Page 106 of Veiled

My bedroom is empty, but sitting in the center of my bed are two identical white boxes, each crowned with a sparkly silver bow.

What in the world? I slowly lift the first lid, and lose the ability to breathe entirely.

Inside lies the most breathtaking dress I have ever seen. Black satin gleams like spilled ink. A Sweetheart neckline sculpted to perfection. A daringly high slit that promises danger and elegance all at once. Designer. Exquisite. Expensive.

I lift it carefully, reverently… like it might dissolve if the breeze blows the wrong way.

“Welcome home, Ana.” Aiden's voice cuts through my admiration.

I spin, still clutching the dress to my chest. He’s standing in the bathroom doorway, his devastating, million-dollar grin aimed entirely at me.

“What is this?”

He chuckles. “A dress?”

“Aiden,” I breathe, “why is there a very beautiful, very, very expensive dress on my bed?”

“There’s a very expensive dress on our bed,” he corrects softly, stepping toward me, “because I’m hoping you’ll go as my date to my track gala next week. And when I saw this—” his eyes roam over the gown like he’s already imagining it on my body, “I just knew. It was the only one worthy of you.”

My heart squeezes. “I can’t wear this. You have to return it. It costs too much.”

He closes the distance in two strides, sliding his hands around my waist, pulling me, and the gown, against him.

“I have the money,” he murmurs, lips brushing my hair. “And there is nothing, absolutely nothing, I would rather spend it on than you.”

“Aiden.”

“Sweetheart,” he whispers, tilting my chin up, “the only way this dress goes back is if you don’t like it. Do you like it?”

I swallow hard. “I love it.”

The smile breaking across his face is pure, unfiltered joy, so beautiful it hurts to look at.

“Good,” he says, voice filled with satisfaction. “Now open the other box. Make sure they’re worthy of my wife, too.”

“Aiden—”

“Ana,” he mock-warns, dragging out my name with a teasing growl that sends my pulse spiraling.

I lift the lid of the second box to find three smaller boxes inside, each open faced, and glittering up at me.

The first holds a pair of gold heels—strappy, shimmering, catching the sunlight like they were forged from it.

The second: a delicate chain of marquise-cut stones, a tennis necklace glinting even without much light.

The third: matching chandelier drop earrings, elegant and luminous.

My breath leaves me in a rush and tears fill my eyes. “Aiden—these are—”

His arms wind around me from behind, his lips brushing the shell of my ear. “Only a small fraction of what you deserve,” he finishes for me before gently taking the dress from my hands, just to toss it onto the bed like it’s nothing more than a discarded sweatshirt instead of a small fortune in satin.

“I hope you don’t mind, but Sasha’s already called dibs on helping you get ready.”

“Sasha already knows about all this?” I ask in surprise.

He winces, which on him looks stupidly adorable. “I may have forgotten to check your shoe size when I got your clothing sizes, and then I kinda panicked and second-guessed myself after I bought everything, so Matt checked it out to make sure it was something you’d love.”

I pull back just enough to stare at him. “Wait. You called Matt about fashion?”