The door sticks for a second when I push it open. Warm air rolls out to meet me, carrying the smell of coffee and something sweet underneath it. The brick walls are close and familiar, the windows narrow enough that the outside world feels kept at a distance.
This morning, the place hums. Conversations overlap. Cups clink against saucers. The espresso machine hisses and sputters behind the counter, relentless and alive. It should be enough to pull me back into myself.
It isn’t.
I sit across from Delphine at our usual corner table, both hands wrapped around a mug I haven’t touched. The ceramic is hot against my palms, steady and solid, grounding in a way I need more than I want. My thoughts don’t slow to match the room.
“So,” Delphine says, studying me over the rim of her cup. “What’s going on? You’ve got that look.”
I lean back in my chair and let out a breath. “It’s Ridge.”
Her brows lift, interest sharpening. She leans forward, elbows on the table. “What about him?”
“He told me he loved me last night. Or very early this morning.”
Her eyebrows shoot up, mouth falling open. “Coco. That’s huge. Let me guess. Another clandestine love-fest in the bunker ends with a declaration of undying devotion?”
“Shh,” I hiss, eyes darting around the café. “No one is supposed to know about that.”
She snorts. “I promise you, if anyone overhears us, they’re not going to assume underground lairs and tortured romance. Why are you so jumpy? I thought you’d be floating.”
“I am,” I say quickly. “I’m thrilled. But it came with something else. One big thing.”
Her mouth curves. “Please tell me it’s not a lifetime vow of sexual servitude.”
“Stop.” I glare at her. “I’m serious.”
She sobers immediately. “Okay. What is it?”
“He didn’t call it an ultimatum,” I say, lowering my voice, “but it felt like one. He says he’s not going to sneak around with me anymore. He said if we’re going to do this, it will have to be in the open.”
Delphine’s expression tightens. She doesn’t rush to fill the silence, and I appreciate that more than I can say.
“It’s only been three weeks since everything,” I continue, glancing around even though no one is paying us any attention. “Three weeks, Del. That’s it.”
“If we’re being precise,” she says gently, “you’ve only been back home barely two weeks.”
“I know,” I snap, then soften. “I know. And somehow, in that time, I’ve fallen in love with him. Don’t ask me how.Or why. But I have. And I don’t know how to explain that to my father. I don’t know how to make him see Ridge as anything other than the man who took his daughter.”
Delphine tilts her head. “You think more time would help?”
“I do. If Ridge would just give it space to let things settle, I think my father might come around eventually. But Ridge doesn’t see it that way. He shut it down completely.”
Her fingers tap against her mug thoughtfully. “Coco, I need to ask you something. Are you sure about him? And I mean really sure.”
“Yes.” The answer comes fast. “I’m sure. That doesn’t mean this is a done deal. There are so many variable and roadblocks that the odds are against us working.”
She studies me for a beat. “You know who he is and what he does, right?”
“I do,” I say, frowning. “And it’s not that different from my father’s world.”
Delphine leans in, voice dropping. “You’ve always said you didn’t want to end up with someone like your father.”
“He’s not like my father.”
“Do you know he killed Alton and Colin Duvall?”
“I know the Duvalls killed his father. And I know he wasn’t going to let that go unanswered. That much I do know, and I don’t blame him.”
