“You got workers at your place already?”
Kol nodded, already thinking ahead.“Work crews are there now.Structural, perimeter, in particular, the dock, and getting some more security systems are in place.It'll take a few more days, then they'll leave, and after that, like I said, I’m turning it into a fucking living fortress.”
The air shifted—half humor, half recognition.Whatever he was building in the Keys wasn’t just a home.It was a promise.
By the time the discussion wrapped up, the house had settled into a deceptive calm.
“We might come visit soon,” Luca said, his arm wrapped around Mara.“Mara is going to miss Eliza, and I think some time away from Chicago might just be what the doctor ordered.”
Kol thought about that for a moment, then nodded.“Sounds good.”Eliza liked Mara, and he figured she would need a friend to talk to.
They would all move on soon—just not yet.
Nikolai headed upstairs.
Eliza was already in the bedroom, folding clothes with methodical precision.The sight of her—safe, steady, alive—still hit him in the chest every time.He dropped his bag by the door and began packing in silence.
Too much silence.
He felt it the moment it settled between them.
She paused, then glanced over her shoulder.“You okay?”
He stared at the open suitcase, the clothes he’d brought for a future he’d assumed.Because somewhere between surviving and falling in love, he had broken one of the most important promises he’d made to her.He had decided for her.
He’d assumed she would come with him to Florida.That she would help him turn the place into the fortress he envisioned and live with him there.That she would simply ...follow.
And in doing so, he had taken something from her he had sworn he never would.
Her choice.
He said nothing.
That was a mistake.
She straightened abruptly, hands lifting in a gesture of frustrated surrender.“Okay, no.You don’t get to go silent on me.What is wrong?”
He looked up.
The color drained from her face.
“Oh,” she said softly.“Oh, shit.You don’t ...you don’t want me anymore.”
“What?”
Her words came faster, tangled with fear.“I assumed I was coming with you.To Florida.I thought that was ...that I was welcome.But now I think I just assumed, and you weren’t actually thinking that, and I—I can go to Chicago.I can start over there, or wherever—”
He crossed the room in two strides.
“Stop.”
He caught her before she could step back, lifted her cleanly off the floor without effort, and carried her to the wide armchair in the corner.He sat and pulled her onto his lap, holding her there until she stilled.
“Eliza,” he said, low and certain.“I want you with me.”
She blinked.
“I want you in Florida,Lvitsa.With me.I want you helping me build that place into something no one can ever take from us again.”His hands tightened at her waist.“But I didn’t give you the choice.And that matters.”