“We aren’t giving him the necklace. He’ll tell us who you are, and Nathan believes that will trigger your memories. We’ll locate the necklace, return it to the British government, and this will be over.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
“Being in control is always easier than sitting and waiting. But this is your decision, Ella. I’m not forcing you, nor will I ever force you, to do anything. So: do we play it safe and go back to the castle? Or do we make a public statement starting with this party?”
“There is no choice here,” I say.
“There is always a choice.”
“No. There isn’t. I can’t hide in a castle tower like Rapunzel and expect this to go away. And even if I could, anyone close to me could get hurt if I try and fail. I have to do this. I need to make me the target, not someone else.”
“We’re not on the same page here, Ella, if you think I’m trying to make you a target. You already are one. We’re going to get the bull’s-eye off of you.”
“I want the bull’s-eye off everyone else. I can’t live with putting anyone else in danger. But you should have talked to me about this the minute you considered taking me to the party!”
“I didn’t want Niccolo to have time to get inside your head and control you before we could even get here.”
“So you did, instead?”
“I knew you’d get to a yes eventually, so why give you more hours to worry, when all you do right now is worry?” He doesn’t wait for a reply. “Do you trust me?”
“I did.”
“Do you trust me?”
“Maybe I shouldn’t.”
“Ella—”
I sigh. “Yes. Beyond obvious reason right now, I do, and you clearly believe this is the right decision.”
“I do. I absolutely believe this is a path to the freedom and the answers we both crave.”
“And if Niccolo’s people try to grab me?”
“Once we make a public showing, with you wearing that bracelet, there are politics in play. You don’t touch The Hawk’s woman. If he does every division of The Underground, every hacker, every ex-mercenary, everyone who is anyone, will be his enemies, and believe me, Ella, no one, especially Niccolo, wants that. This makes you safer than you’ve ever been. The only reason I haven’t done it before is that it means you aren’t just with me. You’re with
The Underground.”
“You are The Underground,” I say, thinking of what Marabella had revealed about Elizabeth today. “And why would you even want me by your side if I couldn’t accept that and all that comes with it?”
His eyes glint. “I wouldn’t,” he says firmly. “And if I hadn’t made that decision before now, I wouldn’t have given you that bracelet to wear. But even more, I wouldn’t have asked you to keep it and put it on again by choice, not necessity.”
No part of me questions that I belong with him, and my father’s advice about actions meaning more than words has never rung more true. I reach down and unhook the bracelet, catching it in my hand. “Now I’ll put it back on, by choice,” I say, my hand trembling with the swell of emotions I feel for this man, the clasp refusing the connection.
Kayden’s hand closes over the bracelet and my wrist. “Until you know everything—”
“My father said to look in a man’s eyes, and watch his actions, and you will know the true person. I have looked. I have watched. I know you. I know I want to stay with you.”
“You don’t know the things I’ve done. You can’t know my actions or my reactions.”
“I know all I need to know. Please, help me put it back on.”
He stares at me, those pale blue eyes glinting a deeper blue, the air between us thickening before he leans in and cups my head for a deep, passionate kiss that’s over too soon. When it is, he stares at me another few beats, searching my face for something I hope he finds. “I’m not going anywhere,” I whisper.
“You’re right. You’re not.” He reaches down and fastens the bracelet, and then does the most remarkable thing. He connects our palms, flattening The Hawk on his wrist against the one on mine, and in that moment there is understanding between us; there is commitment. There is a certainty that no matter what the future holds, no matter what the past reveals, we have decided we’re in it together.
“There are many reasons I want this night to be over, starting with all the things I want to say and do to you,” he says.