Chapter 6 - This Time, He Asked
Six months passed.
Bennett Shipping survived.
Victor Russo’s organization didn’t.
My father pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges. He received a reduced sentence because he cooperated.
I visited him twice a month.
Forgiveness came slowly.
Not because he deserved it.
Because I wanted peace more than anger.
Aiden never pressured me.
That surprised everyone.
Especially me.
We had dinner.
Then another.
Then twenty more.
He showed me parts of Chicago I had never seen.
Not nightclubs.
Not private rooms.
A twenty-four-hour diner where Tommy claimed Aiden once lost fifty dollars betting he could eat six pancakes.
“Seven,” Aiden corrected.
“You lost?”
“I was betrayed by pancake density.”
I laughed so hard coffee came out my nose.
Aiden pretended not to notice.
By spring, people stopped calling me the runaway bride.
They started calling me the woman running Bennett Shipping.
I preferred that.
One Friday evening, Aiden asked me to meet him at Saint Michael’s.
I walked into the empty cathedral.
No guests.
No flowers.
No quartet.
No priest.
Aiden stood at the altar.
I stopped halfway down the aisle.
“You have a strange sense of humor.”
“I’ve been told.”
I approached him.
“What are we doing here?”
He held out something.
The old contract.
My forged signature stared back at me.
“What are you doing with that?”
Aiden tore it in half.
Then again.
Then again.
He dropped the pieces into a small metal tray.
“That contract changed both our lives.”
“You could have shredded it at the office.”
“I considered it.”
“And?”
“Tommy said this was more dramatic.”
“Tommy was right.”
Aiden smiled.
Then he reached into his pocket.
I stopped smiling.
“Aiden.”
“Relax.”
He produced a small velvet box.
My heart accelerated.
He didn’t open it.
Instead, he placed it on the altar between us.
“I’m not asking you anything tonight.”
I blinked.
“Then why bring that?”
“Because the first time you stood here, everyone had made decisions for you.”
He stepped back.
“So this time, you decide.”
I stared at the box.
“If you want to open it, open it.”
He continued.
“If you don’t, I’ll take you to dinner.”
“What if I throw it at you?”
“I’ll duck.”
I laughed.
Then I looked around the cathedral.
Six months earlier, this place had felt like a cage.
Now it was empty.
Quiet.
Mine.
I opened the box.
A ring.
Simple.
Elegant.
Aiden watched me.
“Now you can ask.”
For the first time since I’d known him, Aiden Sullivan looked nervous.
He came closer.
“Claire Bennett.”
“Yes?”
“Would you consider marrying me?”
I smiled.
“That’s terrible.”
His face fell.
“The proposal.”
“Oh.”
“You sound like you’re negotiating a parking lease.”
He exhaled.
“Can I try again?”
“Yes.”
He took my hand.
“Claire, will you marry me because you want to?”
May you like
I looked into his eyes.
“Yes.”
