Chapter 5 - The True Throne
The smoke from the brief skirmish cleared out into the cool night air as Gabriel Ferraro and his men dragged the two unconscious intruders down to the subterranean holding cells. The heavy oak doors of the study clicked shut, leaving Elias and Maeve completely alone in the sprawling, candlelit room.
Maeve stood near the center of the Persian rug, her chest heaving as tears of shock, betrayal, and overwhelming relief welled up in her eyes. She looked at the wheelchair, then back up at Elias, who stood before her looking like a modern-day king stepping out of the shadows of his own deception.
“You lied to me,” Maeve whispered, her voice trembling not with fear, but with a deep, piercing hurt. “All this time... every single day... you let me worry, you let me care for you, you let me break my heart trying to keep you safe... while you could walk the entire time?”
Elias felt a heavy knot form in his chest—a pain far sharper than any bullet wound or physical injury he had ever suffered in the underworld. He took a slow, deliberate step toward her.
“I didn't lie to trap you, Maeve,” Elias said, his voice dropping all its cold authority, replaced by a raw, naked vulnerability that no one in Chicago had ever heard from him before. “I lied to test the world. My uncle warned me that power makes it impossible to know who loves you for yourself and who loves you for your throne. Sienna failed that test the very first night. She ran away the moment she thought the luxury was gone.”
Maeve crossed her arms defensively over her chest, stepping backward. “So you punished everyone? You treated me like a pawn in your cynical little game?”
“No,” Elias corrected, closing the distance between them until he was standing just inches away, looking down into her tear-stained eyes. He reached out with a warm, steady hand, gently lifting her chin so she had no choice but to look at him. “I didn't test you because I wanted to prove you were false, Maeve. I tested you because I was terrified that someone real could actually exist. And tonight... when you stood in front of a gun to protect a man you thought was helpless... you proved that my whole empire, my money, and my power mean absolutely nothing compared to you.”
Maeve stared up at him, her breath hitching in her throat as she saw the fierce, unyielding devotion burning in his gray eyes. All the anger, all the confusion, and all the walls she had built around her own heart began to melt away beneath the weight of his sincerity.
“I’m just a maid from the Ashford estate, Elias,” Maeve whispered softly, using his first name for the very first time. “I don't belong in this world of blood and thrones.”
“You don't belong to their world,” Elias corrected her firmly, his thumb gently wiping away a stray tear from her cheek. “You belong right here. With me. If you’ll have me.”
Before Maeve could form a reply, Elias slipped his hand into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small velvet box. He didn't drop it onto a marble counter like Sienna had done. Instead, he slowly dropped down onto one knee right there on the Persian rug—not because his legs failed him, but because he was willingly surrendering to the only woman who had ever conquered his soul.
He popped open the lid. Resting inside was not the cold, flashy twelve-carat diamond that Sienna had worn as a badge of status, but a delicate, vintage platinum band embedded with a cluster of brilliant, fiery sapphires that matched the fierce depth of Maeve’s spirit.
“I spent my whole life measuring loyalty through contracts and fear,” Elias said, his voice steady and absolute. “Let me spend the rest of my life proving my love to you through truth. Marry me, Maeve. And let’s rule this empire together.”
Maeve looked down at him, a radiant smile breaking through her tears as she threw her arms around his neck, pulling him up into a fierce, breathless embrace.
May you like
“Yes,” Maeve whispered against his shoulder. “Yes, Elias. I’ll marry you.”
Three months later, the headlines in the Chicago Tribune whispered about a quiet, private wedding at a stunning estate overlooking the lake—a wedding attended only by trusted inner circles, where the legendary crime boss Elias Marchetti stood proudly beside his true bride, a woman who had never cared about his throne, but had ultimately captured his entire heart. The Ashford family was left to rot in their own greed, completely bankrupt and forgotten by high society. But inside the Marchetti fortress, the cold war was over, replaced by a fierce, unbreakable love that would rule the city for a lifetime.
