The sun had long set, and the house was wrapped in that soft, golden calm only a home full of love could hold. Mina was in the living room, curled up with Ellie on her lap, reading softly from a picture book. Ellie giggled at every page like it was the funniest thing in existence. Mina's voice was gentle, the lamp beside her casting a warm halo over her hair.
Aaron stood in the hallway, just out of sight.
He had faced gunfire without flinching. Walked into enemy territory without a heartbeat of hesitation. Pulled a trigger on a man who once ruled the city — and his hand had never shaken.
But right now, as he watched Mina laugh with their daughter, something terrifying lodged itself in his chest.
A ring weighed heavy in his pocket.
He hadn't even taken it out yet — hadn't breathed a word — but it felt like it was burning a hole through his coat, straight into his heartbeat.
What if she says no?
The thought came uninvited, but once planted, it rooted deep. He gripped the doorframe, staring at the small, ordinary moment between the only two people who had ever mattered to him.
He remembered the nights she told him she was afraid of cages. The mornings she stood on the porch, hesitant to cross into his world. The times she looked at him — not with fear, but with something worse — with doubt.
What if she still doubted him?
Mina glanced up then, catching his silhouette in the hallway. Her eyes softened the moment she saw him.
"Aaron," she called softly, smiling. "You're just standing there. Are you going to join us or keep lurking like a spy?"
He tried to smile. It came out tight.
Ellie squealed when he approached, reaching out her tiny arms like he was the entire world. He lifted her easily, pressing a kiss to her forehead, his eyes never leaving Mina.
She looked at him like home.
And still — fear curled in his chest like smoke.
He sat beside her, close but quiet. Mina leaned her head against his shoulder without thinking, like her body had already accepted him long before her words ever could. That small, unconscious act nearly broke him.
She didn't know yet.
She didn't know that the man who once claimed her like a storm was now terrified of one word from her lips.
Yes would save him.
No would destroy him.
And Aaron Vetercio — the man who had conquered empires — found himself afraid for the very first time.