Chapter 16 - The Whispers of a New Spring
The crisp salt air of Boston Harbor carried the faint, sweet scent of blooming cherry blossoms as April settled over the Back Bay. Two years had passed since the federal courtroom gavel had officially sealed Derek Montgomery’s fate, and the city’s social register had long since stopped whispering about the fallen architect. To high society, Khloe Moretti was no longer the invisible, abused shadow clinging to the edge of a ballroom; she was the radiant, fiercely respected philanthropist whose foundation had transformed pediatric healthcare across New England.
I stood in the expansive, sunlit art studio on the top floor of the Moretti estate, a fresh canvas stretched before me. For years, I had forgotten how to hold a paintbrush, my creative impulses suffocated by the constant anxiety of managing Derek’s fragile ego. Now, under the quiet, unwavering support of Dominic, my hands moved freely, capturing the brilliant hues of the harbor at sunrise.
A soft knock interrupted my focus. The heavy oak door eased open, revealing Dominic. He had shed his usual charcoal suit jacket, his white dress shirt sleeves rolled neatly to his forearms, framing shoulders that had carried the weight of an empire yet always felt like a safe harbor to me. He walked silently across the hardwood floor, standing behind me to peer at the canvas.
"You've captured the light perfectly," Dominic murmured, his deep voice vibrating softly against my back as his arms wrapped securely around my waist. "Though I’ve always believed the brightest thing in any room is you."
I smiled, leaning my head back against his solid chest. "You're getting entirely too romantic in your older age, Mr. Moretti."
"Only for you," he whispered, pressing a tender kiss into my hair. "Speaking of light, Maren is downstairs. She brought the final audit reports for the waterfront clinic expansion. Everything is cleared, funded, and operating at a hundred percent efficiency."
I turned around in his embrace, resting my hands against his chest. "How is Leo?"
"Asking if we can take the boat out to Cape Cod this weekend," Dominic chuckled. "He’s practically a fish. It terrifies me how fearless he is."
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"He gets that from his father," I replied with a teasing glint in my eye.
Dominic’s expression softened, his ice-blue eyes darkening with an intensity that never failed to make my heart skip a beat. "He got his stubbornness from his mother. And I wouldn't have it any other way."
