Chapter 5 - Reign of the Lion
Three months later, the rain over Chicago felt different.
It didn't feel cold or hostile anymore. As I stood on the sprawling stone balcony of the Moretti estate, looking out over the manicured gardens bathed in the golden light of a late afternoon sun, I felt something I hadn't felt in years: complete, untouchable peace.
Inside the nursery suite, little Matteo was giggling as a team of decorators finished hanging hand-painted clouds on the ceiling of his new playroom.
Footsteps approached softly behind me, followed by the familiar, comforting scent of cedar and expensive cologne. Strong, warm arms slipped around my waist, pulling me back against a hard, solid chest. A chin rested gently on my shoulder.
"You're standing too long," Dante murmured, pressing a soft kiss to the side of my neck. "Your back will ache."
I leaned back into his embrace, resting my hands over his arms. "My back is completely healed, Dante. You treat me like I'm made of glass."
"Never glass," Dante corrected softly, turning me around in his arms so I could look up into those dark, intense eyes that had completely upended my world. He wore a crisp charcoal suit, his silver-threaded scar catching the sunlight. "Diamond, maybe. Unbreakable. Sharp enough to cut anyone who dares touch you."
I smiled, reaching up to trace the sharp line of his jaw. "You know, when I was pouring water at Aurelios, I thought my life was just about surviving. I thought I was completely invisible."
Dante caught my hand, pressing a lingering, reverent kiss to my palm.
"You were never invisible to me, Elena," he said, his voice dropping to a low, husky register. "From the moment you stepped into that restaurant, from the moment you threw yourself over my son... you were the only thing in the room I ever truly saw."
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He pulled me flush against him, his lips claiming mine in a deep, possessive kiss that tasted of forever.
The waitress who thought she was invisible was gone. In her place stood the queen of the Chicago underworld—and the only woman who had ever managed to tame the most feared man in the city.
