Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
KAI
I'd always thought that after the storm came peace. That once you survived the worst, everything got easier.
I was wrong. Aria and Lia had endured weeks of testimony, reliving every trauma. Which was something I didn’t want for them.
Four weeks after my father's arrest, the Council held the final sentencing hearing. Now it was finally ending.
Salvatore stood in chains, looking older and beaten but still defiant.
When given his final statement, he called us ungrateful, claimed he'd only protected the family, twisted everything to make himself the victim.
Then he looked at us with pure hatred and said he wished we'd died alongside our mother.
Lia's hand found mine under the table. I squeezed back, reminding her these were just empty words from a desperate man.
When asked if anyone else wished to speak, I stood. Looked my father in the eyes and told him he was dead to us. That after today, he'd be nothing but a cautionary tale about choosing power over humanity.
Father Benedetto pronounced the death sentence. Stripped of all titles, property, authority. The Accardi name would continue through me, but Salvatore was nothing.
Guards dragged him away screaming about allies and power. The door slammed, cutting off his voice.
It was over. The hearing adjourned. We walked out of those chambers free for the first time in our lives.
But I didn't care about the empire. About the power. About any of it, I cared about getting Aria and Lia somewhere safe. Somewhere they could heal.
So that's exactly what I did.
Within a week, I'd bought a house on the coast. Three hours from the city. Right on the ocean. Big windows. Open spaces. As far from the dark estate as possible.
White walls instead of wood paneling. Natural light instead of shadows. The sound of waves instead of gunfire.
A place to heal. To recover. To remember what peace felt like.
Aria was struggling. The trauma manifesting in nightmares that had her waking up screaming almost every night. Convinced Salvatore was coming for her. That guards were breaking down the door. That she was back in that locked room.
I held her through every single one. Pulled her against my chest. Stroked her hair. Reminded her where she was. That she was safe. That I had her.
"You're okay. You're safe. He can't hurt you anymore. I've got you. Always got you."
During the day, I was gentle with her in ways I'd never been with anyone. Made her breakfast. Actually cooked instead of ordering someone else to do it. Sat with her on the beach. Watched the ocean. Didn't push her to talk or be okay.
Just existed beside her while she processed everything.
Some days she wanted to talk. Would tell me about her fears. Her anger. Her grief for the parents she'd lost. The future she'd thought she'd have.
Other days she was silent. Just sat with my arm around her. Staring at nothing.
Both were okay. Whatever she needed, I provided.
Lia was healing too. Slower. But healing. She'd enrolled in an art program at a college nearby. Finally following the dreams she'd had before our father had tried to sell her off.
She visited daily. She and Aria would spend hours together. Talking. Crying. Laughing sometimes. Two girls who'd survived the same hell. Who understood each other in ways no one else could.
I gave them space. Let them have their friendship without hovering. Knew they needed each other as much as they needed me.
One morning, two months after we'd moved to the beach house, I was making coffee when Aria came downstairs. She'd been quiet all week. Distant in a way that worried me.
"Can we talk?"
"Of course. Always." I handed her a cup. "What's on your mind?"
She sat at the kitchen table. Hands wrapped around the mug. Not drinking. Just holding it for warmth.
"I need to tell you something. I've been afraid to say it out loud but you need to know."
Fear spiked in my chest. "Whatever it is, just tell me. We'll figure it out."
"I'm pregnant." The words came out rushed. Scared. "Over two months now. It's yours. Obviously. There's never been anyone else."
The world stopped.
Pregnant. She was pregnant. With my baby. I was going to be a father.
Joy exploded in my chest. So intense it actually hurt. I crossed to her. Pulled her up out of the chair. Held her face in my hands.
"Are you happy about it? Or scared? Tell me how you're feeling." I wanted to be sure because at this point she was who mattered to me the most and with everything we had been through, I wanted to know where her heart and mind was.
"Both. I'm terrified because I'm eighteen and barely keeping myself together.
Terrified of bringing a baby into this world when everything is still so messed up.
" Tears gathered in her eyes. "But I'm also happy.
So happy. Because it's ours. Something good that came from everything bad.
A piece of you and me that's pure and innocent and untouched by all the darkness. "
I couldn't stop smiling. Actually grinning like an idiot. "We're having a baby. We're actually having a baby."
"You're happy?" Her voice was small. Uncertain.
"Happy doesn't even begin to cover it. You're giving me a family. A real family. Something I never thought I'd have. Something I don't deserve but I'm selfish enough to take anyway."
I pulled her close. One hand cradling the back of her head. The other on her lower back. Brought my mouth to hers in a way that said everything words couldn't.
