Chapter 10 - HOME
Six months later, Linda walked down the aisle.
There were no politicians.
No gangsters.
No weapons.
No secret deals.
Only family.
Keo stood beside Dominic in a tiny black suit.
He looked extremely serious.
Linda reached the altar.
Dominic stared at her.
The woman he had once considered invisible.
The woman he had followed because he suspected betrayal.
The woman who had turned out to be carrying more courage than everyone in his empire combined.
She smiled.
Dominic whispered:
"You look beautiful."
"You look nervous."
"I am."
She laughed.
The ceremony was simple.
When they exchanged vows, Dominic didn't promise to protect her from every danger.
He knew that was impossible.
Instead, he promised something harder.
"I promise never to make decisions for you when you deserve a voice."
Linda cried.
"I promise to stand beside you, not in front of you."
Then it was her turn.
"I promise to remind you that you're allowed to be happy."
Dominic's eyes softened.
"And I promise never to let you forget that you are loved."
They kissed.
Keo cheered louder than anyone.
Later, Dominic found Linda outside beneath the garden lights.
"You disappeared."
"I needed air."
He joined her.
She leaned against his shoulder.
"Do you ever miss the old life?"
He thought about it.
"The money?"
"No."
"The power?"
"No."
"The fear?"
"Definitely not."
She smiled.
"I miss one thing."
"What?"
"The man I was before I met you."
Linda looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because he didn't know how much he was missing."
She took his hand.
"And now?"
"Now I know."
Inside the house, Keo shouted:
"Mom! Dad! The cake is falling!"
Linda laughed.
"That's our cue."
They ran inside.
The cake had indeed collapsed.
Keo stood beside it covered in frosting.
Dominic stared.
Linda burst out laughing.
Then Dominic laughed too.
A real laugh.
Not the cold smile his enemies feared.
Not the polite expression his business partners expected.
A genuine laugh.
The kind Linda had never heard from him before.
She looked at him.
"You know what?"
"What?"
"If someone had told me two years ago that the most dangerous man in the city would become the safest place in my life, I'd have called them insane."
Dominic wrapped an arm around her waist.
"If someone had told me I'd fall in love with my maid, I'd have shot them."
Linda raised an eyebrow.
"That's romantic."
"I've improved."
She laughed.
He kissed her forehead.
Keo groaned.
"Please stop being gross."
They laughed again.
Outside, snow began falling softly over the city.
The empire was gone.
The violence was behind them.
The hospital bills were paid.
Keo was healthy.
And the woman who had once cried alone beside a hospital bed now had a home filled with laughter.
Dominic had followed Linda because he suspected she was hiding something.
He had been right.
She was hiding a secret.
But it wasn't betrayal.
It was love.
A love powerful enough to make a ruthless man abandon the world that had made him.
Powerful enough to turn an overlooked maid into the woman standing beside him.
And powerful enough to teach a seven-year-old boy that sometimes the most frightening-looking people could become the ones who held your hand when you were afraid.
Dominic looked at Linda.
"Come home."
She smiled.
"I am home."
May you like
And this time, neither of them was afraid of what came next.
THE END
