a long moment. "The courts are attacking you because you are a single, vulnerable woman with no legal ties to this estate. If Richard Dawson wants to play the game of image and power, we will crush him with it."
Gabriel stood up and walked to the window, looking out into the dark night.
"Marry me, Claire."
The words hit the room like a thunderclap.
Claire stared at his broad back, certain she had misheard him. "What?"
Gabriel turned around to face her. "If you are my wife, the entire legal landscape changes. You will instantly have access to half of the Moretti fortune. You will have my army of corporate lawyers on retainer. Any judge the Dawsons have bought will immediately back down, because no judge in this state wants to go to war with the Moretti family when the target is my legal wife."
"But... but Ethan and I aren't even divorced yet!"
"My lawyers fast-tracked the divorce today. Because Ethan filed the original papers citing irreconcilable differences, we simply signed them and expedited the processing through a judge who owes me his career. You will be a legally single woman by tomorrow morning."
Claire’s head was spinning. "A marriage of convenience. To protect Emma."
"To protect both of you," Gabriel corrected, his voice heavy with emotion. "I swear to you, Claire, this will be a marriage on paper only. I will not touch you. I will not demand anything of you. You will have your own wing of the house, your own life. But you will have my name. And in this city, my name is a shield nothing can pierce."
Claire looked down at Emma. Her sweet, perfect daughter, who had been abandoned by her biological father because she was the wrong gender. The Dawsons didn't want Emma; they only wanted to punish Claire and save their public image.
She looked back at Gabriel. The feared mafia boss. The monster of Chicago.
He was offering to chain himself to a penniless single mother just to keep a baby safe.
"Okay," Claire whispered. "I'll do it."
May you like
Gabriel let out a breath he seemed to have been holding. He walked back to the desk and opened a small velvet box. Inside sat a breathtaking diamond ring, elegant and timeless.
"We sign the papers tomorrow afternoon at City Hall," Gabriel said, offering her the ring. "And tomorrow night, we attend the mayor’s charity gala. We let Ethan and Richard Dawson, and the entire city of Chicago, know that you belong to me."
