Chapter 10 - Naomi Faces Her Old Demons
That evening, after the mansion settled into quiet darkness, Naomi stood alone in the glass conservatory looking out at the moonlit lawn.
The old memory from Philadelphia crept back into her mind, uninvited and sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel.
She could still feel the weight of the seventeen-year-old girl shaking in her arms while police sirens wailed in the distance.
She could still smell the cordite and copper scent of blood on the hotel carpet that had ended her career in close protection.
A floorboard creaked near the conservatory entrance, breaking the silence before Ethan stepped into the moonlight.
“I just resigned from the board before they could vote me out,” Ethan said quietly, stopping a few feet away.
Naomi turned slowly, surprise flickering across her features for the first time since they met.
“You gave up your family empire for a housekeeper?” Naomi asked, her voice betraying a rare hint of disbelief.
May you like
“I didn't give it up for a housekeeper,” Ethan answered, stepping closer until she could see the fierce determination in his eyes.
“I gave it up because for the first time in my life, I met someone who couldn't be bought, bullied, or broken.”
