Chapter 10 - A New Dawn Over Boston
Five years later, the morning sun rose over the Boston Harbor, painting the sky in brilliant strokes of gold, pink, and violet.
Inside the sprawling Milton estate, the kitchen was alive with the smell of freshly brewed coffee, pancakes, and the chaotic, beautiful noise of family.
"Harper! Noah ate the last blueberry muffin!" a thirteen-year-old voice hollered playfully down the hallway.
"Did not!" a slightly older, deeper voice shot back defensively.
Harper stood at the stove flipping pancakes, laughing as strong arms wrapped around her waist from behind. Gabriel rested his face against her neck, breathing in the familiar scent of vanilla and morning air.
"Your brother is going to eat us out of house and home before he leaves for high school," Gabriel murmured, pressing a warm kiss to her cheek.
"He's a growing boy," Harper chuckled, turning around in his embrace and wrapping her arms around his neck. "Just like his uncle taught him to be."
Gabriel smiled, his dark eyes softening completely as he looked down at her. The harsh, untouchable 'Devil of Beacon Hill' existed only in old newspaper archives now. Here, in the light of day, he was simply a husband, a father, and a protector who had found his redemption in the heart of a resilient young woman.
Outside, the city of Boston hummed with life—busy, vast, and endless. But inside these walls, there was only peace, laughter, and a future that belonged entirely to them.
Harper looked out the kitchen window at the sparkling harbor, her little brother running across the green lawn, and the man who had pulled her from the dark holding her close.
May you like
For the first time in her life, she didn't have to look over her shoulder.
She was finally, truly home.
