Chapter 10 - The Queen of the Docks
Six months later, the sun beat down warm and golden on the newly paved concrete of Pier Nine. The cargo cranes hummed with activity, loading containers onto sleek, gleaming freighters bearing the Trevino shipping crest.
At the center of it all stood a young woman in a tailored canvas jacket, her hair tied back in a neat ponytail, barking orders at a crew of seasoned dockworkers with the absolute confidence of a seasoned harbor master. Beside her, now fully grown into a magnificent, powerful Bernese Mountain dog with a gleaming coat and watchful amber eyes, Bruno trotted proudly alongside.
From the tinted window of his second-floor office overlooking the pier, Joseph Trevino watched her work. He held a glass of bourbon in his hand, but he wasn't looking at the ledgers or the shipping manifests. He was watching the fisherman’s daughter who had defied the tide, tamed the Ice King’s world, and proven that the most dangerous thing in the harbor wasn't a mob boss with a gun—it was a nobody who refused to drown.
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Trevino raised his glass in a silent toast to the window, a rare sense of peace settling into his chest.
Down on the pier, Norma paused for a moment, wiping sweat from her forehead, and looked up toward the office window. She caught Trevino’s gaze through the glass. She didn't look away, and neither did he. With a faint, knowing smirk, she turned back to her crew, ready to face whatever the tide brought next.
