Chapter 17 - Rebuilding TrustThe next two weeks were a strange, beautiful blur of recovery and readjustment within the secure walls of the penthouse fortress.
Elise slowly regained her strength, spending her days bonding with her son while looking out over the sprawling Chicago skyline.
Julian completely ignored his illicit business empire, delegating all operations to Marcus while he focused entirely on his new family.
He was a surprisingly natural, devoted father.
The man who ruthlessly controlled the city's underworld could be found pacing the floor at three in the morning, softly singing Italian lullabies to soothe a crying infant.
Elise watched him from the bed, her heart swelling with a deep, complicated love that she could no longer deny or suppress.
One evening, after the baby had finally fallen asleep in his crib, Julian walked over to the bed and sat down beside her.
He held a thick, manila envelope in his large hands.
“What is that?” Elise asked, feeling a sudden spike of nervous apprehension.
Julian opened the envelope and pulled out the divorce papers she had come to sign on that fateful day.
Her signature was missing, but his bold, sharp handwriting was clearly visible at the bottom of the page.
Without a word, Julian pulled a silver lighter from his pocket, sparked the flame, and held it to the edge of the legal documents.
Elise watched in stunned silence as the papers caught fire, burning brightly before Julian dropped the ashes into a crystal ashtray.
“I told you there would be no divorce,” he reminded her softly, looking deeply into her eyes.
“I want you to stay, Elise.”
“Not because you are the mother of my son, and not because you need my protection.”
“I want you to stay because I am completely in love with you, and my life was a dark, empty void for the eight months you were gone.”
Elise stared at him, completely overwhelmed by the raw, vulnerable confession from a man who rarely showed emotion.
“We can’t go back to the way things were, Julian,” she warned him softly.
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“I can’t live in a marriage filled with secrets, locked doors, and constant danger.”
“I agree,” he said immediately, surprising her.
