Chapter 13 - The Unbreakable HarborA sharp, sudden gust of wind swept across the pier, but neither of us felt the chill.
Maya looked up at me, her lower lip trembling just an fraction before a brilliant, radiant smile broke across her face—a smile that chased away every shadow of the marsh, the dry dock, and the midnight raids.
She raised her hand, watching the gold falcon catch the amber light.
“You really are an absolute lunatic, Dante Moretti,” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. “You just bound your entire dynasty’s legacy to an municipal engineer who wears grease-stained coats.”
“The best engineers build the strongest foundations,” I replied, pulling her flush against my chest, wrapping my arms securely around her waist.
She slid her arms around my neck, resting her head against my shoulder as the waves crashed rhythmically against the pilings beneath our feet.
Out in the open channel, a massive Thorne-Moretti container ship glided smoothly past the breakwater, its towering cargo cranes illuminated against the purple twilight, its horn sounding a deep, resonant blast that echoed across the entire Atlantic seaboard.
The harbor was secure.
The ledger was balanced.
And the Moretti empire was unbreakable.
For the first time in eight years, since the day I threw the crypt key into twenty fathoms of saltwater, the heavy weight in my chest was completely gone.
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I looked down at the woman in my arms—the cartographer who had mapped out my survival, the engineer who had drained the dry dock of deceit, and the queen who had claimed the seal without asking permission.
“Come on, Chief Engineer,” I murmured against her hair. “Let’s go home.”
