It’s not a kiss of passion. It’s not the frantic, drug-induced kiss of the handcuffs. It is a soft, deliberate press of her lips against mine. A seal. An acceptance.
She tastes of tears and survival.
I kiss her back, gentle for once.
"I will always save you," I vow against her mouth. "Even from myself."
I scoop her up into my arms. She wraps her legs around my waist, burying her face in my neck. She feels heavy, solid, alive.
I carry her out of the office, stepping over the corpses of the men who tried to take her.
I walk through the dark hallway, my boots crunching on broken glass.
The Estate is ruined. My security is shattered. Nikolai Sokolov has declared open war.
But as I descend into the darkness of the bunker, holding my wife against my chest, I feel a strange, terrifying peace.
She knows.
The secret is out.
And she didn't run.
She squeezed the trigger.
The girl I watched from the shadows is gone. The woman in my arms is something new. Something forged in violence and tempered by truth.
She is finally, truly, Mrs. Vane.
And God help anyone who tries to take her from me now.
CHAPTER 19
CONCRETE AND BLOOD
POV: IVY
The world narrows down to the sound of a steel door sealing shut.
Clang. Hiss. Thud.
The sound is heavy, final. It vibrates through the soles of my feet, traveling up my legs and settling in the pit of my stomach. It is the sound of a tomb being sealed.
We are underground.
I don't know how deep. The elevator ride felt like it took forever, descending into the bowels of the earth beneath the Estate. The air down here is different. Recycled. Cool. It smells of ozone and concrete, sterile and devoid of life.
Silas sets me down.
My legs give out immediately.
I don't faint, but my knees simply refuse to hold my weight. I slide down against the cold metal wall, pulling my knees to my chest.
I look at my hands.
They are shaking so violently they look blurred. There is a smear of dark crimson on my right palm. It’s dried now, flaky and brown at the edges.
It’s not my blood.
