Chapter 10 - Forever Bound
One year later.
The summer sun reflected off the pristine, turquoise waters of Lake Como, Italy.
The private terrace of the Villa Balbianello was draped in thousands of cascading white roses, hydrangeas, and trailing ivy. Below, the gentle lapping of the lake against ancient Roman stone hummed a peaceful, timeless lullaby.
Inside the bridal suite, ten-year-old Sadie stood on her tiptoes in front of the full-length gilded mirror, adjusting her lavender silk flower-girl sash.
Her smile was dazzling—wide, radiant, and framed by perfectly straight, flawless white teeth. There were no tears, no bullies calling her a rabbit, and no fear of eviction notices.
"Diane! Look! Mrs. Gable said I can wear real pearl hairpins!" Sadie squealed, spinning around with a flourish of tulle that made her look like a tiny princess.
I smiled, my heart overflowing with an abundance of joy that felt like a dream I never wanted to wake from.
I looked at myself in the mirror. My wedding gown was an ethereal creation of ivory lace and silk tulle, with a sweetheart neckline and an eight-foot cathedral train embroidered with tiny, hidden raven feathers in honor of the Greer crest.
The nightmare of New York was completely over.
Marcus Voss was six feet beneath the cold earth. Catherine Voss had been convicted on federal kidnapping and racketeering conspiracy charges, sentenced to thirty years in a federal penitentiary in upstate New York, stripped of every cent of her family's blood money. The Voss syndicate had been entirely dismantled, its assets absorbed, cleaned, and redistributed into legitimate community foundations across New York by Ryan Greer.
A soft knock sounded at the double doors.
Victor stepped inside, wearing a crisp formal tuxedo. The former stone-faced consigliere looked at Sadie and me, and for the first time since I had met him, his stern face softened into a warm, paternal smile.
"It is time, Mrs. Greer," Victor said with a slight, respectful bow. "The guests are seated. And the boss is losing his mind with impatience."
Sadie giggled, grabbing her wicker basket of white rose petals, and skipped out onto the stone terrace.
I took a deep, steadying breath. As I walked out through the archway of roses, the soft strains of a string quartet playing Pachelbel’s Canon filled the warm Italian air.
Seated along the terrace were fifty of our closest friends—former business associates who had earned Ryan's trust, my beloved professors from Baruch College whom Ryan had secretly flown out first-class, and the domestic staff who had become our second family.
And standing beneath the floral canopy at the edge of the lake was Ryan Greer.
He took my breath away.
Dressed in an immaculate ivory dinner jacket and black trousers, his raven hair swept back, he looked like a king who had laid down his sword to claim his peace. The scar along his jaw was still there, but the storm in his gray eyes had completely transformed.
When his eyes met mine as I walked down the stone aisle, they weren't gray with clouds or thunder.
They were burning with a fierce, blinding, tear-glossed adoration that made my knees tremble.
I reached the altar. Ryan didn't even wait for the priest to begin. He reached out with both hands, taking my trembling fingers in his, pulling me up onto the stone dais until our chests were nearly touching.
"You are twenty minutes late, Diane Harper," he murmured, his deep baritone rough with emotion, a stunning smile breaking across his handsome face.
"A bride is entitled to make her groom sweat, Mr. Greer," I whispered back, my eyes shining with happy tears.
The ceremony was a blur of sacred vows and golden light.
When the priest announced, "By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride," Ryan didn't give me a polite, decorous peck.
He wrapped his strong arms around my waist, lifting me completely off my feet, and kissed me with all the raw, unbridled passion that had started the night of that reckless five-thousand-dollar dare.
The guests erupted into wild cheers and applause. Sadie tossed a handful of rose petals over our heads, laughing with pure, unfettered joy.
When Ryan finally set me down, his forehead rested against mine, his thumbs tenderly brushing away the tears of happiness streaming down my cheeks.
"I promised your father I would protect you," Ryan whispered against my lips, pulling a velvet box from his pocket.
Inside was Arthur Harper’s old gold wristwatch, completely restored and polished to a mirror finish.
"And I promise you, Diane Greer, for the rest of my days, you and Sadie will never know darkness again. You are my light. My home. My life."
I wrapped my arms around the neck of the city's most feared mafia boss—the man who had bought my kiss, saved my family, and given me his soul.
"I love you, Ryan," I whispered into the warm Italian breeze.
May you like
"Forever, my love," he replied.
And as the sun dipped beneath the mountains of Lake Como, painting the sky in shades of gold and violet, I knew our story was no longer written in blood and shadow—but in a love that would outlive the world.
