Chapter 7 - A New Foundation"You found it," Celeste said, her voice quiet, carrying over the distant sound of the seagulls outside.
"It wasn't hard," Roman replied, stopping a few feet away from her. He looked around the cozy, unpretentious kitchen—simple wooden cabinets, a braided rug on the floor, a single vase of wildflowers on the windowsill. "This isn't a safehouse."
"No," Celeste said, taking a sip of her coffee. "It’s a home. Something you never learned how to build."
Roman took a slow breath, feeling the weight of twenty years of ambition, violence, and pride finally sliding off his shoulders. He looked down at her stomach, still rounded and heavy with their child, then back up into her clear, unwavering eyes.
"I left the gun in Chicago," Roman said, the words carrying a strange, liberating finality.
Celeste’s eyes flickered with a sudden, intense emotion—relief, fear, and something resembling respect.
"Words are easy, Roman," she said softly. "Habits are harder."
"I know," he stepped closer, stopping just within arm's reach. He didn't try to touch her. He didn't try to take control of the room. For the first time, he surrendered his authority entirely. "I don't expect you to trust me today. Or tomorrow. Or next month."
"Good," she replied, though a faint, almost imperceptible smile touched the corner of her lips. "Because I don't."
"I bought a small house down the road," Roman continued calmly. "Literally down the road, about a mile back. Marco is going to fix boats at the local marina. And I... I applied for a job at the lumber yard in town."
Celeste blinked, genuinely caught off guard. "You? Working at a lumber yard?"
"Someone has to pay rent," Roman said with a dry, self-deprecating chuckle. "And it turns out, carrying logs pays better than running a criminal empire when you don't have offshore bank accounts to hide behind."
Celeste set her mug down on the counter and crossed her arms, studying him as if seeing him for the very first time.
May you like
"You're serious," she whispered.
"Dead serious," Roman said, his voice dropping low and steady. "You told me some consequences arrive later. You were right. This is my consequence. But I’m not running from it anymore."
