CHAPTER 66
The Service Corridor
The service corridor was narrower than Daniel remembered, though maybe memory had widened it to make room for fear.
Tonight it smelled faintly of polished wood, stone dust, and the citrus cleaner staff used after events. A row of old sconces cast warm pockets of light along one wall. On the other, a long mirror had been propped for installation, still wrapped at the edges in blue painter's tape.
Elise saw the mirror and stopped.
Daniel saw her see herself.
That was becoming a dangerous sequence.
In the mirror, she looked more vivid than she had in the bright charity rooms. Burgundy dress, dark hair, lips parted, wedding ring flashing when her hand rose to touch the hollow of her throat.
Daniel stood behind and to her left. Marcus remained near the doorway, visible in the reflection but not crowding it.
The image held all three of them with merciless clarity.
Elise whispered, 'This is familiar.'
Daniel's chest tightened. 'Yes.'
Marcus closed the service door halfway, not enough to seal them in, just enough to soften the remaining music from the hall. Then he stepped back where Daniel could see him in the mirror.
'Door stays open unless you tell me otherwise,' Marcus said.
Daniel nodded once.
Elise did not move. Her gaze remained on the reflection.
'Last time,' she said, 'I thought the danger was that he noticed me.'
Daniel looked at her in the mirror. 'And now?'
'Now I think the danger is that you let him.'
The words entered Daniel like a hand closing around the truth.
Marcus did not respond. He let husband and wife hold the sentence first.
Daniel moved closer behind Elise. He did not touch her yet. The distance between his body and hers became its own heat.
'That is what scared me too,' he said.
'Only scared you?'
He met her eyes in the glass. The answer cost him, which made it honest.
'No.'
Her breath left her slowly.
Marcus shifted his weight near the door. Daniel heard the faint sound of his suit jacket moving, and jealousy sparked before he even turned.
Elise saw the spark in the mirror. 'Daniel.'
'I know.'
'Report, not conclusion.'
He almost smiled. Their language had become strange and precious.
'I want to ask him something and I am afraid of wanting the answer.'
Marcus's gaze moved to Daniel in the reflection. 'You can ask. I may refuse to answer if it would not serve you.'
Daniel laughed softly despite himself. 'You are inconveniently ethical.'
'I am trying to remain invited.'
That line moved through the corridor and changed the air.
Daniel looked at Elise. 'Do you want him closer?'
Her eyelids lowered, then lifted. 'Yes.'
The simple answer struck him harder than any seduction could have. No flourish. No excuse. Just yes.
Daniel turned to Marcus. 'Closer. Not touching.'
Marcus approached slowly, stopping on Elise's other side, angled so Daniel could see his hands. The mirror held them: husband, wife, guard. A triangle made not of betrayal, but of stated distance.
Elise's breathing changed.
Daniel placed his hands on her waist from behind, claiming nothing from fear, only reminding her where home was.
Marcus watched Daniel's hands, then Elise's face. 'May I compliment her?'
Daniel swallowed. 'Ask her first.'
Marcus's voice lowered. 'Elise, may I tell you what I see?'
'Yes.'
He looked to Daniel.
Daniel felt the corridor tilt. 'Yes.'
Marcus's eyes returned to Elise in the mirror. 'You look like a woman who has spent years being loved safely and is only now learning she can also be wanted carefully.'
Elise made a small sound and leaned back into Daniel.
Daniel held her tighter, not to hide her reaction, but to survive it with her.
Marcus did not smile. He did not enjoy the power cheaply. He let the compliment do its work and then stepped back half a pace.
Daniel pressed his mouth near Elise's ear.
'Still with me?'
Her hand covered his at her waist.
'More than ever.'
In the mirror, Marcus lowered his eyes first.
Somehow that made the room hotter.