Chapter 4 - A Child's Vow
"The priest?"
The words tore from Aurora’s throat the second Kian ended the call. She scrambled backward on the leather sofa, her heart leaping into her mouth. "What are you talking about? What does a priest have to do with this?"
Kian rose to his full height, setting the medical supplies aside with terrifying composure. He adjusted the platinum cuffs of his sleeves, his face a mask of absolute authority.
"Tony Vane operates under old syndicate law," Kian said, pacing toward the towering floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over the stormy estate. "In this city, blood debts and property disputes can be mediated by the council. But there is one rule even Tony cannot break without uniting every family on the East Coast against him."
He paused, turning his head to look at her over his broad shoulder.
"A made man cannot touch the lawful wife of a boss. If you are my wife, you are untouchable. If you are merely a stray girl I pulled from a diner, Tony has the legal right under underworld arbitration to demand you be turned over to settle Regina's debt."
"I am not property!" Aurora cried out, her voice echoing off the marble arches. Anger flared through her terror, warm and defiant. "Regina didn't own me, and you don't own me! I am twenty-five years old, I have worked three jobs to survive, and I will not be handed from one criminal to another like a sack of grain!"
Instead of erupting in fury, a slow, dark amusement flickered in Kian’s gray eyes. He turned fully toward her, folding his arms across his massive chest.
"Fierce," he noted softly, almost appreciatively. "Good. You’ll need that fire if you’re going to survive bearing my name."
"I didn't agree to marry *you*!"
"No," a small, quiet voice sounded from the top of the grand staircase.
Both Kian and Aurora whipped their heads around.
Zayn stood at the landing in his stocking feet, wearing flannel pajamas, still holding the battered brown teddy bear. His eyes were wide, clear, and unclouded by sleep. Step by deliberate step, the six-year-old descended the stairs, his small hand sliding down the polished mahogany bannister.
"Zayn," Kian sighed, his tone softening instantly. "I told Martha to put you to bed."
Zayn ignored his father, walking straight up to Aurora. He reached into the pocket of his pajama bottoms and pulled out the small black velvet box, extending it to her once more.
"My mom gave this to me before she went to the sky," Zayn whispered, looking up at Aurora with eyes so painfully earnest they stole the air from her lungs. "She said... she said when I found the bravest, kindest lady in the world, I should give it to her so our house wouldn't be lonely anymore."
Aurora’s hand flew to her mouth, tears instantly spilling over her lower lashes. "Zayn..."
"The men with the loud voices outside the restaurant... they hurt people," the boy continued, his small chin quivering slightly before he steeled himself with his father's trademark resolve. "Dad fights them, but Dad is always alone. If you marry Dad instead of me, nobody can take you away. And you can stay here. With us."
Aurora looked down at the tiny silver band, then up at Kian.
The mafia kingpin’s expression was no longer cold. A raw, vulnerable grief flickered behind his guarded eyes as he looked at his son. For all his billions, his armies of soldiers, and his bloody empire, Kian Moretti was a widower raising a terrified boy in a fortress of ghosts.
"Aurora," Kian spoke, his voice unusually husky. "I am not asking for your love. I am not even asking for your trust. I am asking for an alliance. Give my son a mother, give this house a soul, and in exchange, I will place an army between you and anyone who ever dared to make you bleed."
The storm raged against the glass, lightning flashing bright white across the expansive room.
Aurora looked at the little boy holding his mother’s ring. Then she looked at the bruised skin of her own wrists, remembering the helpless, suffocating terror of hiding behind metal shelves with a frying pan. She had spent her entire life running from shadows, waiting for the floor to drop out from beneath her feet.
She dropped to her knees, matching Zayn's height once more.
"Are you sure, Zayn?" she asked softly, brushing a stray dark lock from his forehead. "You want me to be your family?"
"Yes," the boy said without a second's hesitation.
Aurora exhaled a ragged breath, the weight of the universe settling onto her shoulders. She looked up at Kian, her hazel eyes burning with fierce resolution.
"One condition, Mr. Moretti."
Kian arched an eyebrow, stepping closer until his shadow enveloped them both. "Name it."
"Regina pays for what she did. Not with her life... but she never gets to hurt another human being again."
Kian’s lips curved into a cold, lethal smirk that sent shivers straight to her core.
May you like
"Consider it done. Now put on the ring, Miss Bennett. The wolves are already at the gate."
***
