fiction
Twenty-two powerful guests watched me slap the most feared man in Chicago after he grabbed my wrist and ordered me to sit beside him. Everyone thought I had just humiliated Damian Romano in his own mansion, but two seconds later, a bullet ripped through the chair meant for me, and I realized his terrifying behavior was the only reason I was still breathing. / Chapter 10 / 10

Chapter 10 - A New Dawn

Six months later, the Lake Forest estate felt entirely different. The dark, forbidding aura that had once hung over the mansion like a perpetual storm cloud had been replaced by warmth, laughter, and life.

I stood on the expansive back terrace, wrapped in a soft silk robe, holding a steaming mug of coffee as the morning sun crested over the tree line of the north lawn. The crisp autumn air bit gently at my cheeks, but the warmth radiating from behind me eclipsed the chill.

Strong arms slid around my waist, pulling me backward against a solid, familiar chest. Damian rested his chin gently on my shoulder, inhaling deeply as he breathed in the scent of my hair.

“What are you thinking about so early?” he murmured, his voice thick with morning sleep.

I leaned back into his embrace, smiling as I looked out over the peaceful gardens where the shattered chair had once lain.

“I was just thinking about the day we met,” I confessed softly, turning slightly in his arms to look up at him. “About how I slapped you in front of twenty-two powerful guests, humiliated you in your own dining room, and thought my life was over.”

A low, rich chuckle rumbled in Damian’s chest. He reached up, gently tracing the line of my jaw with his thumb, right where my hand had struck him months ago.

“And I was thinking,” Damian replied, his dark eyes sparkling with quiet amusement and bottomless devotion, “that it was the best slap I ever took in my entire life.”

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I laughed, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him down for a sweet, lingering morning kiss.

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