Chapter 12 - THE AWAKENING OF DAWNThree weeks had passed since the night on the southern docks.
The DeLuca estate felt different now.
The heavy, suffocating darkness that had lingered for four years was finally gone.
The staff smiled more.
Sophie laughed out loud in the hallways, her purple-butterfly hearing aids catching the morning sunlight.
She had started attending a specialized private academy downtown, and every afternoon she came home eager to show me new signs she had learned.
And my mother?
She was recovering comfortably in a private, secure medical suite, fully insured and safe.
I stood in my old room on the second floor, packing my small duffel bag.
It was time for me to move out.
I wasn't a waitress anymore, but I wasn't an employee living in the mansion either.
My job as Sophie’s companion and tutor was secure, but I wanted my own independence back.
I zipped up the bag and sling it over my shoulder.
As I walked down the grand staircase, Sophie intercepted me in the foyer.
She looked up, her dark eyes filled with sudden concern.
Where are you going? she signed rapidly, her small hands moving with urgency.
I knelt down beside her.
I’m moving into my new apartment near your school, sweetheart, I signed gently.
I’ll still see you every single day.
Sophie shook her head stubbornly.
No. Stay here.
I smiled, brushing a dark curl from her forehead.
“I have to have my own place, Sophie. But I promise I’m only a phone call away.”
Before she could sign back, a deep voice interrupted from the top of the stairs.
“Is she leaving?”
Gabriel walked down the steps.
He wore a crisp charcoal suit, his shoulder fully healed from the crash.
“I’m just heading out, Mr. DeLuca,” I said, standing up.
“My lease started this morning.”
Gabriel stopped at the bottom of the stairs.
He looked at the duffel bag over my shoulder.
Then at Sophie, who was stubbornly crossing her arms.
“You don't need an apartment, Hannah,” Gabriel said quietly.
“Mr. DeLuca, we talked about this. I need my own space.”
“This estate is big enough for all of us,” he said, taking a step closer.
“And Sophie hasn't slept a full night since she thought you were packing to leave permanently.”
Sophie nodded vigorously, adding her own silent plea to her father’s words.
I looked between the two of them.
The great mafia boss of Chicago, and his brilliant, resilient daughter.
Both of them looking at me like I was the anchor holding their world together.
“I... I don't know,” I stammered, feeling my face grow warm.
Gabriel stepped right in front of me.
Close enough that I could smell his familiar scent of cedarwood and expensive cologne.
“Stay, Hannah,” he said softly.
“Not as an employee. Not as a guest.”
May you like
He reached out and gently took the duffel bag off my shoulder, setting it down on the marble floor.
[CLIFFHANGER: GABRIEL REACHES INTO HIS POCKET AND PULLS OUT SOMETHING UNEXPECTED, ASKING A QUESTION THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING.]
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