Chapter 19 - THE RECKONING
The flight back to the Pacific Northwest was long, quiet, and filled with a profound, peaceful stillness.
The private jet glided through the clouds above the snow-capped peaks of the Cascade Mountains as the early morning sun began to break over the horizon, painting the sky in soft shades of gold, rose, and pale blue.
Dominic sat by the window, watching the sunrise. He had unbuckled his exoskeleton's chest straps, letting his body relax completely into the soft leather seat.
Elena came up behind him, carrying two mugs of warm tea. She sat in the seat beside him, setting the mugs on the small table between them.
"How does your leg feel?" she asked softly, reaching out to rub his knee gently.
"It aches," Dominic smiled, a genuine, warm smile that reached all the way to his silver-gray eyes. "A good ache. The kind of ache that comes from standing on your own feet."
"Miller says the press is calling the New York arrests the 'Clean Sweep,'" Elena murmured, leaning her head against his shoulder. "No one mentioned your name. No one mentioned the boys. It’s over, Dominic. Really, truly over."
Dominic turned his head, kissing the crown of her hair, inhaling her familiar, comforting scent of lavender and rain.
"We did it, Elena," he whispered. "You saved us."
"We saved each other," she corrected him softly, looking up into his eyes. "You gave me the strength to fight, and I gave you a reason to stop fighting."
When the jet landed at the airfield near Seattle, Marcus Miller was waiting with their personal car. They didn't speak much on the drive back to the Puget Sound estate. The silence between them was no longer heavy with paranoia or fear—it was light, sweet, and filled with expectation.
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As the car rounded the final curve of the driveway, the sprawling timber-and-glass estate emerged from the morning fog, bathed in the brilliant gold of the rising sun.
The wooden deck overlooked the calm, shimmering waters of the Puget Sound. Down on the lawn, near the deep purple lavender bushes, two little boys were running in circles, chasing a soft morning breeze.
