The intense, violent firefight lasted for forty agonizing minutes before the heavy silence finally returned to the estate.

Norah sat curled in the corner of the dark closet, jumping at every muffled shout and final gunshot echoing from the lower floors.

Finally, a heavy, familiar hand pounded three times against the reinforced steel door of the closet.

"Norah, open the door," Enzo’s deep, gravelly voice called out from the other side.

Norah scrambled to her feet, her hands shaking so violently she could barely turn the heavy deadbolt.

She pushed the door open, her heart completely stopping when she saw the scene in the ruined master suite.

Enzo was supporting Vincent’s massive frame, helping him hobble across the room toward the blood-stained mattress.

Vincent’s white shirt was completely soaked in dark, crimson blood from a gunshot wound high on his left shoulder.

"He refused to let me take him to the underground hospital until he saw that you were safe," Enzo grunted, lowering the boss onto the bed.

Norah gasped, rushing forward and pressing her hands against the wound to try and slow the heavy bleeding.

"You need a doctor, Vincent, you are losing too much blood," Norah panicked, looking at his pale, sweating face.

"The doctor is on his way," Vincent rasped, wincing in pain as he looked up at her frantic expression.

"I told you I wasn't going to die tonight."

Enzo stepped out of the room to coordinate the cleanup of the estate, leaving the two of them alone in the ruined bedroom.

Norah grabbed a clean towel from the bathroom, pressing it firmly against his shoulder, tears finally spilling down her cheeks.

"You are a terrifying, reckless idiot," Norah sobbed, the adrenaline finally crashing completely out of her system.

Vincent reached up with his uninjured right arm, his bloodstained fingers gently wiping a tear from her cheek.

"I survived poison because of your garbage soup, I think I can survive a single bullet," Vincent joked weakly.

He let out a heavy sigh, the absolute exhaustion of the battle finally catching up to his battered body.

"When I was downstairs fighting those men, the only thing I could think about was getting back up those stairs to you," Vincent confessed quietly.

Norah looked at him, realizing that the cold, ruthless mafia boss had completely surrendered his heart to the girl who cleaned his floors.

"I am not just the cook anymore, am I?" Norah whispered, leaning down closer to his face.

Vincent smiled, a soft, incredibly warm expression that completely defied the violence surrounding them.

"You haven't been just the cook since the day you yelled at me for throwing away food," Vincent told her honestly.

He pulled her down by the back of the neck, kissing her softly, ignoring the pain in his shoulder entirely.

"You are my heart, Norah, the only thing keeping this monster human."

The estate doctor rushed into the room a moment later, carrying a heavy medical bag and breaking the intimate moment.

Norah stepped back to let the doctor work, refusing to leave the room, knowing exactly where she belonged for the rest of her life.