Chapter 19 - The Crown of New York|
The assault on the glass house was over in twenty minutes.
Twelve of Julian Moretti’s best men lay dead across the driveway, while Julian himself was captured trying to flee in a speedboat near the docks.
By three o'clock that afternoon, the rain had stopped over Long Island.
I sat on the edge of the leather sofa in the master suite, wrapped in a warm blanket, drinking tea while Dr. Petrov checked my wrists for small cuts from the splintered door.
Dmitri stood near the fireplace, talking quietly with Anton.
"Julian is down in the basement holding cell, Boss," Anton reported, his face grim. "The captains are waiting for your order."
Dmitri didn't answer right away. He turned slowly, looking over at me.
He walked across the room, dropping to one knee in front of my sofa, taking my cold hand in both of his.
"Julian Moretti will never see the sun again, Elena," Dimitri said softly, his voice clear and absolute. "His family is destroyed. His empire is being divided among my captains as we speak."
I looked down at him, my fingers gently stroking his dark hair.
"And us?" I whispered. "What happens to us now?"
Dmitri stood up slowly, reaching into his jacket pocket. He pulled out a small velvet box and opened it.
Inside sat a breathtaking gold-and-onyx ring—an exact match to his family's crest, scaled down for a woman's delicate hand.
"Three days ago, you were a waitress wiping tables in a three-dollar diner," Dimitri said, his gray eyes locking onto mine with an eternal, unwavering intensity. "Today, you are the woman who held my life, fought off my enemies, and stood beside me in the dark."
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He slipped the ring onto my left ring finger. It fit perfectly.
"You don't go back to Brooklyn, Elena," Dimitri whispered, raising my hand to his lips, pressing a fierce kiss against my knuckles. "You reign beside me."
