Chapter 19 - THE LAST TEST
Victor Sanz sent the invitation on a Tuesday.
One sheet of paper.
No envelope.
Delivered by a child on a bicycle outside one of Elias’s construction offices.
MIDNIGHT.
OLD NAVY PIER WAREHOUSE.
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT THIS TO END.
Salvatore read it.
“Burn it.”
Gabriel said, “Trap.”
Elias agreed with both.
Then Maeve entered the study.
She had returned to the estate more often during the previous week.
Not permanently.
Not yet.
She saw the paper.
“What is that?”
“Nothing.”
Maeve looked at Elias.
“Your ring is turning.”
He stopped his hand.
Salvatore almost laughed.
Gabriel handed her the note.
Elias glared at him.
Gabriel shrugged.
“She was going to find out.”
Maeve read it.
“No.”
Elias’s eyebrow lifted.
“No?”
“You are not going alone.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“Good.”
“I was planning to bring Gabriel.”
“Better.”
“And thirty men positioned nearby.”
Maeve handed back the note.
“Even better.”
Elias studied her.
“You thought I was going to prove something?”
“Yes.”
“By walking into a trap?”
“That sounds exactly like something men with thrones do.”
Salvatore coughed to hide a laugh.
Elias pointed toward the door.
“You both can leave.”
Salvatore and Gabriel obeyed with suspicious speed.
Maeve folded her arms.
“What?”
Elias stood.
“You think I have learned nothing.”
“I think you learn slowly.”
“That is unfair.”
“You faked paralysis for months.”
“Six weeks.”
“Oh, that makes it reasonable.”
Elias stepped closer.
Maeve did not move.
He looked at her shoulder.
The wound had healed.
The scar had not.
Every time he saw it, guilt returned.
Maeve noticed where he was looking.
“Stop.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You don’t have to.”
She touched the scar.
“This was Sienna’s choice.”
“Victor’s plan.”
“My decision.”
Her fingers dropped.
“You do not own every bad thing that happens around you.”
Elias looked at her.
“You taught me that.”
“I said you were responsible for your decisions.”
“Yes.”
“Not everyone else’s.”
Silence.
Maeve’s expression softened.
“This is your final test.”
Elias almost smiled.
“My test?”
“Yes.”
“Can you solve something without manipulating the person you care about?”
He looked at her.
“And who is that?”
Maeve’s heart accelerated.
She knew what he was doing.
“No.”
“No?”
“You don’t get to turn my lesson into a romantic question.”
“I was trying.”
“Badly.”
Elias smiled.
Then became serious.
“I love you.”
Maeve froze.
There was no wheelchair.
No false identity.
No wedding audience.
No bargain.
No one else in the room.
The words existed without leverage.
Maeve looked at him for a long time.
“I know.”
His expression changed.
“That is not traditionally the answer.”
“I’m aware.”
“Do you intend to torture me?”
“A little.”
“Good.”
She stepped closer.
“I love parts of you.”
Elias waited.
“I’m angry at other parts.”
“Reasonable.”
“I don’t trust all of you yet.”
His face tightened.
“I know.”
“But I want to.”
That was enough.
More than enough.
Elias touched her cheek.
Slowly.
Giving her time to move away.
She did not.
Their first real kiss was nothing like the wedding.
No borrowed pearls.
No false name.
No witnesses.
Maeve’s hand rested against his chest.
Elias held her as if he finally understood that holding something was not the same as owning it.
When they separated, Maeve whispered, “Still going to the warehouse?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’m coming.”
“No.”
She stepped away.
“And there he is.”
“Maeve.”
“You cannot tell me you love me and then lock me upstairs.”
“I absolutely can.”
“You absolutely cannot.”
They stared at each other.
Elias sighed.
“Armored vehicle.”
“Fine.”
“You stay with Gabriel.”
“Fine.”
“You follow instructions.”
Maeve smiled.
“We’ll see.”
Elias looked toward the ceiling.
“There must have been easier women.”
“You had one.”
He looked at her.
Maeve raised an eyebrow.
“You tested her.”
Elias laughed.
May you like
And for the first time, the last test did not belong to Maeve.
It belonged to him.
