Chapter 9 - A ROMAN MORNING
Six months later.
The morning sun filtered through the tall, arched windows of the villa, casting a golden hue over the terracotta floor. The smell of fresh espresso and baked bread drifted in from the kitchen.
I stood on the balcony, wrapping a silk robe tighter around my shoulders, looking out over the sprawling olive groves. The air was crisp, tasting of rain and earth.
A pair of strong arms wrapped around my waist from behind. A warm chin rested on the top of my head.
“You’re up early,” Julian murmured, kissing my hair.
I leaned back against his chest, smiling. “I was just listening to the quiet.”
And it was quiet. The heavy gates of the villa were still guarded, but the suffocating tension was gone. Richard had pleaded guilty to federal racketeering and extortion. He was serving thirty years in a maximum-security prison in Ohio. Global Meridian had been dismantled, the cartel scattered.
We were safe. Truly safe.
Behind us, a joyful shriek erupted from the courtyard.
I looked down. Marcus, dressed in casual slacks and a linen shirt—no longer wearing the rigid suit of a bodyguard—was chasing Maya across the grass. Maya was laughing hysterically, her dark hair flying behind her.
Sitting on a picnic blanket nearby was Leo, now a year old, happily smashing a piece of biscotti into his mouth.
I felt a lump form in my throat. I had boarded that plane with €274, a broken spirit, and no hope for the future. I had thought I was saving a crying baby. I hadn't realized the baby, and his father, were actually saving me.
Julian turned me around to face him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, velvet box.
My breath caught.
“When we met, you offered me the one thing money couldn't buy,” Julian said softly, his gray eyes shining with an emotion so deep it anchored my soul. “You gave my son a mother’s warmth. You gave me back my life. I don’t want you to be my employee anymore, Sarah. I don’t want you to just be my sanctuary.”
He opened the box. Inside was a simple, breathtakingly elegant diamond ring.
“I want you to be my wife,” Julian said. “I want Maya to be my daughter. I want us to be a family.”
Tears spilled over my cheeks, hot and happy. I didn't hesitate. I didn't have to think. For the first time in my life, I knew exactly what I was worth, and I knew the man in front of me would spend the rest of his life making sure I never forgot it.
“Yes,” I whispered, throwing my arms around his neck.
Julian picked me up, spinning me around as I laughed. Down in the courtyard, Maya looked up and clapped her hands, and Leo let out a delighted squeal.
May you like
The turbulence was finally over. We had landed.
And we were exactly where we were meant to be.
