Chapter 60: The Proposal

Alexander proposed without an audience.

No cameras. No chandeliered ballroom. No reporters waiting outside to turn love into a headline.

He proposed at the lake house, on the dock where Scarlett had once chased fireflies as a child.

The evening was gold and quiet. Scarlett sat beside him with a blanket around her shoulders, her cane resting nearby. She had spent the afternoon walking short distances under Dr. Cross's supervision and pretending not to be exhausted afterward.

Alexander had been unusually silent all day.

Scarlett noticed everything.

'You are either planning something romantic or something illegal,' she said.

He looked at her. 'Those are not mutually exclusive in my life.'

She laughed. 'That is not comforting.'

He took her hand.

The laughter faded.

Alexander turned fully toward her. The lake reflected the last light of the sun, and for once he looked less like the Godfather of an empire and more like a man carrying his heart carefully in both hands.

'I made your grandfather a promise to protect you,' he said. 'For a long time, I thought that promise was the reason I stayed near you. It was easier to believe in duty than need.'

Scarlett's eyes filled.

'Then you looked at the ruins of your life and decided to rebuild instead of disappear. You taught me that power without truth is just another prison. You made me want to be more than necessary.'

He reached into his coat and opened a small velvet box.

The ring inside was not her mother's. It was new, elegant, with a deep emerald stone surrounded by diamonds like stars.

'I will never ask you to be small for my world,' Alexander said. 'I will never call protection love when it becomes control. I will stand beside you, behind you, or far away when you need space. But if you choose me, Scarlett Whitmore, I will spend my life choosing you back.'

Tears slipped down her cheeks.

'Ask me,' she whispered.

His voice roughened. 'Will you marry me?'

Scarlett smiled through tears. 'Yes.'

Alexander slid the ring onto her finger, then kissed her as the sun disappeared behind the lake.

Later, when Luca heard the news, he said, 'Excellent. I will begin preparing security for the most dangerous wedding in New York.'

Scarlett laughed against Alexander's shoulder.

For the first time, she was not afraid of happiness arriving loudly.