Chapter 7 - The Wedding Nobody ExpectedDominic proposed six months later.
No diamonds.
No helicopter.
No expensive restaurant.
He took Chloe back to The Brass Lantern.
The restaurant had been renovated after the shooting.
The mirror had been replaced.
The corner booth remained.
Dominic sat across from her.
“Do you remember the first night?”
She smiled.
“I remember thinking you were terrifying.”
“I still am.”
“Not to me.”
He reached into his pocket.
The ring was simple.
Elegant.
Silver.
“My life used to be about control.”
He looked at her.
“Now I want one thing I can't control.”
“What?”
“Whether you choose me.”
She cried.
“Yes.”
The wedding took place in June.
Rose walked Chloe down the aisle.
Michael stood beside Dominic.
Maya was there.
Even Daniel's mother attended.
The ceremony was small.
No newspapers.
No reporters.
No security.
Just family.
When Dominic looked at Chloe, he remembered the waitress who had written three words beneath a wine glass.
Gunman behind you.
That woman had changed his life.
She had saved him.
Then she had forced him to face everything he had spent years avoiding.
The wedding was beautiful.
But during the reception, Chloe noticed someone outside.
A man.
Watching.
Dominic followed her gaze.
The man disappeared.
Security searched.
Nothing.
Then Chloe saw an envelope on the table.
Her name.
Inside:
Daniel isn't the end.
Dominic read it.
His face hardened.
But Chloe closed the envelope.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“No what?”
“We're not letting the past steal today.”
He smiled.
“Good.”
They danced.
That night, the family stayed awake until sunrise.
They laughed.
They told embarrassing stories.
Michael told Dominic he was a terrible brother.
Rose admitted Chloe had been stubborn since birth.
Maya cried.
For once, the tears were happy.
Months later, Chloe became pregnant.
The news terrified her.
She had grown up around death.
She wondered whether she could build something safe.
Dominic held her.
“We don't have to be our families.”
“We aren't.”
“We can choose what our children inherit.”
“What?”
“Us.”
Their daughter was born the following spring.
They named her Elena Rose Moretti.
Two mothers remembered.
Two families reunited.
One new beginning.
But the story still had one last wound.
The baby arrived early.
She spent three days in the neonatal unit.
Dominic sat beside the incubator.
Chloe held his hand.
He whispered:
“I'm not going anywhere.”
The promise was simple.
But it mattered.
May you like
Because his entire life, people had left.
Now he would stay.
Related Stories
