Chapter 8 - Scars and New Beginnings
Three weeks later, the spring thaw had begun to melt the heavy snowdrifts around the Hudson Valley estate.
Crocuses and snowdrops were pushing their heads through the damp earth along the driveway, and the sweet smell of wet pine filled the crisp morning air.
On the third floor, Mia Carter stood in her modest bedroom, packing her belongings into two worn canvas duffel bags. Her fingers were fully healed, though faint pink scars still circled her wrists where the sisal ropes had cut into her skin.
Harper sat on the floor, carefully wrapping her stuffed rabbit in a wool sweater before tucking it into the side pocket of the bag.
“Mommy,” Harper asked, looking up with large, curious eyes. “Are we going back to our little apartment in Albany?”
Mia paused, swallowing the lump in her throat. She looked around the clean, comfortable room that had been their sanctuary. “Yes, sweetheart. We have to let Mr. Vale get back to his business. He’s been very generous, but we can’t stay here forever.”
The truth was, every day she spent near Dominic made it harder to leave.
He was a dangerous man—a king of an underworld she had never wanted to touch. But in the three weeks since the betrayal had been crushed, she had seen a side of him that no one else knew.
She had watched him sit on the living room floor for an hour, patiently helping Harper build a castle out of wooden blocks. She had seen the exhaustion in his dark eyes when he worked through the night to dismantle the corrupt elements of his syndicate, ensuring no innocent lives were caught in the crossfire. And she had felt the electric, breathless heat that passed between them whenever their eyes met across the dining room table.
She loved him. And because she loved him, she knew she had to leave before she lost her heart completely to a man who lived in the shadow of war.
“Where are you going?”
The deep, commanding voice made Mia jump.
Dominic stood in the open doorway. He wore an ivory knit sweater with the sleeves pushed up and tailored gray wool trousers, looking relaxed and strikingly handsome in the morning light.
Mia dropped the shirt she was folding. “Mr. Vale. I… we were packing. The estate is safe now. The police reports are filed, and your new security team is in place. We don't want to intrude on your life any longer.”
Dominic walked into the room, his long strides closing the distance between them. He picked up one of the duffel bags from the bed and casually dropped it back onto the floor.
“Harper,” Dominic said, crouching down to the little girl’s eye level. “Would you do me a favor? Marcus is downstairs in the kitchen with a box of freshly glazed doughnuts from that bakery in town. Go tell him I said you can have two.”
Harper’s eyes lit up like stars. “Two whole doughnuts?”
“Two whole ones,” Dominic smiled. “Go on.”
Harper sprinted out of the room, her small sneakers squeaking against the polished floorboards until her laughter echoed down the hallway.
Dominic rose and turned to Mia. The playful warmth in his eyes shifted into raw, unyielding intensity.
“You’re running away,” he said.
Mia folded her arms over her chest, trying to maintain her defenses. “I’m not running away, Dominic. I’m being realistic. I’m a housekeeper. You’re a billionaire who runs an empire. Our worlds don't belong together.”
“To hell with my empire,” Dominic growled softly, stepping so close she could feel the radiating heat of his chest. He reached out, his large, calloused hand cupping the side of her face. His thumb gently traced the faint scar on her temple. “You saved my life, Mia. Harper saved my soul. For twelve years, this house was a tomb. I filled it with expensive art, antique furniture, and a fiancée I bought like a piece of commercial real estate. But it was dead.”
Mia’s breath caught in her throat. “Dominic…”
“The day you were missing,” Dominic continued, his voice dropping into a fierce, gravelly whisper, “when that little girl grabbed my coat and told me her mother hadn't kissed her goodbye… I realized that nothing I owned mattered. Nothing. The only thing in this entire world that had any meaning was finding you.”
Tears welled in Mia’s amber eyes, spilling over her lashes and wetting his thumb. “Dominic, people like you… your life is surrounded by violence. What if someone comes after us again?”
“Let them come,” Dominic said, leaning down until his lips were inches from hers. “I’ll tear them apart with my bare hands. But nobody touches you, Mia. You are never leaving this house again unless it’s on my arm as my wife.”
Before she could answer, Dominic pulled her against him, crushing his mouth down onto hers in a kiss that erased three years of distance, hierarchy, and fear.
Mia’s defenses shattered. She wound her arms around his neck, sinking into his strength, kissing him back with all the desperate, hungry passion she had hidden in the quiet corners of his library for years.
When they finally broke apart, Dominic rested his forehead against hers, breathing hard.
“Stay,” he murmured. “Build a real family with me.”
May you like
Mia looked into the eyes of the mafia sovereign and saw only the man who had pulled her out of the dark.
“I’ll stay,” she whispered. “Forever.”
