Chapter 171: Two Hands, One Future 2

Author’s POV

“Come on,” Micah gestured toward the table, his eyes dancing with excitement. “Sit down. I ordered us dinner already, and I have so much to show you.”

They sat down, the tension from minutes ago completely evaporating into a warm, intoxicating haze of joy.

As the waiters served vintage wine, roasted sea bass, and prime cuts of steak, Micah opened the leather portfolio on the table. Inside were glossy editorial magazines, international photography awards, and gallery invitations from Paris, Milan, and New York.

“I finished my degree in Florence,” Micah explained proudly, his eyes shining. “I opened my own commercial visual agency. I didn’t touch a single penny from that black card you gave me, Noah. I built this entire business from my own camera, my own sweat, and my own name.”

Noah looked at the credits printed on the high-fashion covers: Photographed by Micah Wilson.

A wave of profound, boundless pride swelled inside Noah’s chest. “I knew you could do it. I never doubted you for a second.”

“And what about you two?” Micah asked, leaning his chin on his hands, looking between them. “I saw the news, Noah. The Whitfield restoration. The international press calls you the untouchable titan of the private markets.”

Noah gave a modest, faint smirk. “I took back what belonged to my family. The vault in Greece had everything my father promised. The Whitfield estate has been completely rebuilt. The gardens, the main manor, everything is restored to the way it was before the fire.”

“And Damon?” Micah turned to him with a teasing grin. “Still getting into fights on the ice?”

“I retired from the league two years ago, sweetheart,” Damon grinned, winking across the table. “I took over Silver Holdings. We expanded our medical wings into twelve new regions, and I manage our private athletic sponsorships. I’m a respectable corporate executive now.”

“A respectable executive who still punches people in the ribs, I bet,” Micah chuckled.

They laughed, drank, and shared stories for two hours. The atmosphere was completely magical, the city lights reflecting in Micah’s eyes.

As the waiters cleared the dessert plates and left a bottle of champagne on ice, the mood at the table shifted.

The easy laughter slowed down.

Noah set his glass down on the white cloth. His face turned serious, his sharp blue eyes locking onto Micah with an intensity that made the air hum.

Noah reached into his inner jacket pocket.

He pulled out a small, square, black velvet box.

Damon froze. His eyes darted to the box in Noah’s hands, his jaw dropping in pure shock.

Noah didn’t pay attention to Damon. He placed the black box gently in front of Micah, flipping the lid open with a click of his thumb.

Sitting inside was a breathtaking platinum band embedded with a flawless, radiant-cut deep blue sapphire, surrounded by a halo of micro-diamonds. It was an ancient Whitfield family heirloom, polished and resized to perfection.

“Micah,” Noah spoke, his deep voice trembling slightly with an emotion he couldn’t hide. “I waited five years for you to find yourself. I gave you the space you asked for, and I watched you become an incredible, independent man. But I cannot spend another day of my life living in an empty house without you. Marry me. Come home to the Whitfield estate and be mine forever.”

Micah gasped, both hands flying to his mouth, his eyes wide with stunned emotion.

Before Micah could even process the words—

“Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” Damon roared.

Noah glared across the table. “Shut your mouth, Silver!”

“Not a chance in hell, Captain!” Damon barked.

Damon reached into his own tuxedo pocket, violently pulled out an identical deep navy velvet box, and slammed it down onto the linen table right next to Noah’s!

Damon snapped the lid open.

Resting on the white silk was a stunning, custom-forged band of rose gold, set with an exquisite, brilliant-cut emerald that sparkled under the terrace chandeliers.

Damon grabbed Micah’s right hand across the table, his dark eyes burning with fierce, desperate devotion.

“Don’t listen to this brooding psycho, Micah!” Damon pleaded, his heart completely exposed. “He’s going to lock you inside some ancient Greek fortress and glare at the clouds! Marry me instead! I will buy you any photography studio on earth! I will fly you wherever you want to go, I will build you a gallery in every capital city, and I will worship the ground you walk on for the rest of my days!”

“He is choosing me, Silver!” Noah growled, half-rising from his chair, his fists clenching as he glared across the centerpiece. “He took a bullet for me five years ago!”

“And I caught him before he hit the dirt!” Damon shot back, jumping up to meet Noah eye to eye. “I carried him through the hospital doors with his blood all over my skin! You think you’re the only one who loves him?!”

“I have loved him his entire life!” Noah snarled, stepping around the table.

“And I love him just as much, you stubborn bastard!” Damon yelled back, refusing to give an inch.

The two towering, powerful men stood inches apart, glaring at each other like two territorial predators ready to tear the rooftop down over the most precious treasure in the world.

“Choose, Micah!” Noah commanded, turning his head toward the table, his chest heaving. “Tell him who you want!”

“Yeah, Micah, choose!” Damon demanded, gesturing toward the two glowing velvet boxes. “Put an end to this right now! Which one of us are you taking?!”

Micah sat in his chair, watching them.

He looked at Noah, whose ruthless, terrifying arrogance had melted into the desperate hope of a boy waiting for his heart to be saved.

He looked at Damon, whose cocky, reckless pride was completely stripped away, leaving only pure, unyielding devotion.

These two men had bled for him. They had survived war for him. They had respected his freedom and waited five agonizing years in the dark without a single complaint just so he could learn to stand on his own feet.

A quiet, breathless chuckle escaped Micah’s throat.

Then he began to laugh.

He laughed until his shoulders shook, the sound sweet, light, and ringing across the windy terrace.

Noah and Damon both blinked, bewildered by his reaction.

“What’s so funny?” Damon muttered, looking between Noah and Micah.

Micah slowly stood up from his chair.

He walked around the table, stopping directly between both men.

He looked at Noah’s platinum sapphire ring, then at Damon’s rose-gold emerald ring.

Micah raised both of his arms, extending his left hand toward Noah and his right hand toward Damon.

A breathtaking, impossibly confident, and wonderfully wicked smirk curved across Micah Wilson’s lips.

“Why on earth would I have to pick,” Micah whispered, his dark eyes sparkling with infinite warmth, “when I have two hands?”

Silence fell over the terrace.

Noah stared at Micah’s outstretched left hand.

Damon stared at Micah’s outstretched right hand.

A slow, stunned disbelief registered on Damon’s face, followed immediately by a loud, astonished bark of laughter that echoed into the night.

“You magnificent little menace,” Damon laughed, shaking his head in absolute surrender.

Damon didn’t hesitate. He grabbed the rose-gold emerald ring from the table, took Micah’s right hand, and smoothly slid the band onto his ring finger, pressing a lingering, fiery kiss against his knuckles.

Noah stood motionless for a second longer, his cold mask cracking until a genuine, radiant smile broke across his pale face.

Noah reached down, picked up the platinum sapphire band, and took Micah’s left hand. He slid the ring onto Micah’s finger, his thumb gently caressing his skin before pulling Micah forward and pressing a deep, possessive, tender kiss right against his lips.

Micah melted into the kiss, wrapping his right arm around Damon’s neck to pull him into the embrace as well.

The city lights sparkled sixty floors below them, the cool breeze carrying away the last ghosts of their shattered past. The syndicate was dead, the chains were broken, and their names were finally written in gold.

They were whole. They were free.

And together, they had everything.

THE END

Thank y’all for reading this book till the last chapter.( ◜‿◝ )♡

Let’s start the new one together.