Chapter 10 - Dawn over the Rossi Estate
The sun broke over the northern edge of Chicago, painting the snow-covered pine trees of the Rossi estate in brilliant shades of gold and amber.
Inside the nursery, the air was warm, clean, and filled with the sound of genuine laughter.
Lily sat cross-legged on the plush white rug, building an enormous tower out of wooden blocks with a new, state-of-the-art train set chugging in a circle around her knees.
Beatrice sat in the armchair beside the window, sipping a cup of hot coffee, watching the little girl with a smile so bright it eclipsed the winter chill outside.
The heavy oak door swung open.
Leo walked in. He looked tired—the dark circles beneath his eyes spoke of forty-eight hours without sleep, his suit jacket was gone, and his tie hung loose around his collar—but as he looked across the room at Lily and Beatrice, his expression softened into something resembling absolute peace.
“Daddy!” Lily cheered, dropping her wooden block and running across the room to throw her arms around his knees.
Leo scooped her up instantly, burying his face in her dark hair. “Hey, my little warrior. How are you feeling this morning?”
“Great! Bee and I made pancakes!” Lily announced proudly.
Leo set her down gently. “Go check on the train tracks, princess. I need to talk to Bee for a moment.”
Lily nodded happily and skipped back to her toys.
Leo walked across the room, stopping right in front of Beatrice’s chair. He didn't say anything for a long moment. He just looked down at her, taking in the soft curve of her smile, the quiet strength that radiated from her amber eyes, and the way the morning light caught the waves of her dark hair.
“It’s over,” Leo said quietly.
Beatrice looked up, her heart skipping a beat. “Kensington?”
“Resigned from the Senate at sunrise,” Leo replied, a faint, genuine smile touching the corners of his mouth. “The feds have his offices sealed. His political career is dead, and his daughter is currently stranded in a snow motel in upstate New York with no money and no friends.”
Beatrice exhaled a long, shuddering breath she felt she had been holding for days. “And Milo?”
“Milo is on a cargo freighter bound for a country that doesn't have an extradition treaty with the United States,” Leo said flatly. “He won't be bothering us again.”
He reached out, his large, warm hand gently taking hers, pulling her up from the armchair until she was standing right in front of him. Lily was happily engrossed in her train set across the room, paying them no mind.
“Beatrice,” Leo murmured, his voice dropping into that deep, resonant register that made her entire body tingle with warmth.
“Yes, Leo?”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, velvet box. He didn't open it—he simply placed it gently into her open palm, folding her fingers over it.
“When I bought this house ten years ago,” Leo said, his dark eyes locking onto hers with unshakeable intensity, “I thought building high walls and hiring armed guards was enough to keep my family safe. I was wrong. A fortress needs a queen. Not a socialite. Not a politician’s daughter. A woman with a real heart.”
Beatrice stared down at the velvet box in her hand, her eyes welling with warm, silent tears. For twenty-eight years, the world had told her she was too big, too ordinary, too invisible to matter.
And now, the most feared man in New York was looking at her as if she were the only light in his universe.
“Are you asking me to stay?” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion.
“I’m asking you to never leave,” Leo said, leaning down to press a soft, lingering kiss to her forehead, then to her lips. “Stay and help me raise my daughter. Stay and run this house. Stay and show me how to live in the light.”
Beatrice looked down at the velvet box, then up into the dark, devoted eyes of the mafia boss who had torn down an empire just to keep her safe.
She smiled—not a small, defensive smile, but a wide, radiant grin that reached her eyes.
May you like
“Only if I get to make the coffee from now on,” she whispered.
Leo laughed—a deep, resonant sound that echoed through the sunlit nursery and out into the sprawling hallways of the estate, signaling the end of the long winter night and the dawn of a completely new dynasty.
