Chapter 6 - The Lion’s Confession
The sun rose over Chicago, casting a golden hue over the blood-soaked courtyard. Marcus was dragged away by Viktor and our loyal men, bound for a fate far worse than death in the deepest cells of our South Side facility.
Alina’s father embraced her tightly, expressing overwhelming relief before Viktor escorted him to the medical wing to treat a minor graze.
Suddenly, the courtyard was quiet again, save for the gentle splashing of the fountain and the rustle of the morning wind through the white roses.
I turned slowly to face Alina. She stood there, covered in soot and minor gunpowder residue, holding the pistol down by her side. Her breathing was slightly elevated, her eyes searching my face, uncertain of what verdict I would pass now that the smoke had cleared.
She dropped the pistol onto the grass and looked down, her shoulders slumping. “You know everything now, Dante. You know I kept secrets. You know why I stayed. If you still want to give me that twenty million and send me away… I understand.”
My breath caught. I closed the space between us in an instant, my hands reaching out to cup her face, lifting her chin so she had no choice but to look into my eyes.
“Send you away?” I murmured, my voice cracking slightly—a sound no man had ever heard from Dante Moretti. “Alina, you drank poison on our wedding night just so I could draw another breath. You carried a burden of terror and isolation for three years because you thought you weren't worthy of my love.”
“I was afraid you only kept me as a trophy of war,” she whispered, a fresh tear escaping her eye.
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“I was a fool,” I replied fiercely. “A cold, arrogant monster who believed he didn't deserve to be loved. From the moment you replaced my mother’s funeral lilies with white roses, from the moment you handed me tea after a night of bloodshed without a single word of judgment, you owned my soul, Alina. I just didn't have the courage to tell you.”
Alina gasped as my arms wrapped tightly around her waist, lifting her slightly off the ground as I pulled her flush against my chest. Her arms flew around my neck, burying her face in my shoulder as she sobbed—not with sorrow, but with the overwhelming release of a love finally set free.
