Chapter 10 - The Sovereign's Vow
Back at the Cross estate, the storm had finally begun to clear, leaving behind a crisp, starry night sky.
In the basement cell, Elena sat slumped against the stone wall, her eyes swollen and red from hours of weeping. Her hope was gone. Her life was over. She knew that by now, Lily was either captured or...
CLICK.
The heavy deadbolt on the iron door slid back.
Elena flinched, pulling her legs closer to her chest, expecting to see an enforcer coming to execute her.
The heavy iron door swung open.
Damian Cross stood in the doorway. His suit was ruined, torn, and soaked in rainwater and blood. His shirt was unbuttoned at the collar, and his silver eyes were tired—but clear.
He stepped aside.
Behind him, carried safely in the arms of a tall, scarred man named Marcus, was a tiny girl wrapped in a soft blue fleece blanket, fast asleep, clutching a brand-new teddy bear.
Elena’s heart stopped.
"Lily!" Elena shrieked, scrambling to her feet, her legs nearly giving out. She threw herself out of the cell, practically falling into Marcus’s arms as she reached for her daughter.
Marcus gently transferred the sleeping child into Elena’s arms.
Elena collapsed to her knees on the stone floor, clutching Lily to her chest, burying her face in her daughter's soft neck, sobbing hysterically with pure, overwhelmed joy. "Oh my God... oh my God... baby... my baby..."
Lily stirred softly, opening her sleepy brown eyes, her tiny hand reaching up to touch Elena’s face. "Mommy... the tall man gave me medicine... he said you were waiting..."
Elena squeezed her eyes shut, kissing her daughter’s forehead a hundred times, weeping uncontrollably.
Damian stood above them, watching the reunion silently, his hands resting casually in his trouser pockets.
"Take the child upstairs," Damian ordered Marcus quietly. "Put her in the master suite bedroom. Have the house physician examine her."
"Got it, boss," Marcus said softly, casting a respectful, almost apologetic glance at Elena before gently taking Lily and carrying her up the stairs.
Elena remained on the cold floor, looking up at Damian through a veil of tears. She was completely at his mercy, stripped of all secrets, all lies, all defenses.
"Why?" Elena whispered, her voice trembling. "Why did you save her? Why didn't you kill me?"
Damian walked over to her. He dropped down onto one knee, meeting her gaze at eye level.
He reached out, his thick, calloused fingers gently catching her chin, brushing away her falling tears with his thumb, just as he had done on the first morning.
"Because you lied about your name, Elena," Damian said softly, his silver eyes burning with a deep, fierce, unyielding intensity. "You lied about your past. You lied about your references. But you never lied about your heart."
Elena’s breath hitched in her throat.
"Sophia Moretti is dead," Damian revealed calmly. "Her family’s territory will be liquidated by sunrise. The ledger your father left... I don't care about it. Tomorrow morning, my legal team will use it to erase every charge against your father's name and secure full legal immunity for you and your daughter."
Elena stared at him in utter disbelief. "Damian... I don't understand. Why are you doing all this for us?"
Damian leaned closer, his face inches from hers, his touch on her chin firm and possessing.
"Because six months ago, a girl walked into my house pretending to be a maid," Damian murmured, his voice laced with a raw, undeniable emotion that made her heart leap. "And she made me realize that my fortress was empty without her."
Elena looked into his eyes and saw no monster. She saw a protector—a dangerous, lethal sovereign who had torn down an entire city just to keep her and her daughter safe.
"I have no money to pay you," Elena whispered softly, her hand rising to cover his wrist. "I have nothing left to give."
"You give me your truth," Damian demanded gently, leaning down until his lips brushed against hers in a slow, possessive, breathtaking kiss that sealed her fate forever. "And you stay in this house."
Elena closed her eyes, letting her tears fall, sinking into his kiss, offering him the only thing she had left—her heart.
May you like
"Until you say otherwise," she whispered against his lips.
Damian smiled—a rare, beautiful, dangerous curve of his mouth—and lifted her into his arms, carrying her up from the darkness of the basement into the warm, golden light of his home.
