Chapter 23
The Real Vow
"I want you to stay," Adrian said.
Elena had thought the words would make the room smaller.
They made it honest.
"Because you need me?"
"No."
"Because I can vote?"
"No."
"Because your family will look worse if I leave?"
"Elena."
He said her name like he had in the chapel, waking from death into a marriage he had not chosen. Only now he was fully awake. So was she.
"Because when everyone in that chapel treated you like a document, you looked at me like a person," he said. "Because you touched my hand when you could have pulled away. Because you keep choosing the difficult thing even when no one would blame you for leaving. Because I want you here, and I hate that wanting it gives me no right to ask."
Elena's throat tightened.
She kissed him first.
It was not careful. It was not strategic. It was a choice made after too many rooms where choice had been stolen from her and too many moments where Adrian had refused to steal more.
He went still for half a breath.
Then his hand came to her jaw, gentle, asking even after she had answered.
The kiss changed on that question.
Elena pulled back before it could become a way to avoid speaking.
Adrian's eyes opened slowly.
"Was that an answer?" he asked.
"It was evidence."
For the first time since the chapel, he smiled.
Small. Unsteady. Real.
Elena touched the ring on her thumb. "We need a real vow."
His smile disappeared.
Not from fear.
From understanding.
"Where?" he asked.
Elena looked toward the hallway that led to the private chapel.
Adrian went very still.