Chapter 17
The Ring In Her Palm
Noah's phone was found in a hospital bathroom two miles from campus.
Elena listened to Mara's report without sitting down. If she sat, she would break in a way the room could use.
Grant called twelve minutes later.
"He's safe," Grant said. "For now."
Adrian reached for the phone. Elena stepped away.
His eyes flashed, but he let her keep the call.
"What do you want?"
"A conversation. No security. No Adrian. You and me, Elena. You always were the practical one."
"If you hurt him-"
"I won't. I need your vote, not your grief."
The line went dead.
Mara began listing tactical options. Adrian began rejecting them. Elena heard both from a distance. Her mind had narrowed to a hallway, a meeting point, the exact number of minutes it would take to get there.
"No," Adrian said.
She looked at him.
"You don't know what I was about to say."
"You were about to go alone."
"He's my brother."
"And you are my wife."
The words landed badly.
He knew it at once.
Elena's face must have changed because he closed his eyes for half a second and breathed through pain that was not physical.
"That came out wrong."
"It came out honest."
"No. It came out afraid."
That stopped her.
Adrian removed his wedding ring. His hands were steady. Too steady.
He placed it in her palm and folded her fingers over it, then released her before the touch could become a claim.
"Take proof you are not alone," he said.
Elena looked at the ring, heavy and warm from his hand.
"And if Grant asks why I have it?"
Adrian's voice went very quiet.
"Tell him I gave you something he cannot forge."