Chapter 14 - The Promise
Vera showed the note to Nikolai.
He had not written it.
Anton recognized the handwriting.
Daniel’s.
Vera confronted her father.
Daniel admitted everything.
Twenty-two years earlier, after Bellweather, Anton had made him a promise.
If Daniel died, Anton would protect Vera.
If Anton died, Daniel would protect Nikolai.
Neither expected their children to fall in love.
Vera stared.
“That’s the secret?”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
The promise contained another clause.
Ownership of Bellweather’s land had been placed into a trust.
Half belonged to Vera.
Half to Nikolai.
Their fathers had quietly preserved it as restitution.
Vera laughed.
“So we already own the town.”
“Technically.”
Nikolai looked at her.
“You wanted to buy something you already own.”
“Please don’t enjoy this.”
“I’m trying not to.”
There was more.
Greenhouse Nine itself belonged to Vera.
Anton had transferred it to Daniel years ago.
Daniel had transferred it to her.
“You’ve been paying me to maintain my own greenhouse?”
Vera asked.
Nikolai considered this.
“Apparently.”
She laughed until she cried.
For the first time in months, the tears were not from fear.
That evening, they gathered for dinner.
Anton and Elena sat together, though cautiously.
Daniel sat beside Margaret.
Elias joined by secure video from the facility where he awaited sentencing.
His attorneys expected a reduced sentence because of his cooperation.
For once, everyone was alive.
Nobody was hiding.
Nobody was pretending to be dead.
Vera raised her glass.
“To radical honesty.”
Nikolai looked uncomfortable.
“That sounds dangerous.”
“Especially for you.”
After dinner, she went to Greenhouse Nine.
Midnight.
Nikolai waited among the roses.
No guards.
No weapons visible.
No expensive coat.
Just Nikolai.
“What is this?”
He handed her the satellite phone.
She groaned.
“You’re proposing with a tracking device?”
“No.”
He took it back.
“I wanted to tell you I removed the tracking software.”
She blinked.
“You did?”
“Yes.”
“Voluntarily?”
“It was physically painful.”
She smiled.
He became serious.
“I spent my life believing protection meant control.”
Vera listened.
“You taught me that keeping someone safe cannot mean taking away their choices.”
“Nikolai…”
“I love you.”
No drama.
No demand.
No expectation.
“I love you too.”
He kissed her.
Then reached into his pocket.
This time there was a ring.
Vera’s eyes widened.
He did not kneel immediately.
“Before I ask, I want you to understand something.”
“What?”
“If you say no, nothing changes. Your home remains yours. Your work remains yours. Greenhouse Nine remains yours. I remain irritatingly in love with you.”
She laughed through tears.
“Good clarification.”
Then he knelt.
“Vera Sullivan, will you marry me?”
She looked down at the most feared man she had ever known.
The man who once tried to force a tracking phone into her hands.
The man who waited in a dark kitchen at two in the morning because she was late.
The man who had learned, slowly and painfully, that love was not possession.
“Yes.”
For perhaps the first time in his adult life, Nikolai Voss looked completely stunned.
“You could look happier,” she teased.
He stood and kissed her.
“I am attempting not to frighten the roses.”
Her phone rang.
Vera groaned.
“No.”
Nikolai looked at the screen.
Unknown number.
Every instinct returned.
Vera answered.
“Hello?”
A woman spoke.
“Vera Sullivan?”
“Yes.”
“This is Dr. Reeves from St. Matthew’s Hospital.”
Vera’s smile vanished.
“What happened?”
“It’s your brother.”
Nikolai took her hand.
The doctor continued.
“Elias collapsed approximately twenty minutes ago.”
Vera stopped breathing.
“Why?”
“We found something during his examination.”
“What?”
The doctor hesitated.
“It appears someone implanted a device beneath his skin years ago.”
Vera tightened her grip on Nikolai.
“What kind of device?”
“We don’t know yet.”
A second voice sounded in the background.
May you like
Then the doctor whispered:
“Oh my God. It just activated.”
