Chapter 14: The Laugh That Gave Us Away

Aurelia's POV

I said yes to Thursday. I told myself it was only because the florist's price would lock in otherwise, and that was true enough to let me believe it, even if it wasn't the whole truth.

The meeting was at Blackthorne Global, a small room on the thirty-second floor with sample centerpieces spread across the table.....white roses, deep green foliage, tall glass vases that caught the overhead light and scattered it across the walls.

Priya had already gone through half the options with the florist by the time I arrived, and Kael was standing near the window, sleeves rolled, looking like a man who had absolutely nowhere else he'd rather be.

"You made it," he said.

"I told you I would."

"You also told me you'd think about it for two days before deciding. That was one email."

"I'm efficient when the price is about to lock in."

He almost smiled at that, and something in my chest eased at the sight of it, the tightness Vivienne had left behind in the gazebo finally starting to loosen.

We worked through the centerpieces quickly

....too tall, too short, too fussy, until we landed on a low arrangement of white roses and eucalyptus that Priya declared "elegant without trying too hard," which made all three of us laugh, because it was such a strange, specific compliment to give a bouquet of flowers.

"That one," I said. "Final answer."

"Finally," Priya said, already noting it down. "I'll let the florist know before you two change your minds again."

She excused herself to make the call, leaving Kael and me alone in the room with the sample arrangements still spread across the table.

"Thank you for tonight," I said, once the door had clicked shut behind her. "For all of this, really. I don't think I've said that properly."

"You don't have to keep thanking me, Aurelia."

"I know. I want to."

He looked at me for a moment, something soft in his expression that made it hard to hold his gaze and harder to look away from it.

"Do you remember," he said slowly, "the flower stall near the café? The one by the water, back when....."

"The one that only sold sunflowers because the owner hated anything more complicated." I laughed before I could stop myself, the memory rising up bright and sudden. "You bought me one every single week like it was some kind of tradition."

"It was a tradition."

"You told me once it was because sunflowers always face the sun. Something about how you thought that was a stupid thing to say out loud and said it anyway."

"It was a stupid thing to say."

"It wasn't." I was still smiling, unable to help it. "It was the nicest stupid thing anyone's ever said to me."

He laughed then, low and easy, the sound of it filling the small room in a way that made the whole evening feel lighter than it had any right to.

I laughed too, genuinely, for the first time in longer than I wanted to admit, both of us caught in something warm and unguarded that had nothing to do with centerpieces or budgets or anything either of us was supposed to be careful about.

That was exactly when the door opened.

Cassian stood in the doorway, jacket still on, clearly having come straight from somewhere else, his expression shifting the moment he took in the two of us laughing together over a table of sample flowers.

The laughter died in my throat so fast it felt like something physical.

"Cassian." I stood, too quickly, knocking my knee against the table leg. "I didn't know you were coming by."

"Clearly." His eyes moved between us, unreadable, lingering half a second too long on Kael before coming back to me. "I had a meeting end early. Thought I'd surprise you."

"We were just finishing the centerpieces," Kael said, perfectly even, gesturing at the flowers on the table like they explained everything. "Priya stepped out to call the florist."

"Right." Cassian's jaw was tight, though his voice stayed pleasant enough that if I hadn't known him for four years, I might have believed it. "Looked like a fun meeting."

"It was productive," I said.

"Sounded like more than productive." He said it lightly, almost like a joke, but there was something underneath it that hadn't been there a moment ago..... something careful, something watching. "You laugh like that at home, Aurelia? I can't remember the last time I heard it."

I didn't have an answer for that.....there wasn't a version of an answer that wouldn't have made it worse.

"I should get going," Kael said, gathering his laptop with the same unhurried composure he always carried, though I could see the faint tension in his shoulders that gave away exactly how carefully he was choosing every movement. "Good progress tonight. I'll have Priya send the finalized invoice."

"Appreciate it," Cassian said, stepping aside just enough to let him pass, though his eyes tracked Kael the entire way to the door.

Once it clicked shut, it was just the two of us and the flowers and a silence that felt heavier than the room could hold.

"Long day?" I asked, mostly to fill the space.

"Something like that." He picked up one of the discarded sample arrangements, turning it over in his hands without really looking at it. "You two seem to work well together."

"We're just handling the gala. Same as we discussed."

"I know." He set the flowers back down. "I'm not accusing you of anything, Aurelia. I just...." He stopped, exhaled, ran a hand through his hair in a way that looked genuinely tired rather than suspicious. "I haven't heard you laugh like that in a long time. That's all."

There was something almost wounded in the way he said it, and for a strange, guilty moment, I felt sorrier for him than I did afraid of what he might be starting to suspect.

"I'm sorry," I said, and meant it, even if I couldn't have said exactly what I was apologizing for.

"Don't be." He picked up his jacket from the back of the chair. "Come on. Let's go home, I'll actually be there tonight, for once."

I followed him out of the building, the warmth from earlier in the evening cooling into something colder and more complicated with every step, Cassian's words circling in my head the entire ride home.

*I haven't heard you laugh like that in a long time.*

He didn't know why....not yet, but something in rhe way he'd said it told me he was starting to wonder, and that frightened me more than anything Vivienne had said in the gazebo.