Epilogue II: The Question That Changes Everything

                                        

                                              

Dominic's POV
One Year Later

She was barefoot in the garden again.
Wearing that worn linen dress that drove him mad, a smudge of something sweet on her collarbone, and their daughter balanced on her hip like she was born for it.
Which, apparently, she was.
Dominic watched from the terrace, heart thundering in a way it hadn't since his first kill at seventeen.
Except this time, it wasn't adrenaline.
It was terror.
Hope.
And something deeper he still didn't know how to name.
The ring in his pocket felt like it weighed more than any gun he'd ever carried.
One year ago, he hadn't believed in anything.
Now?
Now his world had two names:
Aria.
And Leni their daughter, who was currently yanking daisies out of the earth with the same ferocity Dominic used to destroy empires.
He should've been amused.
But all he could think was: How the hell do you ask a woman like that to marry you?
Not because she didn't love him.
But because she'd already given him everything.
Her trust.
Her forgiveness.
Her fight.
He didn't deserve a damn bit of it but he'd kill to keep it.
And now, standing under the soft gray of a spring sky, Dominic Voss. the king of shadows, the mafia's hidden face, the man who once swore he'd never love again was ready to drop to his knees for a girl who had absolutely no idea how much power she held over him.
⸻
Later that Afternoon
He tried twice.
Once in the garden, she'd looked too happy, and he didn't want to interrupt it.
Once in the nursery, Leni had thrown up all over her onesie and Aria's hair, and Dominic had honestly feared for his life if he brought out a ring mid-wipe.
Now, she was in their room, brushing her curls out in front of the mirror.
And he couldn't wait anymore.
His palms were sweating. Actual sweat.
He stepped into the doorway and cleared his throat.
She turned. "Hey. You okay?"
"Fine," he said gruffly.
She narrowed her eyes. "You don't look fine. You look like someone who just got subpoenaed."
He took a breath. "Aria."
"Mmhmm?"
He walked toward her slowly, heart pounding.
When he reached her, he didn't go down on one knee.
Not yet.
Instead, he cupped her face, kissed her forehead, then her lips, slow and reverent. "You wrecked me."
She blinked up at him, confused.
"In the best way," he added. "You destroyed everything I thought I was supposed to be. Rewired me. You made me human."
Tears sparkled in her lashes. "Dominic..."
He stepped back. Reached into his pocket.
And then he did it.
Dropped to one knee.
The ring. simple, stunning, a diamond wrapped in a custom setting that held their daughter's birthstone, glittered in the late afternoon light.
He looked up, jaw tight, heart open.
"I've already killed for you. Bled for you. Given you everything I didn't know I had."
A pause. A breath.
"But I want to give you this, too. Without shadows. Without blood. Just you and me."
He swallowed hard.
"Marry me, Aria."
⸻
She didn't cry right away.
She just stared at him, lips trembling, one hand over her mouth.
Then she laughed, that soft, raspy laugh that had haunted his dreams for months.
"I thought you'd never ask."
He blinked. "Is that a yes?"
She dropped to her knees and kissed him. Hard.
"That's a hell yes."
⸻
Later that night, as Leni slept in the next room and the ring gleamed on her finger beneath tangled sheets, Dominic whispered against her skin, "You know this doesn't mean I'm soft now."
She smirked, tracing the scars on his chest. "You're not soft. You're mine."
And he was.
Finally. Completely.
No war. No lies. Just them.
For now.