The bell above the bakery door gave a faint jingle as Elias pushed it closed, shutting out the hum of the city. Outside, night had begun to settle over the streets, the glow of the streetlamps spilling through the bakery's front windows. Inside, the air still carried the warm scent of sugar and cinnamon, the quiet broken only by the soft thud of Serena's heartbeat in her ears.
She was still in his arms. Neither of them seemed ready to move.
For the first time, there was no audience. No carefully crafted smiles, no hidden clauses dictating their closeness. Just the feel of his heartbeat under her palm and the steady warmth of his hand at her back.
Elias finally pulled back—not far, just enough to look into her eyes. "You're still trembling," he murmured.
"Maybe I should be," she said, her voice low. "But I'm not. Not from fear, anyway."
He studied her for a long moment, and for once there was no wall in his gaze—no calculation, no distance. Just a man who looked at her like she was something rare, something worth fighting for.
She stepped back reluctantly, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "You probably have an empire to get back to," she said, reaching for the keys to lock up.
"I do," he admitted. "But I'd rather be here."
It was such a simple statement, but the weight in his tone made her pause.
They left together, walking down the quiet street to his car. For the first time in months, the ride wasn't filled with strategy talk or updates about their "presentation" as a couple. Instead, the conversation was soft, almost ordinary—her telling him about a new pastry idea, him telling her about a restaurant he wanted to take her to.
When they reached the penthouse, Serena expected the silence to return, the polite distance they'd once kept in place. Instead, Elias poured her a glass of wine and asked, "So… what now?"
The question caught her off guard.
"We see what this looks like without deadlines or fine print," she said carefully.
He nodded, as though he'd been hoping for that answer. "Then we should expect it to be messy. Real things usually are."
Her lips curved faintly. "Messy, I can handle. Pretending was harder."
They shared dinner—simple, but together—and for a while, it felt almost like they'd been married for years. Still, beneath the comfort, Serena felt a faint unease. The press conference might have quieted the scandal for now, but she knew from experience that gossip had a way of resurfacing. And in Elias's world, enemies rarely stayed gone for long.
Later that night, when she lay in bed, she could hear him moving in the next room. There was no business call, no late-night meeting—just the soft sound of his footsteps. She realized with a start that she felt safer with him under the same roof than she had in months.
But safety wasn't the same as certainty. And somewhere deep down, Serena had the sinking feeling that their biggest battles were still ahead.