Chapter 6 - The True VowsSix months later, the coast of Maine was green, wild, and breathing with the clean scent of pine and sea spray.
Far away from the cobblestone streets of Boston, the neon signs of syndicates, and the blood-soaked ledgers of their fathers, a small wooden house stood on a cliff overlooking a quiet bay.
There were no twelve thousand white roses. There were no two hundred corrupt politicians, no armed guards, and no diamond rings heavy enough to feel like handcuffs.
On the wooden porch, Avery stood wearing a simple, soft white linen dress with short sleeves. The morning sunlight caught the faint, healed lines of her skin—no longer hidden behind armor, no longer a secret of shame, but simply part of who she was.
Dominic stood across from her, wearing a faded plaid shirt, his sleeves rolled up.
There was no priest, no cathedral, and no captive audience.
“Do you take Avery Martin, with all her scars, to walk with you when the world burns down?” Dominic asked softly, his voice steady and full of life.
Avery smiled, her green eyes sparkling with a happiness she had never thought possible.
“I do,” she whispered.
May you like
Dominic slid a simple, unadorned silver band onto her finger. It was light, unpretentious, and fit perfectly.
He pulled her into his arms, and as his lips met hers against the sound of the crashing waves, they both knew that the empire they had destroyed was the greatest victory they had ever won.
