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“It won’t be something that’ll violate your promise to Isabella,” Daniel adds a little too quickly. “I have no interest in helping you defy that, so you don’t have to worry on that front. There’s going to be a few changes once I take over.”
“Such as?”
“Less violence for starters,” Daniel tells me, his eyes never leaving my face. “I know that you worked hard to build the empire, and I’m not going to undermine any of that, but if it has any hope of survival, things need to be done differently.”
Something hard and heavy settles in the center of my stomach. “I agree.”
Even if I don’t like it.
Daniel downs the rest of his coffee and stands up. “I’ll bring you the paperwork once it’s ready.”
I push my chair back with a screech. “There is going to be a clause in there that says that if you violate the terms of our agreement, you won’t be allowed to set foot in the city again.”
Daniel’s expression doesn’t change as he holds my gaze. “I expect nothing less.”
A heartbeat later, he picks up his empty coffee cup and walks away without a backward glance. In the doorway to the cafeteria, he pauses to throw it away and glances at me over his shoulder. When he’s gone, Tristan appears, one hand shoved into his pocket and a furrow appearing between his brows.
“Everything okay?”
I start walking in the direction of the door. “Yes. Are Paul and Ernesto watching the baby?”
“They take shifts,” Tristan replies, matching his pace to mine. “How did it go?”
“Paul will be his right-hand man,” I respond without looking at him. “There’s going to be a lot of changes.”
Tristan doesn’t say anything as he pushes the door open. In the elevator, I feel his gaze on me, but I don’t say anything. Instead, I take out my phone and aimlessly scroll through it. While I already had a feeling that Daniel was going to do things differently, considering how he does things in Hong Kong, I still can’t stop thinking about the future.
Or worrying about the future of the empire and my family by extension.
The elevator doors ping open, and Tristan and I get off and make a beeline for Isabella’s room. She is sitting up in bed with our daughter in her arms and a serene smile on her face. Sam is on one side of the bed, admiring the baby, and Anita is tucking the bed sheets in. When I walk in, Anita is still tidying up the room, and Sam is cooing over the baby.
Our daughter has never looked better.
In silence, they all leave the room, leaving Isabella and I alone with our daughter. Slowly, I pull a chair out and sit down. Then I lean forward and cover both Isabella’s hands with mine. She glances up, but her smile fades when she looks at me.
“What’s wrong?”
“I had a chat with Daniel.”
Isabella shifts the baby from one side to the other. “About the handover or the truce?”
“Both.” I cup the back of my daughter’s head and press a feather-light kiss to her cheek. “The truce has been signed. It’s over.”
Isabella releases a deep and shaky breath. “I can’t believe it’s finally done. Was it a lot of hard work?”
“Not with Remy Donahue out of the picture.”
Isabella clears her throat. “And the rest?”
“They’ve all fallen into line and seen the benefits of allying themselves with me,” I reply after a brief pause. “I want to hold her.”
Carefully, Isabella hands our daughter over, pausing to adjust the blanket wrapped around our little bundle. As soon as she’s in my arms and I’m looking down at her face, my chest tightens. Something warm and pleasant unfurls in the center of my chest as she stirs and makes a soft, breathy sound.
“Daniel and I talked about the takeover,” I murmur in a voice barely above a whisper. “We’ll go over everything after we leave the hospital.”
Isabella links her fingers together. “How do you feel about all of this?”
I clutch our daughter closer and press my forehead to hers.
