I was halfway to the chair when he moved.
"Elaine."
I stopped because my body did it before my brain could argue. I didn't turn back right away. I needed a second to steady myself, to make sure my voice wouldn't crack when I spoke again.
"What," I said.
Zane didn't answer immediately. I heard the soft scrape of wood, the unmistakable sound of a drawer opening. When I finally looked back, he was holding a stack of papers, thicker than anything I'd expected. He set them down on the desk between us, squared the edges with his palm, then slid them toward me.
"This is the agreement," he said. "Between our families. Between us."
I stared at the papers.
Not him. Not yet.
Slowly, I lowered myself into the chair.
The title alone made my stomach tighten. Legal language. Family names printed in bold. Too official.
"This isn't just… us," I said.
"No," he replied. "It never really was."
