Chapter 101 – Recovery & Promise
Chapter 101 – Recovery & Promise
(Eden’s POV)
By the time we reached the penthouse after court, my bones felt hollow. Harper took my coat before I could shrug it off, fingers lingering at my shoulders like she was reassuring herself I was still here.
Levi headed straight for the kitchen, muttering about tea, which in his hands became a mission: kettle on, mugs lined like soldiers, honey and lemon ready. Luca was quieter than usual, his palm a measured weight at the small of my back as if to say I’m here without crowding me.
“I didn’t shake this time,” I said, surprised at the truth.
“You stood,” Harper said, chin lifting. “And you didn’t look away.”
“He tried to bait me.”
“Let him,” Levi said, pouring hot water. “He doesn’t know this version of you.”
“What version is that?” I asked.
Luca answered, “The one who walked in by choice.”
I wrapped my hands around the tea Levi set in front of me. The four of us orbited the kitchen quietly: clinks, breaths, a few soft jokes that didn’t try too hard.
Later, I wandered to the windows. The city stretched out, winter-bright. Luca came to my right; Levi leaned on my left. Harper hovered behind.
“You were thinking something,” Luca said.
“That he took a lot of time. But he doesn’t get to own what comes after.”
Levi’s jaw eased. “Say the word and we’ll build it.”
“He already tried to build it for me. I want a ceremony.”
“A wedding?” Harper blinked.
“Not legal,” I said. “Something ours. Something that says this is where the story turns.”
Silence stretched. Luca asked softly, “What does ‘ours’ look like?”
“Not a ballroom. No chandeliers. I can’t take too many eyes yet.”
“Then no eyes but ours,” Levi said. “We pick a place with a horizon.”
“A beach at sunrise,” I whispered.
Harper made a soft sound. “I’ll bring blankets and coffee.”
“You can officiate,” I told her.
“Me?”
“You were there when I remembered how to breathe,” I said.
Luca’s fingers brushed mine. “What do you want to say?”
“Not purity. Not ownership. I can’t promise I’ll never wake up afraid. I can promise to tell you when I am. To choose you when choosing is hard.”
Levi’s voice burned. “I promise to listen. To stand between you and anything that hurts, even me.”
“I promise to never make your strength a test,” Luca added. “To make joy non-negotiable.”
Harper swiped at her eyes. “You’re all going to destroy me.”
We started planning right there—Harper listing blankets, thermoses, lanterns. “Rings?”
“Braided ribbon,” I said. “Something we knot together.”
Levi grinned. “I’ll rip up a shirt.”
“Use linen,” Harper groaned.
We laughed, and for once it wasn’t armor.
That evening, I found Luca on the balcony, wrapped in a blanket. He gestured me in without a word. The city glowed beneath us.
“I’m afraid I’ll forget,” I admitted. “The small things. What your hands feel like when you fall asleep first.”
“You can forget,” Luca said. “We’ll remind you. That’s what a life is.”
“I’m not ready to say the words back,” I whispered. “But I feel them, closer every day.”
He pressed his mouth to my hair. “We can wait.”
Levi joined us, draping another blanket over all three of us. “Harper wants the ceremony the day after tomorrow.”
“Day after tomorrow,” I repeated. “Sunrise.”
Inside, my phone buzzed with court reminders. The world would press in again soon. But for now, there was morning waiting for us.
A ribbon knotted by our hands.
A promise that didn’t erase what came before—only honored what came after.
He took months.
He doesn’t get forever.