Chapter 10
Three years after the night in the alley,
Landon rented out the entire top floor of the city's tallest skyscraper.
It was the night of the annual charity gala for The Donnelly Center,
and Mave had spent the evening shaking hands,
giving speeches,
and securing millions of dollars in donations for her cause.
She was exhausted,
but she was glowing with an inner light,
wearing a stunning midnight-blue gown that swept gracefully across the floor.
When the gala finally wound down,
and the last of the wealthy donors had descended in the glass elevators,
Landon took her hand and led her out onto the private rooftop observation deck.
The city stretched out below them in a glittering carpet of lights,
a vast,
beautiful grid of streets and buildings that no longer held any terror for them.
The wind whipped gently at her hair,
and Mave leaned against the high glass railing,
taking a deep,
satisfying breath of the cool night air.
"You were magnificent tonight,"
Landon told her,
stepping up beside her and looking at her instead of the spectacular view.
"We raised enough money to open three new shelters,"
Mave said proudly,
turning her face toward the wind,
her heart soaring with a sense of absolute accomplishment.
"You have changed this city, Mave,"
Landon murmured,
and there was a strange,
nervous energy vibrating in his voice that she had never heard before.
She turned to look at him,
and she noticed that he was clutching a small,
black velvet box in his left hand.
Mave's breath caught in her throat,
and the sounds of the city below seemed to fade entirely into silence,
leaving only the loud,
frantic beating of her own heart.
Landon Kee,
the man who had once ruled the underworld with an iron fist,
dropped slowly and gracefully to one knee on the cold concrete.
He opened the box,
revealing a diamond that caught the city lights and fractured them into a million tiny rainbows.
"Mave Donnelly,"
he began,
his voice rough and filled with overwhelming emotion.
"You walked into my life covered in blood,
and you brought the sun into a house that had been dark for eight years."
Tears spilled over Mave's eyelashes,
and she covered her mouth with trembling hands,
unable to speak,
unable to do anything but stare at the man she loved.
"I do not deserve you,"
Landon continued,
looking up at her with a fierce,
unwavering devotion.
"But I will spend every single day of the rest of my life trying to earn you.
Will you marry me?"
Mave did not hesitate,
and she did not think about the past,
or the scars,
or the pain that had brought them to this exact moment.
She dropped to her knees right in front of him,
ruining the hem of her expensive blue gown,
and she threw her arms around his neck.
"Yes,"
she sobbed,
kissing him with all the passion and love she possessed.
"Yes, Landon, yes."
He slid the ring onto her finger,
and he held her tightly against his chest,
and they knelt together on the roof of the world.
She was no longer the invisible waitress,
and he was no longer the feared monster,
they were simply two people who had fought through hell to find their heaven.
And as the city lights twinkled below them,
Mave knew that her story was no longer about survival,
it was finally,
May you like
beautifully,
about a spectacular and endless freedom.
