Chapter 10 - Midnight’s Queen
As the grand tall clock in the entrance hall began to chime twelve times, marking the arrival of midnight, the city outside lay quiet under the steady autumn rain.
At the Onyx Room, the manager was busy rewriting the staff schedule, placing Clara Bennett’s name at the top of the executive payroll under "Private Events Consultant"—a role that required no shifts, no waiting on tables, and paid fifty thousand dollars a year.
At Pier 14, a dark commercial freighter loosed its heavy mooring ropes, its massive diesel engines roaring as it pulled away from the dock, carrying Derek into the dark, churning waters of the Atlantic, toward the distant salt mines of the south.
And atop the high cliffs overlooking the river, inside the grand master suite of the Moretti estate, Clara stood beside the massive floor-to-ceiling windows.
She wore a dark silk gown that flowed around her ankles like liquid night.
Behind her, Arthur stood close, his broad chest pressed against her back, his arms wrapped securely around her waist. His warm chin rested softly on her shoulder as they looked out together at the glittering lights of the city below.
"Look at it, Clara," Arthur whispered into her ear, his warm breath sending a pleasant shiver down her spine.
Below them, the city stretched out like a carpet of silver and gold—the docks, the financial district, the high-rise towers, and the dark, winding ribbon of the river.
Earlier that night, she had been an invisible waitress hiding behind a tray of broken glass, praying that a violent man wouldn't drag her into the dark.
Now, standing in the arms of the man who ruled the underbelly of the metropolis, she knew the truth.
The city was no longer a place of dark alleyways and hidden threats.
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It was an empire.
And as the final chime of midnight faded into the quiet night, the entire city knew that she stood beside its king.
