Silence. Bea watched as he toiled at the final twist in silence, not interrupting.
When he finally spoke, it was slower. “My children would grow up without the structure that made me.”
“You’re a man of the UR,” she said. “No matter where we live, they’d still learn from you.”
His gaze held hers.
He exhaled through his nose, tension easing by a degree. Eventually, he leaned back slightly. “You’ve learned to negotiate.”
She suppressed a grin. “Nico told me you said it was all about leverage.”
“You’re asking me to build in a back door.”
“And you’re asking me to sign my name into yours,” she said softly.
He bent one knee and leaned his free arm on it. “I think the UR is the best place to raise children.”
He stopped there. Her pulse climbed into her throat.
“I still believe I’m right,” he said evenly. “But I’ll add what you asked for.”
Her lungs unlocked. He leaned forward and draped the chain over her collarbone, fastening the clasp behind her neck.
His green eyes bore into hers. “Ifwe ever leave, we leave together.”
“I’ll take that.”
He dragged a hand down his face. “Is that everything?”
Part of her was tempted to push her advantage, just to see how far it went. Instead, she nodded. “Yes.”
“You agree to those amendments?”
“I do.”
A slow smile touched his mouth. “Say it again,” he murmured. “I like that answer.”
Chapter Nine
Bea had let him hold her through the night. And the next.
By the time she returned to Northgate, the appointment reminder was already in her inbox.
And now a woman with a headset was gliding toward her with the confidence of a military strike. She had the kind of posture that made other people straighten, shamed by comparison. They sat at Rafael’s dining table.
“Miss Cruz, you’re sure you’re not pregnant?” Adriana asked, tone light but surgical.
Bea blinked. “That’s…quite an opener.”
Adriana smiled thinly. “I prefer to rule out variables before we talk timelines. Pregnancies complicate fittings.”
Rafael’s brow lifted; an entire paragraph of amusement in one expression.
“I’m not pregnant,” Bea said quickly, heat rising to her cheeks.
Adriana nodded briskly, already flipping to a new tab. “Good. Guest list of…?”
“Two hundred and eighty, give or take,” Rafael replied, as though it were nothing at all.
