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“I’m not surprised you’ve pieced it together,” I whisper. “Yes—Caruso loyalists. The last of them. It’s over now.”

She is silent for a long moment, her thumb tracing circles on my hand. “Does it ever end? There will always be someone who wants what you have.”

I tighten my grip. “There will always be threats. But none like Caruso. I dismantled his network completely. I will protect you, Fiona, and this baby. You will be the most protected family in the country. I swear it.”

Her reply is simple and sure: “I know.”

In that quiet moment, as I watch Fiona’s gentle sleep and gaze at Elena—the woman who has become the center of my existence—I realize that after a life built on blood and fear, I now have something worth dying for.

Something worth living for and I will bedamned if I let anyone take that away from me.

I pull Elena closer, brushing my lips against her forehead and Fiona’s.

For them, I will rewrite the rules of our world. My empire and my heart belong to the same queen now—and I will burn this city to ashes before I let either fall.

The End