My lips moved against hers, slowly tasting and claiming it with the same passion that was swelling inside my heart.Her hands fisted in my shirt. Holding on. Kissing back with equal intensity.
When we finally broke apart, we were both breathing hard.
"I'm going to marry you." The words came out certain. Absolute. "Properly. No arrangement. No force. No business transaction. Just us choosing each other. Building a life together. Raising our baby together."
She laughed. Actually laughed. The sound so good after weeks of crying. "I don't marry stalkers, Kai. I have standards."
"We'll see about that." I lifted her. Carried her toward the stairs. "All this time and I didn't even know you were carrying my baby. Our baby. God, I love you so much. So fucking much it's actually painful."
"I love you too. More than I thought it was possible to love anyone."
Two months later, we stood in a small chapel by the ocean where we had decided to have our simple wedding. Tiny. Just the people who mattered.
Lia as maid of honor. Marco as best man. Mrs. Rossi crying in the front row. Father Benedetto officiating.
No grand estate. No hundreds of guests. No political maneuvering or family alliances.
Just us. Choosing each other. Making vows that actually meant something.
Aria walked down the aisle in a simple white dress. No veil. No train. Just her. Beautiful. Glowing. Slightly showing with our baby.
When she reached me, I took her hands. Couldn't stop staring at her.
Father Benedetto smiled. "We gather here today to witness the union of Kai Accardi and Aria Romano. They have chosen to write their own vows. Kai, you may begin."
I looked at Aria. Tried to find words adequate for what I felt.
"I spent most of my life convinced I was broken beyond repair.
That my father had destroyed whatever capacity I had for love or kindness or anything good.
I was a weapon. A tool. Something that existed to serve a purpose and nothing more.
Then I met you in that club and everything changed.
You looked at me like I was worth something.
Like I could be more than what I'd been made into.
You saw potential where everyone else saw a monster.
You gave me hope when I'd stopped believing in it. "
My voice cracked slightly. I pushed through.
"You healed me, Aria. In ways I didn't know I needed healing.
You made me want to be better. To deserve you.
To build something beautiful instead of just destroying what my father built.
You gave me a family. A future. A reason to fight for something beyond revenge.
You gave me everything. And I'm promising you right here, right now, that I will spend every day of my life proving I'm worthy of that gift.
I will protect you. Cherish you. Love you with everything I have.
I will be the father to our child that mine never was.
I will build us a life free from violence and fear.
I will give you the future you deserve."
Tears streamed down my face. I didn't care.
"You're my life. My heart. My home. And I am choosing you every single day for the rest of our lives."
Father Benedetto turned to Aria. "Aria, your vows."
She was crying too. Happy tears. Her hands squeezed mine, she glanced at me and smiled for a second before she spoke.
"When my parents died, I thought I'd lost everything that mattered.
I thought I was alone in a world that didn't care if I survived or not.
I thought my future was darkness and control and pain.
Then I met you and discovered I hadn't lost everything.
I'd just been waiting to find the right person to build something new with. "
Her voice was strong despite the tears, she peeked at Lia who gave her a smile and a nod and her eyes trailed back to mine and we met each other's gaze.
"You saved me, Kai. Not just from your father.
From despair. From giving up. From believing I didn't deserve happiness.
You showed me what real love looks like.
Not the fairy tale version. The real thing.
Complicated and messy and sometimes terrifying but also beautiful and worth fighting for.
You protected me when I couldn't protect myself.
You fought for me when I'd stopped believing anyone would.
You gave me hope when I'd stopped looking for it. "
She smiled through her tears.
"You're my partner. My protector. My best friend.
The father of my child. And I am choosing you.
Not because I have to. Not because of some arrangement.
But because my life is better with you in it.
Because you make me want to be brave. Because loving you is the easiest and hardest thing I've ever done and I wouldn't change it for anything.
I promise to stand beside you. To build our family with you.
To love you through everything. The good days and the bad days and all the days in between.
You're mine and I'm yours and nothing will ever change that. "
Father Benedetto's voice was gentle. "The rings?"
Marco handed me Aria's ring. Simple gold band. Nothing ostentatious. Just beautiful.
I slid it onto her finger. "With this ring, I thee wed."
Lia handed Aria my ring. She slid it on. "With this ring, I thee wed."
"By the power vested in me and in witness of these gathered here, I pronounce you husband and wife." Father Benedetto smiled. "Kai, you may—"
I didn't wait for him to finish. Pulled Aria against me. Brought my mouth to hers.
This was different from every other time. This was me claiming my wife. Not my girlfriend. Not my father's intended bride. My wife. My choice. My partner in everything.
She was mine. Legally. Spiritually. Completely.
And I was hers. Forever.
"I do." I whispered against her lips.
"I do." She whispered back.