Chapter 10 - Reign of the Untouchable
One year later.
The summer sun poured golden warmth over the manicured lawns of Ashbourne House. The gardens, once cold and austere under Blair Carrington’s rigid aesthetic, were now overflowing with vibrant hydrangeas, wild roses, and lavender.
I sat at a wrought-iron patio table under the shade of a massive willow tree, reviewing quarterly earnings reports for Vale-Montgomery Global Logistics. Under my direction as CEO, the company had fully transitioned from shady underground channels into the most profitable legitimate maritime shipping conglomerate on the Atlantic seaboard, while Dominic’s private security firm handled high-level defense contracts for foreign dignitaries.
Julian Montgomery was currently serving year two of a fifteen-year sentence in federal prison for fraud and toxic dumping. Blair Carrington was rumored to be working as a receptionist for a minor cosmetic surgery clinic in Arizona, entirely erased from the social registries.
And me?
I had never lost a single pound, and I had never been more desired in my life.
A pair of strong, familiar arms wrapped around my shoulders from behind. Warm lips pressed against the crook of my neck, right over the faint, silvery scar left by the riding crop—a scar that Dominic treated like a sacred medal of honor.
“You’re working on our anniversary,” Dominic whispered huskily, his hands sliding down to rest against the silk fabric of my sundress, resting warmly against my rounded waist.
I leaned my head back against his chest, closing my eyes and breathing in his scent. “Someone has to keep your captains honest, Dominic. They think just because you’re terrifying, they don't have to balance the fuel ledgers.”
Dominic chuckled, walking around the table to sit beside me. He wore a crisp white linen shirt with the sleeves rolled up, looking relaxed, tanned, and devastatingly handsome. He reached across the table, taking my hand and kissing the sapphire ring that caught the midday sun with blinding brilliance.
“Let them steal a few barrels,” Dominic said with a lazy smile. “I have more important matters to attend to today.”
“Oh? Like what?”
Dominic leaned forward, his gray eyes softening into that deep, unwavering devotion that still made my pulse race every single day.
“Like celebrating the best mistake Blair Carrington ever made,” he said softly. “If she hadn't swung that crop, I might have spent the rest of my life surrounded by plastic people, drinking poisoned wine, completely blind to the fact that the only woman I could ever love was standing right beside me with a tray of glasses.”
I smiled, feeling the profound, unshakable peace that had settled into my bones over the past twelve months. I had been called a tank, a liability, a criminal, and a maid. But in this house, under these skies, and in this man’s arms, I was only one thing.
Untouchable.
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“Happy anniversary, Dominic,” I whispered, leaning across the table to capture his lips with mine.
As his hand tangled into my hair and pulled me deeper into the kiss, the grand clock tower of Ashbourne House struck two in the afternoon, chiming across an empire that was finally, unequivocally, ours."
