Chapter 5 - The Midnight SeamstressBy two in the morning, the storm had cleared, leaving the city streets glistening under the moonlight.
Inside Stitch & Grace, Clara was sweeping up stray threads from the floorboards, exhausted, her eyes heavy with sleep. She had kept the radio on low, listening anxiously for any news from the waterfront, her heart in her throat for forty-eight hours.
The back door clicked open.
Clara whipped around, her broom raised like a weapon.
Adrien stepped into the warm light of the shop.
He was soaked through from the remnants of the rain, his dark hair plastered to his forehead. There was a smear of dried soot on his jaw, and his coat was slightly scuffed at the shoulder. But he was standing tall, his eyes burning with an intense, triumphant fire.
He was alive.
Clara dropped the broom. It clattered loudly against the floor.
Before she could form a sentence, Adrien crossed the room in two strides, grabbed her by the waist, and lifted her off her feet, burying his face in the crook of her neck with a ragged, exhausted breath.
Clara gasped, her hands instinctively clutching his broad shoulders. She felt the heavy, solid warmth of his body, the steady beat of his heart against her chest.
“You’re alive,” she whispered, her voice cracking.
“Because of you,” Adrien murmured against her skin, setting her back down slowly on her feet, though he didn't let go of her waist. His hands rested firmly, possessively on her hips. “Moretti tried to take the docks tonight. A bullet hit my chest.”
Clara went cold all over, her hands flying to his chest. “You were shot?! Let me see—!”
“I’m fine,” Adrien caught her wrists gently, stopping her frantic inspection. He smiled, a fierce, tender expression that softened his hard features completely. “The Kevlar you stitched into the lining stopped it cold. Not a single drop of blood. You saved my life, Clara.”
Clara let out a shaky breath, her anger suddenly flaring up to mask the overwhelming wave of relief. She shoved him lightly against the chest.
“You absolute lunatic!” she hissed, tears of adrenaline stinging her eyes. “You walked into an ambush alone wearing a handmade velvet coat?!”
“It was the best armor in the city,” Adrien replied smoothly, catching her hand and pressing a warm, lingering kiss against her palm.
Clara’s breath hitched. The shop around them seemed to vanish, leaving only the sound of their breathing and the heavy, electric pull between them.
Adrien reached into his coat pocket with his free hand. He pulled out a small, velvet-wrapped box and placed it gently on the cutting table beside her sewing machine.
“What is this?” Clara asked, her voice barely a whisper.
“My terms,” Adrien said, his dark eyes locking onto hers with absolute, unyielding devotion.
He flipped open the box. Inside rested a stunning, custom-designed ring: a deep, flawless midnight-blue sapphire set in heavy platinum, flanked by delicate silver filigree shaped like sewing needles and interwoven vines.
Clara stared at it, her breath completely failing her.
“I don't need a political marriage, Clara,” Adrien said, his voice dropping into a raw, gravelly register that shook her to her core. “I don't need a senator’s daughter. I don't need an empire built on fear and glass.”
He stepped closer, lifting her chin with his index finger so she had no choice but to look into his eyes.
“I need a woman who looks at the most dangerous man in Grayhaven, tells him he’s wrong, and has the courage to sew him armor when the world tries to tear him apart,” Adrien whispered. “Marry me, Clara. Take over my world, run my syndicates, or burn them to the ground—just do it by my side.”
Clara looked at the ring, then up at the mafia king who had burned his own wedding to the ground just to find something real.
A slow, brilliant smile broke across her face.
May you like
“Well, Mr. Duca,” Clara murmured, sliding her arms around his neck, pulling him down to her level. “Your measurements are already on file. But if you ever ruin my expensive fabric again, I’ll stitch your mouth shut.”
Adrien let out a dark, resonant laugh before capturing her lips in a deep, fierce, triumphant kiss that sealed their fate forever.
