"I’ll leave the two of you alone for a little bit," Jonathan says solemnly, going up to his feet and walking toward the door. "But don’t be late for the board meeting; I want the two of you there."

"Got it," I reply with a nod, and then turn my attention back toward Clarise as I hear the door closing.

"Please, tell me this isn’t a dream," she whispers, both her hands on my chest as she looks up into my eyes.

"This isn’t a dream," I tell her with a smile, feeling more happy than I’ve ever felt. Who knew that love could be this good? Despite how hard it was to get to this point, it was all well worth it.

"You’re staying now, aren’t you?" she asks me, biting down on her lip as she anticipates my answer.

"What do you think? Nothing in the world will ever make me walk away from you, Clarise. I won’t let that happen, not again." I press my forehead against hers and pause for a moment, just savoring the closeness of her body.

Running my fingers through her hair, I make her throw her head back and then I brush my lips against hers, that strawberry taste of hers driving me completely insane.

"When’s that meeting going to start?"

"In ten minutes," she laughs, tucking a lock of hair over one ear. "I don’t think we’ve got any time to take care of this bad boy," she continues, taking one hand to my crotch and squeezing my already hard cock.

"That’s a pity. I already miss how it feels to be inside of you…"

"Oh, the holy man seems to have developed a taste for women," she laughs again, the sound of her voice so bright that I just want to pull her into me and hold her tight.

"Not for women, Clarise… I’ve developed a taste for you," holding her close, my hands on her waist, I smile. "And I’m very proud of you."

"Proud? Of what?"

"Of the way you rose to the challenge… Earl really had us against the wall, you know? But you pulled through. You proved yourself, Clarise, and I think that your father saw that."

"Ah, my father…" she sighs. "He’s devastated. He really thought the world of Earl… I guess that he thought so highly of my brother that he was blind to his faults. In a sense, even I was… I mean, drug cartels? What the hell was going on inside our own house?"

"Just let it go… I know it’s hard, but there’s nothing like time to heal wounds like these. Look on the bright side; I’m here… I’m here with you."

"You are." She cracks a slight smile, looking into my eyes, and kisses me again. "Just promise me that you’ll never leave. I want to hear you promise it."

"I promise you. It doesn’t matter what happens in the future, I’ll never leave. Why would I? You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me."

"That makes two of us."

Pulling her close to me, she surrenders to my embrace. We remain like that for a long while, standing in silence in the middle of Jonathan’s office. When we finally break away from each other, I walk toward the floor-to-ceiling windows that line the outer wall of the office. I look out into the city, the New York skyscrapers rising high, and I place one arm against the window.

"I can’t believe I considered leaving."

"This is your home now, Connor," she whispers, walking up to me and hugging me from behind. "What are you going to do about the Order?"

"I’m going to leave the Order," I tell her. I hadn’t even thought about it, but now it just seems so clear. I’ve outgrown the Order of the Temple, and now it’s time for me to do my own thing. Maybe, if Jonathan wants me, I can remain as an adviser in his company. If not, it doesn’t matter, as long as Clarise is by my side, I know I’ll land on my two feet.

"You know… I think that my father would be proud of me," I say, looking out into the distance. Even though my father always supported me when I decided to follow in his footsteps, I think that, deep down, he didn’t want me to become like him. He wanted me to be my own man, to look for my place under the sun and carve something beautiful out of my life.

And now that I have Clarise, I think I’ve done just that.

"Of course he’d be proud of you… what father wouldn’t be proud of having a son like you?"

I remain in silence, just breathing in as I close my eyes. The sun is climbing up now, and its warmness is seeping through the window, bathing my face. Smiling to myself, I let all the events that brought me here replay inside my head.

The funeral, my first time with Clarise, the feeling of being on the verge of losing everything… It’s funny how life goes, isn’t it? It’s like a rollercoaster, full of ups and downs. You think you know what’s going to happen next, but there’s always a surprise waiting for you at the next bend.

"Shall we?" I finally ask Clarise, offering her my arm and pointing at the door.

"Of course," she smiles, taking my arm and pressing her body against mine. We walk out of the office arm-in-arm, a radiant smile on both of our faces. A few employees look toward us, a look of surprise and admiration on their faces, but I don’t even care.

The only thing I care about is the woman next to me.

And I swear to God, I’ll love and take care of her for the rest of my life, come hell or high water. I know I don’t have a good track record when it comes to keeping my vows, but don’t doubt me on this.

This is the one promise I won’t ever break.