Chapter 10 - Reign
Six Months Later.
The winter snow had melted, giving way to a bright, blooming spring in Boston.
Senator Sterling was currently serving a thirty-year sentence in a maximum-security federal penitentiary, utterly disgraced and forgotten. The criminal underworld had reorganized itself, but there was no question about who sat on the throne.
Dante Rossi reigned supreme. But he didn't rule alone.
The Rossi compound was alive with the sound of music. A massive garden party was underway to celebrate the expansion of their legitimate business fronts. Aria walked through the crowds of dignitaries, mob bosses, and politicians, navigating them with the effortless grace of a true queen.
She wore a backless white sundress, her skin flawless, her smile genuine. The bruises were long gone, leaving no trace behind—neither on her skin nor in her spirit.
She felt a familiar, heavy arm slide around her waist from behind. Dante pulled her flush against his chest, kissing the bare skin of her shoulder.
"You're charming the mayor," Dante murmured, his voice vibrating against her back. "Should I be jealous?"
"You're the most terrifying man in North America, Dante," Aria laughed, leaning back into his embrace. "I don't think you have it in you to be jealous."
Dante turned her around, his dark eyes intensely focused on her face. He reached down, resting his large palm gently against the slight, newly formed swell of her stomach.
"I am jealous of anyone who gets your attention instead of me," he admitted softly. "And soon, I'll have to share you with a little one."
Aria covered his hand with hers, her heart swelling with a love so fierce it almost hurt. "You gave me my life back, Dante. You gave me a family. I'll always be yours."
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Dante leaned down, capturing her lips in a kiss that tasted of promises kept and wars won.
The monsters of Aria’s past were dead and buried. And as she stood in the arms of the man who had burned down the world to keep her safe, she knew she would never have to be afraid of the dark again.
