Chapter 10 - The Queen of Blackwood
One year later.
The spring sun warmed the terrace of Blackwood Estate, turning the surrounding pine forests into a sea of vibrant green.
Evelyn sat at a wrought-iron table on the balcony, dressed in a soft white linen dress. In front of her sat a tray of fresh, warm croissants—baked with her own hands in the estate's massive, custom-built kitchen.
She was no longer the frightened girl in the paper bag carrying stale bread through the rain in Brooklyn. She was the head of the Harrison-Hart Foundation, a hundred-million-dollar charity funded by the liquidated assets of Marcus Hart's former empire, providing housing and legal protection for vulnerable women across New York.
A pair of strong, familiar arms wrapped around her waist from behind.
Dante leaned down, resting his chin on her shoulder, pressing a warm kiss against her neck.
"You're up early, my queen," he murmured, his deep voice sending that same familiar, intoxicating shiver through her body.
"I had baking to do," she smiled, leaning back against his broad chest. "The new shelter in Queens opens today. I promised fifty dozen rolls."
Dante chuckled softly, his dark eyes looking out over his vast kingdom—a kingdom that was no longer built purely on blood and fear, but on a legacy they were rebuilding together.
He turned her in his arms, looking down at her face.
"Do you ever miss it?" Dante asked softly, his long fingers softly playing with a strand of her dark hair. "The simple life in Brooklyn?"
Evelyn looked up at the man who had once bought her for fifty million dollars to destroy her family—the man who had bled for her, fought for her, and given her a power she had never dreamed of possessing.
She raised her hands, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling his face down to hers.
"I didn't have a life in Brooklyn, Dante," she whispered against his lips. "I was just surviving. My life started the moment you took off that blindfold."
Dante smiled—a warm, brilliant, devoted smile—and pressed his lips against hers in a long, deep kiss that tasted of sweet sugar, warm rain, and an everlasting, unshakeable love.
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The auction was over. The war was won.
And the baker's daughter had finally found her home beside the king.
