Chapter 8 - Roman’s Final Choice
Six months later, Laura looked different.
The chandeliers remained.
The polished marble remained.
The expensive wine remained.
But the kitchen felt different.
Nobody flinched when a manager entered.
Schedules were posted weeks in advance.
Employees had paid sick days.
Parents could request emergency childcare support.
Naen stood near the entrance watching a young waitress hurry through the door.
“I'm sorry!”
The woman was crying.
“My daughter's school called and—”
The new manager raised a hand.
“Is your daughter okay?”
The waitress blinked.
“Yes.”
“Then breathe.”
Naen smiled.
That was the change she cared about.
Not revenge.
Culture.
Humanity.
Roman entered quietly.
His cane was gone.
He still limped slightly when tired.
Naen noticed immediately.
“You're overdoing it.”
“Hello to you too.”
“Physical therapy?”
“This morning.”
“You're lying.”
Roman smiled.
“Tomorrow morning.”
“Roman.”
“I'll go.”
He had changed too.
Not magically.
Not completely.
Naen would never have trusted a transformation that simple.
Roman remained intimidating.
Private.
Stubborn.
But he no longer treated fear as currency.
His remaining companies operated openly.
Vincent joked that Roman now had more accountants than soldiers.
Roman did not find this funny.
Leo did.
Especially because Roman had begun picking him up from school occasionally.
The first time, other parents had stared at the enormous dark-haired man standing beside the kindergarten gate holding a dinosaur backpack.
Roman had pretended not to notice.
Leo called him “R.”
Naen secretly loved it.
That evening, after Laura closed, Roman and Naen sat at table seven.
The table where Marcus had confessed.
“You know,” Naen said, “this table has terrible memories.”
“Then we need better ones.”
Roman placed a small box on the table.
Naen stared.
“No.”
Roman frowned.
“You haven't opened it.”
“If that's a ring, absolutely not.”
His eyebrows rose.
“Good to know.”
Naen covered her face.
“Oh God.”
Roman laughed.
Actually laughed.
She had heard it only a handful of times.
He opened the box.
Inside was a key.
Naen blinked.
“What is that?”
“A house.”
“Roman.”
“Before you panic, it's my house.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“I bought one.”
“Congratulations.”
“It has a backyard.”
“Still congratulations.”
“Leo selected it.”
Naen stared.
“He what?”
Roman suddenly looked less like a feared former crime boss and more like a nervous teenager.
“He believes we should all live there.”
“Oh, he does?”
“He has strong opinions.”
“Wonder where he learned that.”
Roman slid the key toward her.
“This isn't a proposal.”
“Good.”
“It isn't payment.”
“Better.”
“It isn't protection.”
Naen waited.
Roman looked directly at her.
“It's an invitation.”
Her throat tightened.
“To what?”
“My life.”
No grand speech followed.
No orchestra.
No kneeling.
Just Roman.
Vulnerable in a way she had never seen.
Naen touched the key.
“I have conditions.”
“Of course you do.”
“Leo keeps his school.”
“Yes.”
“I keep my job.”
“Yes.”
“No armed guards following me to the grocery store.”
“Negotiable.”
“Roman.”
“Fine.”
“And if this doesn't work?”
Roman's face grew serious.
“The house remains mine. Your independence remains yours. Nobody is trapped.”
Naen looked at him for a long time.
Then closed her fingers around the key.
“Okay.”
Roman exhaled.
“Okay?”
“Don't make me reconsider.”
He kissed her.
Softly.
Carefully.
Nothing like the violence that had brought them together.
When they separated, Naen smiled.
“You know what I was thinking that day?”
“What day?”
“The alley.”
Roman's expression changed.
“I was thinking you were the worst thing that could possibly happen to me.”
“Reasonable.”
“And then Kesler fired me.”
“Less reasonable.”
“And then people threatened my son.”
Roman's humor vanished.
Naen touched his hand.
“But somewhere in all of that, I learned something.”
“What?”
“Losing the life you're desperately trying to hold together isn't always the same thing as losing everything.”
Roman intertwined his fingers with hers.
“What did you gain?”
Naen looked toward the kitchen.
Then toward him.
“A choice.”
Roman nodded.
That was enough.
But one final piece remained unfinished.
May you like
And it involved the little boy who had quietly become the center of Roman's new world.
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