Page 356 of Reign

“That eliminates nothing.”

I laugh and run my fingers through her hair.

“You don’t need to know every detail, Elena.”

She lifts her head again. “I grew up in this life. You keep forgetting that.”

“I never forget it.”

“You act like I’ve never heard the word cartel before.”

“I know exactly what you’ve heard.”

My hand closes gently beneath her chin.

She allows me to tilt her face toward mine.

“I don’t think you’re incapable of understanding this life. I know you can handle it.” My thumb moves across her cheek. “I also know you’ve already carried more of it than you ever should have.”

Her expression softens.

“You don’t need any more of it, princesa. You don’t deserve to spend your life wondering which man is at war with another or what every closed-door conversation might cost your family. You deserve to feel safe.”

“I do feel safe.”

The words sink into me.

Simple. Quiet. More valuable than anything else she could have given me.

“You do?”

“With you, I do.”

I hold her gaze, letting myself absorb it.

A woman who checks dark corners and sleeps with a nightlight, who watches every doorway when voices rise, who has spent most of her life being protected through secrets she was never permitted to understand feels safe with me.

I lower my head and kiss her forehead.

Elena goes still.

Then she sits up so suddenly that her hair falls across her face.

I prop myself on my elbows. “What’s wrong, princesa?”

“Nothing. I just…” She pushes her hair back and looks toward the water. “I understand what you mean.”

“About what?”

“Feeling safe.”

I wait.

There’s something different in her voice. Something fragile enough that reaching for it too quickly may send it retreating.

“I can’t remember the last time I actually felt safe before now,” she says.

I sit up fully.