Chapter 9 - Dawn Over the City
Two hours later, the chaotic chaos of the warehouse had vanished, replaced by the quiet, cool air of dawn breaking over the Chicago skyline.
Sienna sat in the passenger seat of Dawson’s town car as it rolled smoothly through the empty streets toward the North Side. Neither of them had spoken for twenty miles. The weight of the night—the terror, the betrayal, the razor-thin margin between life and death—hung heavily in the space between them.
The car pulled up outside Sienna’s apartment building in Pilsen.
Dawson killed the engine, but he didn't open the door. He turned in his seat, looking at her with tired, haunted eyes.
"You can walk away tomorrow morning, Sienna," Dawson said quietly, his voice heavy with guilt. "I'll transfer ten million dollars into an overseas account of your choosing. You can go back to school, finish your degree, live anywhere in the world you want. Far away from me, far away from the syndicate."
Sienna looked out the frosted window at the quiet street, then turned back to face him.
"And you?" she asked softly. "Who watches your back when you're busy saving your own empire?"
Dawson looked down, a bitter, self-deprecating smile touching his lips. "I don't deserve you, Sienna. I put you in the crosshairs tonight. I was so focused on catching the rat that I nearly lost the only real thing in my life."
Sienna didn't answer with words. She leaned across the console, reached up, and gently pressed her hand against his stubbled cheek, tracing the line of his jaw.
"You're an idiot, Dawson Moretti," she whispered, a faint smile breaking through her exhaustion. "You think I'm going to let you get rid of me that easily after I survived your ice water treatment?"
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Dawson let out a long, shuddering breath of pure relief. He caught her hand, pressing a warm kiss against her palm, before pulling her softly into his arms.
"Stay," he murmured against her hair as the first golden rays of sunlight pierced the Chicago morning. "Stay, and let's build something that can't be broken."
