Elena faces me, searching for something beneath the surface that I don’t want her to see. She doesn’t say anything for a long moment, then, with a note of certainty, she says, “I’m coming with you.”
At that, my brain just stops. Completely malfunctions.
“What?”
“I’m going with you,” she repeats, seemingly surprised by my disbelief.
My pulse speeds up at that, and my mind tries just as quickly to catch up. I’m bracing myself, but instead of danger, it’s hope that blooms in my chest.
“You don’t have to,” I say too fast to sound natural or easy. “No one’s forcing you. You don’t—”
“I know.”
“It’s not a test. You don’t have to prove anything to me,” I add, struggling to understand why she’s even still near me when she’s been granted her complete freedom.
“I know I don’t,” Elena says again, absolutely sure.
So I wait for the catch. For the moment when she tells me her own conditions, just as she had before. But even then, none come.
Instead, she crosses her arms more casually and lifts a brow at me. Her tone leaves her much lighter than before. “I could use this deal against you. I could make my demands and get my revenge.”
I release a breath. “Yeah, you could. I mostly expect you to.”
After a beat, she shrugs. “But I’m not going to.”
For as collected as I try to be, something in me cracks at those simple words.
Even though she has every right to, she isn’t running away.
“Roman’s terms still stand, obviously, but I’ll go with you,” she says, giving me far more grace than I surely deserve. “Consider me your built-in corrections officer…and besides, I want to see that dumb cat again.”
Despite myself, I chuckle. “He’s actually very intelligent for a stray.”
“Right,” Elena muses, smiling as she continues toward the passenger side. “Then we'd better go see if he’s hungry.”
Not trusting myself to say more, I nod once. My throat tightens around everything else I want to say to her, and I get in.
As much as I can’t bring myself to admit it, having her back in the car with me means more than she could ever know.
Even if it’s hard to stomach the truth of my sister’s situation, Elena’s presence is enough to ground me through it, and now, it doesn’t feel quite so impossible.
***
The days pass in a strange kind of way. Despite the subtle tension, it feels more gentle than it had before. It’s quiet and thoughtful, like we’re both figuring out how to navigate this more equal ground.
I keep my word as best as I can, even when it’s the last thing I want to do.
Elena comes and goes as she wishes, not contending with any locked doors or anyone trailing her. She meets with her brothers, goes out to see her friends, grabs what she wants from her own place, and leaves without asking permission.
It takes every ounce of willpower I possess not to say anything when she does. Not because I don’t want her to feel free, but because letting her out of my sight feels like inviting every possible disaster. Like I’m tempting fate, and the universe is reminding me how little control I have after all.
Anyone could take advantage of this situation, and anybody could take her.
The thought stirs something ugly in my gut, but I force it down again and again.
I don’t interfere. I don’t touch, I don’t question, and I don’t tighten any sort of leash on her, even when my head fills with pure paranoia.
If I were to cross that line now, I’d really lose everything. The newfound peace is fragile, just as the truce is precarious. It requires my restraint, and if I’m half the man I claim to be, then I can respect it.
