Chapter 7 - The Aftermath
Within twenty minutes, the Greenwich estate was swarming with private security and local police who knew better than to ask too many questions when a Vale property was involved. The unconscious intruders were hauled out through the service entrance, and the blood on the foyer marble was scrubbed away before the boys could come down the stairs.
Nia sat on the edge of the living room sofa, her hands shaking slightly as she held a mug of black coffee Adrian had forced her to drink.
Adrian walked into the room, his jacket gone, his white shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing strong, corded forearms. He sat down beside her on the sofa, his gray eyes searching her face with an intensity that felt heavy and profound.
“You threw boiling water at an armed mercenary with a military-grade rifle,” Adrian stated, his voice a mix of awe and sheer disbelief. “You could have been killed.”
“He was wearing cheap tactical gear and tracking mud all over my newly cleaned hallway,” Nia retorted, though her voice wavered slightly. “That’s a much more serious offense, Mr. Vale.”
Adrian let out a breathless, broken laugh, reaching out to gently touch her wrist where her hands were trembling around the mug. His thumb brushed over her skin with an aching tenderness.
“You are the most extraordinary, terrifying woman I have ever met, Nia Carter,” he murmured softly.
“You haven't met my sister Chloe,” Nia replied dryly, though she didn't pull her hand away.
Adrian’s expression softened, the hard, dangerous lines of the crime boss fading away, leaving only a man who realized how close he had come to losing the one person who had brought light back into his dark, frozen world.
“About your sister,” Adrian said quietly. “The thoracic surgery at Mount Sinai next month.”
Nia stiffened, pulling her hand back slightly. “What about it?”
“It’s fully funded,” Adrian said simply. “An anonymous donor—a trust managed through my firm—transferred the remaining balance to the hospital accounts this evening.”
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Nia stared at him, her breath catching in her throat. “You didn't have to do that. That wasn't part of the contract.”
“Nothing I do regarding you is a contract anymore, Nia,” Adrian said, his voice dropping into a low, husky register that made her pulse race. “You saved my boys. You saved my life. And you’ve brought peace back to a house that forgot what it felt like.”
