Chapter 10 - A NEW MORNINGSix months later, the Caldwell estate felt less like a fortress and more like an actual home.
The high-voltage security perimeter was still there, of course—Ethan was still a powerful man in a dangerous world—but the heavy, suffocating paranoia that had once choked the hallways had vanished entirely.
In its place was laughter.
On this crisp spring morning, the sprawling emerald lawn echoed with the sound of running footsteps and childish giggles.
“Catch me if you can, Uncle Ethan!” Noah yelled, sprinting across the grass at full speed, his legs strong, steady, and completely healed, clutching a flying disc tightly in his hands.
Ethan, dressed in a casual button-down shirt with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, chased after his son with a mock-terrified expression on his face, laughing as he closed the distance between them and scooped the seven-year-old up into the air, spinning him around in circles.
I stood on the veranda, sipping a hot cup of coffee while watching them from the shade of the white marble pillars. Elena walked up beside me, handing me a plate of freshly baked pastries straight from the estate kitchen.
“You know,” Elena said softly, leaning against the railing and watching her husband and son play in the morning light, “before you arrived, that boy hadn't laughed like that in three years. You didn't just give him his legs back, Erin. You gave us our lives back.”
“I just did my job,” I smiled, taking a sip of my coffee.
“It was a lot more than a job,” Elena replied, turning to look at me with warm, affectionate eyes. “And by the way... Ethan has been asking me every single day if you’ve signed that permanent contract yet.”
Before I could answer, a deep, familiar voice interrupted us from behind.
“She doesn't need to sign it yet,” Ethan said, walking up the veranda steps with Noah perched happily on his shoulders. He stopped right beside me, a playful, charismatic smirk playing on his lips. “She’s too busy being the most dangerous physical therapist in the entire syndicate.”
“Somebody has to keep you out of trouble,” I retorted, raising an eyebrow as I reached up to playfully ruffle Noah’s hair.
May you like
“Always,” Ethan whispered, his dark eyes locking onto mine with a warmth and intensity that made my breath catch just a little bit.
Down in the garden, the morning sun climbed higher into the clear blue sky, casting a golden glow over the entire estate. The past was buried, the enemies were gone, and for the first time in a very long time, the future looked entirely bright.
