The air in the library was heavy, smelling of old leather, fine bourbon, and the quiet despair of a man who had long since surrendered to his own cage.

Despite the danger, life settled into a rhythm. Claire opened her own physical therapy clinic in a high-end downtown building—secretly funded by a shell corporation Sebastian owned.

She treated normal clients: athletes, car crash victims, wealthy socialites. But every evening, she returned to the sprawling estate.

Leo thrived. He started attending a private school nearby, guarded from a distance by two of Gabriel’s most trusted men.

But Claire stood at a crossroads. The media was starting to link the renowned physical therapist with the infamous crime boss. Reporters were asking questions.

"I can make it stop," Sebastian told her one evening in the library, looking at a tabloid magazine on his desk. "I can buy the papers. Or burn them."

"No," Claire laughed softly, sitting on his lap. He grunted slightly, adjusting his braced legs to support her weight, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Let them talk. I don't care."

"They'll call you a mobster's mistress."

"Then you'll just have to make me his wife, won't you?" she challenged, raising an eyebrow.