Chapter 10 - SPRING AWAKENING
Two years later.
The sprawling lawns of Julian’s private estate in the Hamptons were bathed in the golden, late-afternoon sunlight. The ocean breeze carried the scent of salt and blooming hydrangeas through the massive, open French doors of the sunroom.
Grace sat on a woven patio chair, sipping iced tea, watching absolute chaos unfold on the grass.
Lily and Leo, now two years old and possessing an endless supply of chaotic toddler energy, were sprinting across the lawn, giggling uncontrollably. Chasing them, roaring like a very unconvincing monster, was the ruthless billionaire CEO of Vance Global Logistics.
Julian tackled Leo gently into the soft grass, burying his face in the boy’s stomach and blowing raspberries until Leo shrieked with laughter. Lily immediately piled on top of Julian’s back, yanking playfully at his hair.
Grace watched them, a profound, aching swell of love filling her chest. The scars on her hands were still there, faint white lines against her skin, but the memories of the cold had finally lost their power to haunt her.
Julian stood up, scooping a laughing toddler into each arm, and walked across the grass toward Grace. He was out of breath, his linen shirt wrinkled, looking happier than any Forbes magazine cover had ever captured him.
He set the twins down, letting them run off toward the sandbox under the watchful eye of their nanny, and collapsed into the chair beside Grace.
"They are entirely too fast," Julian groaned, reaching out to take her hand.
"You spoil them," Grace teased, threading her fingers through his.
"They deserve to be spoiled," Julian said softly. He pulled her hand to his lips, kissing the faint white scars on her knuckles. "And so do you."
Grace leaned her head against his shoulder. They had married six months ago in a quiet, private ceremony on this exact lawn. Julian had officially adopted the twins, though in his heart, they had been his since the moment he caught them in that freezing darkness.
"I was thinking about the warehouse today," Grace murmured softly. It was the first time she had brought it up in months.
Julian tensed slightly, his thumb stopping its soothing circle on her hand. "Bad thoughts?"
"No," Grace said, looking up at him, her eyes bright and clear. "I was just thinking... Derek tried to give me a tomb. But all he really did was open the door for you to find us."
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Julian smiled, a slow, deeply content smile that reached all the way to his icy blue eyes, warming them entirely. He pulled her into his lap, wrapping his arms securely around her waist.
"I would have found you eventually, Grace," Julian whispered into her hair, watching their children play in the sun. "Somehow. I would have found you."
