Chapter 9 - The Husband Who Finally Asked Me to Stay
Ethan survived.
But the bullet had fractured a rib and damaged his shoulder.
For the first time, he was forced to remain in a hospital bed.
He hated it.
I enjoyed every second of making him rest.
“You're not getting out of bed.”
“I run an empire.”
“You're wearing socks with ducks on them.”
He looked down.
“These are humiliating.”
“Good.”
He laughed.
Then his expression became serious.
“Jane.”
“What?”
“I need to tell you something.”
I sat beside him.
“I know.”
“You don't.”
“I do.”
He took my hand.
“The day before our wedding, I had decided to let you go.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“I was going to transfer the territory without taking you.”
“But you married me.”
“Because your father refused.”
“So you still needed the alliance.”
“Yes.”
He swallowed.
“Then I saw you.”
“That's when?”
“You were helping an old maid carry boxes.”
I smiled.
“You remember that?”
“I remember everything.”
He looked down.
“I knew I had become the kind of man I hated.”
“What kind?”
“Someone who uses people.”
I squeezed his hand.
“You changed.”
“Because of you.”
I leaned closer.
“I changed because of you too.”
His eyes softened.
“Would you marry me again?”
I laughed.
“We're already married.”
“Then I'll ask differently.”
He reached toward the drawer.
Inside was a small ring.
Not another wedding ring.
A simple gold band.
“I want to marry you without contracts.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“No territory.”
“No alliances.”
“No conditions.”
“No heirs required.”
He smiled.
“No expectations.”
I touched the ring.
“Then yes.”
We renewed our vows six months later.
Not at the Carter chapel.
Not in front of two hundred armed men.
On a small private garden terrace overlooking Lake Michigan.
My father walked me down the aisle.
My mother stood beside him.
Lily cried before the ceremony began.
Brian stood at the back pretending not to be emotional.
Ethan waited beneath an arch of white flowers.
When I reached him, he whispered:
“You look beautiful.”
“You look nervous.”
“I am.”
“Good.”
He smiled.
This time our vows weren't about territory.
They were simple.
Choice.
Trust.
Honesty.
When he slipped the ring onto my finger, his hand trembled.
When I kissed him, I felt none of the coldness from our wedding.
Only warmth.
Afterward, Ethan surprised me.
He took me to the east wing of the mansion.
The rooms had been transformed.
My art collection filled the walls.
My favorite books lined the shelves.
The garden outside had been rebuilt.
And above the fireplace was a portrait of the family.
My father.
My mother.
Lily.
Brian.
Ethan.
Me.
“Why did you do this?”
“Because you told me you wanted a home.”
“I did.”
“This is yours.”
I looked at him.
“You live here too.”
He smiled.
“Then I suppose it's ours.”
The empire also changed.
Ethan sold several criminal operations.
He converted warehouses into legitimate businesses.
He funded schools.
He established scholarships.
He helped dismantle the trafficking network that had haunted his family.
And perhaps most importantly, he stopped pretending he could control everything.
The men who had once feared him began respecting him for different reasons.
He didn't become harmless.
He became responsible.
My father retired.
My mother opened a foundation for women escaping violent families.
Lily became the director.
Brian remained Ethan's closest adviser.
Derek disappeared from Chicago after giving testimony.
Henry spent the rest of his life in prison.
For the first time, our family wasn't organized around fear.
It was organized around choice.
But one final problem remained.
Ethan still carried guilt about the warehouse fire.
He had never fully forgiven himself.
One evening, I found him alone beside the lake.
“You're thinking about it again.”
He nodded.
“I don't know how to stop.”
“You don't have to forget.”
“Then what?”
“Make sure you never become that man again.”
He looked at me.
“You really believe people can change?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I married you.”
He laughed softly.
“That was cruel.”
“It was romantic.”
He pulled me into his arms.
“I love you.”
“I know.”
He smiled.
“You finally let me say it.”
“I'm getting used to it.”
Then he kissed me.
And for the first time, the future didn't scare me.
May you like
It excited me.
Until three months later, when I discovered I was pregnant.
