Chapter 7 - A King on His Knees
The silence that followed was suffocating, broken only by my ragged sobs and the crunch of snow beneath his boots. Vincent dropped his weapon onto the red-stained snow as if it had burned him. His gaze moved from my face, taking in the fear in my eyes, down to my torn coat, and finally rested on my swollen belly.
A choked, broken sound ripped from his throat. The ruthless king of Chicago, a man who had never bowed to law, god, or rival, sank directly onto his knees in the freezing slush. He didn't dare reach out to touch me. His hands hovered in the cold air, shaking uncontrollably, his shoulders violently trembling as tears spilled freely down his sharp, aristocratic cheekbones.
"Claire," he wept, his voice shattered into raw pieces. "Claire... forgive me. Please... my God, please forgive me."
I leaned against the porch railing, clutching my stomach, my heart pounding erratically against my ribs. Seeing this terrifying man completely broken at my feet brought no triumph, only a deep, crushing sorrow. "Why are you here, Vincent?" I managed to whisper through my tears. "Go back to your family. Go back to Noah and Sophia. You made your choice."
"There is no Sophia! There is no family without you!" he cried, slamming his forehead against the icy wood of the porch steps. "I threw them out the second I found the test. I burned every memory of them. I was blind, Claire! I was a blind, arrogant fool who took your light for granted while wallowing in my own guilt! I swear on my soul, I never touched her, but I know what I did to your heart was worse than infidelity. I broke you. I starved you of the love you deserved."
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He looked up, his face covered in melting snow and tears, his eyes begging with an agony so profound it took my breath away. "The Casales tracked you through an old doctor's contact. I've been watching your cottage for forty-eight hours, staying in the shadows because I knew my presence would terrify you. I only wanted to make sure you were safe. Claire, I don't ask you to come back to me as my wife. I don't deserve you. But please... let me protect you. Let me protect our child. Don't let my sins cost our baby its life."
Before I could answer, a sharp, searing pain tore through my lower abdomen. The physical shock and trauma of the attack had triggered something dangerous. I cried out, my knees buckling beneath me. Vincent caught me before I hit the ground, gathering me into his arms with desperate, terrified tenderness as darkness encroached on the edges of my vision.
