Chapter 29 #2
“If you hurt her,” she said evenly, “I will make it my personal mission to ruin your life.”
“Understood,” he replied.
“No, I don’t think you do,” she said. “I’m very resourceful.”
“I believe you,” he said.
Something in his tone—respect, not dismissal—shifted the energy again.
Harper noticed it, too.
Her arms dropped slowly from where they’d been crossed.
“Okay,” she said again, quieter this time. “Okay.”
Luca stepped forward, resting a hand lightly at her back.
“You’re doing the thing, babe,” he murmured.
“What thing?”
“The one where you decide whether to fight or support.”
She glanced at him.
Then back at me.
Then at Cassian.
And something clicked.
She exhaled slowly.
“I’m not going to fight this,” she said.
Relief hit me harder than I expected.
“But,” she added, pointing at me, “you’re not getting off easy. We are talking about what comes next.”
“I know.”
“And you,” she said, turning back to Cassian, “are not disappearing when things get complicated.”
“I don’t,” he said simply.
She narrowed her eyes. “Good.”
There was a beat.
Then, unexpectedly, she smiled.
“God, this is going to be interesting.”
It was later—after Harper had claimed a glass of wine, after Luca had settled into one of the easy chairs, after the tension had shifted into something almost … normal—that Cassian disappeared.
I didn’t notice at first.
Not until Harper was mid-sentence about potential PR angles and I realized the space behind me felt different.
Empty.
“Where’d he go?” she asked, glancing around.
“I don’t know,” I said.
That wasn’t entirely unusual. Cassian moved in and out of rooms without announcing himself. It was part of who he was.
Still, something about it felt … intentional.
Twenty minutes later, he returned.
Not alone.
My mother stepped in behind him.
I froze.
“Mom?”
She looked between us, a little uncertain, but smiling.
“I hope this is okay,” she said.
I stared at her. “What are you doing here?”
“I ran into him,” she said, nodding toward Cassian. “Well—he found me, actually.”
My gaze snapped to him.
“What did you do?” I asked.
“Arranged something,” he said.
That wasn’t an answer.
My mother stepped further into the room, her eyes taking everything in—Harper, Luca, me.
“He asked me to come,” she said gently. “Said it mattered.”
My chest tightened.
“Why?” I asked.
Cassian met my gaze.
“Because you chose me in front of everyone,” he said. “And I wanted to show you I choose your world, too.”
The room went very still.
Harper’s expression shifted first—surprise, then something softer.
Luca just watched, like he’d expected something like this.
I looked between them, then back at Cassian.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I said quietly.
“I know.”
“Then why—”
“Because it matters to you,” he said.
Simple.
Always that.
My mother stepped closer, touching my arm.
“He didn’t just invite me,” she added softly. “He asked me about you. About your work. About what you care about.”
I blinked.
“That must’ve been an interesting conversation,” I said.
“It was,” she said, smiling faintly. “And he listened.”
That landed.
Harder than anything else.
Cassian didn’t offer explanations. He didn’t defend himself.
He showed up.
For me.
For my world.
Even the parts that didn’t fit easily into his.
Harper cleared her throat.
“Well,” she said, “this is … unexpectedly impressive.”
“I try,” Cassian replied dryly.
She shot him a look. “Don’t ruin it.”
He didn’t respond.
I stepped closer to him, my hand finding his almost without thinking.
“You didn’t have to prove anything,” I said.
“I wasn’t proving,” he replied. “I was choosing.”
The same word.
Again.
And somehow, it meant even more this time.
My mother watched us, something unreadable in her expression.
Then she smiled.
“Good,” she said simply.
Later, after everyone had settled, after the conversation had shifted from shock to something warmer, something steadier, I stood in the courtyard with Cassian.
The fountain murmured softly between us.
“You ambushed me,” I said.
“Not intentionally.”
I raised an eyebrow.
He almost smiled.
“Maybe a little,” he admitted.
I huffed a quiet laugh.
“You brought my mother into this,” I said.
“You were already in it,” he replied.
Fair.
I leaned against the stone edge of the fountain, watching the water catch the fading light.
“This is what it looks like, isn’t it?” I said.
“What?”
“Not running,” I said. “Not hiding. Letting everything collide.”
He stepped closer.
“Yes.”
I glanced up at him.
“It’s messy.”
“Yes.”
“It could still fall apart.”
“Yes.”
I exhaled.
“But it’s real,” I said.
His gaze held mine.
“Yes.”
Silence settled between us.
Not empty.
Full.
I reached for him, my fingers brushing his wrist, then sliding into his hand.
“I don’t regret it,” I said.
“Neither do I.”
“And I’m not going back,” I added.
“I know.”
I smiled faintly.
“You always say that.”
“Because it’s always true.”
The light shifted, evening settling in around us.
Inside, I could hear Harper’s voice, my mother’s softer one, Luca’s quiet laugh.
My worlds.
Not separate anymore.
Not clean.
But mine.
I stepped into Cassian, pressing my mouth to his in a slow, deliberate kiss.
No urgency.
No fear.
Just certainty.
When I pulled back, his hand tightened slightly around mine.
“Whatever comes next,” I said, “we face it.”
“I know.”