Chapter 10 - THE QUEEN OF THE MORETTIS
Six months later.
The gardens of the Moretti estate in Lake Forest were in full summer bloom. Thousands of white and crimson roses climbed the wrought-iron fences, filling the warm afternoon air with a rich, sweet fragrance.
In the center of the lawn, beneath a white silk canopy draped with jasmine vines, two hundred of the most powerful figures in Chicago—politicians, judges, bankers, and syndicate leaders—stood in respectful silence.
At the altar stood Dominic Moretti. He was wearing an immaculate black tuxedo, his dark hair neatly combed, his scarred jaw shaved clean. He didn't look like a mob boss preparing for war. He looked like a man who had finally won the only battle that truly mattered.
To his right stood Mateo. He wasn't in a wheelchair. He was standing on his own two feet, leaning slightly against a polished mahogany cane, his face beaming with a proud, brotherly smile.
The string quartet began to play a soft, classical arrangement of an old Ohio folk tune—a quiet nod to a memory only two people in the entire assembly understood.
The double doors of the manor opened.
Evelyn Parker walked down the stone pathway.
She was breathtaking. She wore an off-the-shoulder gown of heavy ivory silk, custom-tailored to celebrate every soft, magnificent curve of her figure. Her dark auburn hair was styled in elegant cascading waves, interwoven with small white rosebuds. Her dark eyes were bright, shining with unshed tears of pure, unadulterated joy.
She didn't look like a frightened maid hiding from her past.
She looked like a queen claiming her throne.
Dominic watched her approach, his chest heaving, his dark gray eyes locked onto her face with an intensity that made the surrounding politicians look away in reverent awe.
When she reached the altar, Evelyn stepped up beside him, her hand sliding naturally into his large, warm palm.
“You look... impossible,” Dominic whispered, his voice thick with emotion.
“You clean up all right yourself, Mr. Moretti,” she smiled softly, her thumb brushing against his knuckles.
The priest began the ceremony, but neither of them was listening to the liturgy. Their worlds were bound by something far stronger than vows—by blood, by survival, by secrets shared in the dark of night, and by a love that had bloomed in the middle of a war zone.
“Do you, Dominic Moretti, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
Dominic never broke eye contact with Evelyn. “I do.”
“And do you, Evelyn Parker, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
Evelyn smiled, her heart swelling until it felt too big for her chest. “I do.”
“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Dominic didn't wait for the applause. He pulled Evelyn into his arms, crushing her soft body against his chest, and pressed his lips to hers in a deep, fierce, possessive kiss that made the entire garden erupt into thunderous cheers and applause.
May you like
Standing nearby, Mateo raised his cane in salute, laughing as a tear rolled down his cheek.
In a world built on betrayal, blood, and iron, Dominic Moretti had finally found his peace. And Evelyn Parker, the chubby maid from Ohio who had dared to speak to a paralyzed ghost in the dark, had become the undisputed Queen of the Moretti empire—untouchable, unbreakable, and loved beyond measure.
