Chapter 9 - The Wedding That Exposed the Last Betrayal
Their wedding was supposed to be small.
It wasn't.
By noon, the city knew.
The bride was a former EMT.
The groom was the former Mafia heir.
The ceremony took place at the Vale estate.
Sadi wore ivory.
No diamonds.
No excessive jewelry.
Just the ring Ronan had given her.
Ronan wore black.
Simple.
No weapons visible.
But every security guard knew exactly how serious the day was.
During the ceremony, Sadi looked at him.
“You're shaking.”
“I've been shot three times.”
“Yet this is what scares you?”
“Definitely.”
She laughed.
The officiant smiled.
They exchanged vows.
Ronan spoke first.
“I spent years believing protection meant controlling everything around me.”
He looked at Sadi.
“Then you walked into my house bleeding on your own hands because you were saving me.”
The guests laughed softly.
“You taught me that strength is not making people obey you.”
He took her hand.
“It is giving them freedom to choose you.”
Sadi's eyes filled.
“I choose you.”
She spoke quietly.
“I choose you knowing who you were.”
A pause.
“And knowing who you're becoming.”
They kissed.
Then the lights went out.
Sadi's heart jumped.
Ronan immediately turned.
Security moved.
A gunshot sounded outside.
Then another.
People screamed.
Ronan grabbed Sadi.
“Stay behind me.”
“I’m not hiding.”
He looked at her.
She smiled.
“I've married you. You think I'm suddenly going to become sensible?”
He laughed despite himself.
The attackers were not Carusos.
They were former Vale men.
They wanted revenge.
Ronan's former lieutenant.
The final betrayal.
Adrian identified him.
“It's Matteo.”
Ronan's face became cold.
“Why?”
“He says you destroyed the family.”
Ronan looked at the terrified guests.
Then at Sadi.
Then at his unborn child.
He lowered his weapon.
“Bring him in alive.”
Matteo was captured.
He confessed.
He had been working with a surviving member of the Caruso family.
But the real goal wasn't revenge.
It was to force Ronan back into the criminal world.
They wanted the old king.
The violent one.
The feared one.
Ronan refused.
He testified.
Turned over the remaining files.
And formally dissolved the last illegal structures connected to the Vale network.
The city watched.
The newspapers called it the end of an era.
Sadi called it something else.
“A beginning.”
Ronan agreed.
That night, after the wedding, they sat outside.
Snow had begun falling.
Sadi rested her head against his shoulder.
“Are you happy?”
He looked at her.
“Yes.”
“Even though I ruined your life?”
“You improved it.”
She laughed.
“I nearly got you killed.”
“Only nearly.”
“I kidnapped your heart.”
He smiled.
“You did.”
She touched her stomach.
The baby kicked.
Ronan placed his hand over hers.
“Hello.”
Sadi smiled.
“You talk to him now?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He's my son.”
“You're sure it's a boy?”
“No.”
She laughed.
May you like
Ronan kissed her forehead.
“I just like saying it.”
