Chapter 10 - ASHES TO EMPIRES
The cleanup was handled by Kaelen’s loyalists, the men who arrived an hour too late but brought enough bleach, body bags, and money to make a small war disappear. I sat in the kitchen, wrapped in a blanket, holding Leo and Mia while Kaelen sat shirtless on the island counter, letting a mob doctor stitch up his new bullet wounds.
He didn't take his eyes off me the entire time.
By sunrise, the house was quiet. The bodies were gone, the glass was swept away, and the ruined doors were boarded up. Kaelen walked into the living room, limping slightly, his arm in a sling. He looked exhausted, but the dark, heavy shadow that had haunted his eyes since he crawled into my diner was gone.
He sat down next to me on the sofa. I handed him Mia, who immediately babbled and grabbed his uninjured finger.
“Declan’s loyalists will surrender or scatter,” Kaelen said softly, watching his daughter. “The war is won. The Vance syndicate is fully under my control. I am dissolving the illegal operations. The drugs, the arms, all of it. We are going strictly legitimate. Real estate, shipping, construction.”
“You’re getting out,” I said, a wave of immense relief washing over me.
He looked up at me. “I told you, I wanted stability. I want my children to grow up in a world where they don't have to look over their shoulders. But I can't do it alone, Ella.”
He reached out with his good hand and gently tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
“I offered you a million dollars to forget me,” Kaelen murmured, his voice thick with emotion. “I am rescinding that offer. I want you to stay. I want you to go back to nursing school. I will pay for it. I will buy you a hospital if you want it. Just… do not leave me. Do not leave us.”
I looked at this terrifying, beautiful, broken man. I looked at the twins, who had stolen my heart in the span of a week. I thought about my empty apartment in Southie, the crushing debt, the loneliness. And then I looked at the future sitting right in front of me.
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“I don't want a hospital, Kaelen,” I smiled softly, leaning into his touch. “Just a ring that hasn't been paid for with blood money.”
Kaelen let out a rough, breathless laugh, pulling me into a deep, desperate kiss that tasted of promises and new beginnings.
