Mara left the office at six.She told Gray she had errands to run who jn turn nodded without looking up from his laptop. She grabbed her bag, checked her phone, and walked out. The door clicked shut behind her.She made it two blocks.The street was busy with evening foot traffic. People leaving offices, cars idling at intersections, a food cart on the corner sending the smell of grilled meat into the cooling air. Mara walked quickly, her bag over one shoulder, her phone in her hand. She was composing a message she kept deleting and restarting.She had decided tonight she was going to tell Gray everything. No more "after." No more waiting for the right moment. The election was over and Alistair was in custody. There was no reason left to hold it.She was three sentences into the message when a black car pulled to the curb beside her.The rear door opened and two huge men rushed out.One of them took her bag. The other took her arm. She didn't scream. She opened her mouth and the first

Gray finally told her in the car.Not in any way he'd planned. Daniel was pulling onto the highway toward Nine Seas District and Selina was scrolling through messages on her phone when he said it."I want to ask your grandfather for his blessing."Selina's thumb stopped mid-scroll. She looked at him. Then she looked at him longer, like she was checking whether he'd said what she thought he said."Today? Tell me you're joking" she said."Right now."She put her phone in her lap. Her lips pressed together, but the corners were pulling, fighting something she couldn't keep down. She turned toward the window."Well then" she said. Quiet. Almost nothing to it.But her reflection in the glass was smiling so hard her eyes were nearly shut.Everett Tower caught the late afternoon sun across its top floors. The lobby was the way Gray remembered it from that first visit. Marble floors. High ceilings. Security that recognized Selina before she reached the desk.They took the private elevator. Se

The first branch of DavGro Market looked the same as the day Gray had opened it. The same layout, same hand-painted sign above the entrance that Lily had insisted on keeping even after they could afford a real one. The parking lot was full. A Tuesday morning and the parking lot was full.Gray stood outside for a moment before going in. Daniel was parked at the curb. Mara was already inside handling something with the inventory system. She'd arrived thirty minutes early. She always did now, like punctuality was a form of penance.He pushed through the front doors.The store smelled like fresh produce and floor cleaner and the cheap air freshener Ben kept plugged in near register three because he said it "set the tone." Gray's favorite smell in any building he'd ever walked into.Staff were scattered across the floor. Rowan restocking dairy. Two new hires whose names Gray had barely memorized last week sorting returns near the back. A few cashiers chatting between customers at the front

Gray's hands were steady until the tie.He stood in the groom's suite at the venue, a converted estate house twenty minutes outside the city with high ceilings and tall windows and gardens that Selina had picked after a single visit. The room was small with wooden floors and a full-length mirror he was trying not to look at. His navy suit jacket hung on a rack behind him. The shirt was white and already buttoned and he'd gotten through every step without a problem until the tie.His fingers wouldn't cooperate. He looped it, pulled, looped again. Wrong knot. Too short. He undid it and started over.A knock on the door that opened before he answered.Ben walked in wearing a charcoal suit that fit him better than anything Gray had ever seen him in. His hair was combed. His shoes were polished. He looked like a man who had spent two hours getting ready and would never admit it."You look like you're defusing a bomb," Ben said."It's this damn tie," Gray said.Ben crossed the room, took t