Chapter 10 - The Horizon of Gold
One year later.
The summer sun shone brightly over the private harbor of the Petrova-Sterling estate in Newport, Rhode Island.
The ocean was a deep, brilliant blue, dotted with white sailboats drifting along the coastline. On the sprawling green lawn leading down to the private beach, a simple, elegant outdoor pavilion had been constructed from white oak and sheer linen curtains that fluttered softly in the warm sea breeze.
It was a small, intimate gathering—no reporters, no socialites, no corporate donors.
Only family.
Uncle Mikhail sat in a wide teak armchair near the water, drinking ice water with lemon, watching his grand-nephews play on the sand. Miriam Cross sat nearby, reading a leather-bound book, enjoying a rare weekend away from her legal empire.
I stood on the wide wooden deck overlooking the water.
I wore a comfortable, flowing white cotton dress, my hair loose around my shoulders, bare feet touching the warm, smooth wood.
A pair of warm, strong arms wrapped gently around my waist from behind.
Adrien rested his chin on my shoulder, his hands coming down to rest gently over my stomach—which was now softly curved, carrying our first child, due in three months.
"You're quiet today, my love," Adrien whispered, his lips brushing against the sensitive curve of my neck.
"I was just thinking," I smiled, leaning back against his broad chest, feeling the steady, reassuring rhythm of his heart beneath his linen shirt.
"Thinking about what?" he asked, his hands moving softly over my stomach.
"About how a torn dress in a ballroom led us here," I said, looking out over the golden light reflecting off the water. "If Bianca hadn't grabbed my shoulder that night... if Damian hadn't tried to hide behind his money... we might still be fighting shadows."
Adrien let out a soft, low laugh, kissing my cheek with deep, infinite tenderness.
"Bianca Vance thought she was tearing down a servant," Adrien murmured, his fingers intertwining with mine over our unborn child. "She didn't know she was pulling the pin on a grenade that would clear away everything that was broken in our lives."
"She gave us a clean canvas," I agreed, turning in his arms to face him.
I looked up into the face of the man who had walked through a ballroom door to claim me before the world, the man who had fought beside me against lords, criminals, and traitors, and the man who held my heart in his hands.
Adrien reached up, gently brushing a strand of windblown hair behind my ear, his dark eyes shining with a love that was deeper and wider than the ocean behind us.
"I love you, Ana Petrova Sterling," he whispered.
"I love you, Adrien Sterling," I replied, resting my forehead against his. "More than all the diamonds in the world."
May you like
He leaned down and kissed me—a slow, deep, magnificent kiss that tasted of sea salt, sunshine, and a future that belonged entirely to us.
Behind us, the warm ocean wind rustled through the white linen curtains, the sea gulls called across the blue sky, and the sun rose high into a golden horizon that no shadow could ever touch again.
