Chapter 10 - The Last Vow
"Drop the weapon right now, Moretti, or she quickly learns how to fly," Ivan roared incredibly loudly over the deafening winter wind.
Hannah struggled fiercely against him, her small hands clawing desperately at the massive, tree-trunk arm completely crushing her windpipe.
Damen stepped bravely out from behind the ruined marble pillar, his gun lowered completely but his gray eyes burning with pure hellfire.
"Take me instead, Ivan, this blood war is entirely between us," Damen offered calmly, fresh crimson blood seeping heavily through his white bandages.
Ivan laughed loudly, a cruel, entirely soulless sound that echoed horribly against the glittering Chicago skyline.
"I desperately want you to watch her die, exactly like you helplessly watched your precious sister die," the Russian mocked viciously.
In a split second of pure, unadulterated survival instinct, Hannah drove her sharp elbow violently into Ivan's previously wounded ribs.
The massive man grunted loudly in intense, blinding pain, his iron grip loosening for only a tiny fraction of a second.
It was the absolute only opening Damen desperately needed.
He raised his heavy weapon instantly and fired a single, perfect shot directly into the dead center of Ivan's thick forehead.
The ruthless Russian boss collapsed backward immediately, tumbling entirely over the jagged balcony edge and falling deeply into the dark abyss.
Damen forcefully dropped his smoking gun and sprinted forward, catching Hannah tightly in his strong arms as her trembling knees finally gave out entirely.
They collapsed entirely onto the ruined, glass-covered floor together, breathing heavily in the sudden, beautiful, shocking silence.
The bloody cartel war was finally, definitively over, and the terrifying shadow over their complex lives had been completely vanquished.
Several peaceful months later, the newly rebuilt West Haven Community Clinic finally opened its grand doors to the grateful public.
Hannah stood incredibly proudly in the bright, modern lobby, wearing her crisp, immaculate white nurse's uniform.
Damen watched her lovingly from the glass doorway, looking entirely healthy, massively powerful, and undeniably, deeply in love.
He walked over to her slowly, gently pulling her into a passionate kiss that promised a beautiful, completely safe future.
They had bravely faced the absolute darkest corners of their violent worlds and built something truly magnificent from the remaining ashes.
Their long-awaited happy ending was finally secured, leaving them completely free from the terrifying ghosts of their painful pasts.
Hannah noticed a strange, unmarked black envelope resting quietly on the kitchen counter of their fully restored penthouse.
She carefully tore it open, her breath catching painfully in her throat as she read the single terrifying line of text.
May you like
The elegant, looping handwriting unmistakably belonged to the supposedly deceased Sophia Moretti.
The desperate note read, I am still alive, brother, but they are coming for me again.
