Chapter 14 - Shadows in the Garden
By evening, the estate had settled into a profound, peaceful quiet that it hadn't known in decades.
The rain had finally stopped, leaving the sprawling lawns of Lake Forest smelling of damp earth, wet pine needles, and crisp autumn air.
After the grueling meetings with the regional directors, I walked out through the French doors of the east wing into the private rose garden.
The stone pathways were slick with silver moonlight.
My right hand rested comfortably inside the pocket of my wool coat, the pain reduced to a dull, distant memory.
I stopped beside the marble fountain, watching the water ripple under the moonlight.
“You’ll catch a cold,” a deep, familiar voice murmured from the shadows of the trellis.
I turned to see Luca walking slowly down the stone path, his dark overcoat unbuttoned, his hands shoved deep into his pockets.
He stopped two feet away from me, his gray eyes catching the silver moonlight.
“I’m fine,” I smiled softly.
“The air feels good after sitting in that boardroom for four hours.”
Luca stepped closer, the faint scent of cedar and expensive bourbon wrapping around me like a shield.
“You handled those capos better than most of my veteran lieutenants,” he noted with genuine admiration.
“Captain Rossi told me outside the doors that he hasn't seen a woman command that much respect in this house since my mother was alive.”
“I didn't command them,” I said quietly, looking down at the fountain.
“I just spoke the truth.”
“In a house built on lies, the truth is the most terrifying weapon of all,” Luca whispered.
He reached out, his warm fingers gently brushing against my cheek, turning my face toward his.
His touch was so tender, so completely devoid of the brutal authority he wielded over the underworld, that my breath caught in my throat.
“Nora,” he said, his voice dropping into a register that made the world around us vanish.
“When I brought you into this house nine months ago, you were just another face in the staff ledger.”
“When I sat at that dinner table and watched my fiancée try to destroy your hands, I thought I was looking at another casualty of my father’s war.”
“I was wrong.”
“You weren't a casualty.”
“You were the salvation I didn't know I was waiting for.”
He slid his hand down from my cheek, his fingers gently interlocking with my left hand, avoiding my bandaged palm with absolute care.
“Stay with me, Nora,” Luca whispered, the wind rustling the autumn leaves around us.
“Not just as an administrator.”
“Not just as a partner.”
“Stay with me as the heart of this house.”
Tears of pure, unadulterated happiness welled up in my eyes, spilling over my lashes.
I didn't hesitate.
I stepped closer, wrapping my arms around his waist with my left hand while pressing my head against the solid warmth of his chest.
May you like
“I’m not going anywhere, Luca,” I whispered against his shirt.
“I’m home.”
