The private elevator to the Daki penthouse ascended with a hushed, mechanical sigh, a world away from the roaring, music-filled cars of their past. The silence between Kenji Araki and Suzume was a comfortable, living thing, woven from a year of shared mornings and quiet understandings.
A year ago, it might have been charged with games and unspoken tensions. Now, it was simply peaceful. Suzume rested her head against the fine wool of Kenji's coat, her left hand splayed over the gentle, firm swell of her stomach. On her ring finger, a stunning, deep emerald cut emerald set in flawless platinum caught and refracted the elevator's soft lighting, a tiny, brilliant green star in the dim space.
"Nervous?" Kenji's voice was a low murmur, barely disturbing the quiet.
Suzume smiled without opening her eyes. "To see them? Or to subject our child to Reomen' idea of lullabies about market volatility?"
