Just You and Me
Lina opened her door to find Kael leaning against the hallway wall, hands in his pockets, black coat unzipped just enough to reveal the clean line of a grey cashmere sweater underneath.
He looked dangerous in the way shadows look soft until they move.
"Hi," she said, too softly.
He didn't smile.
Didn't need to.
"I wasn't sure you'd say yes," Kael said.
"Then you don't know me yet."
He tilted his head, eyes sharp and thoughtful. "I want to."
They drove without music.
The city lights blurred past as Kael guided the car away from the noise. No security detail. No driver. No destination revealed.
After nearly twenty minutes, they turned off a side road onto a narrow lane lined with trees.
A cabin sat tucked into the hillside, built from stone and weathered wood. Simple. Out of place. Quiet.
He parked.
Lina didn't ask questions.
Inside, the cabin was warm. Cozy. Smelled faintly of cedar and something sweeter—like old memories.
There were no servants. No guards. Just the two of them.
He handed her a mug of hot tea and said nothing.
So she sat beside him on the old leather couch and waited.
"You're not what I expected," he said finally.
"Disappointed?"
"No," he said, quietly. "Relieved."
The fire crackled, and the silence turned heavy with something unspoken.
Kael leaned forward, elbows on knees, looking at the flames like they might reveal something.
"I've had women try to get close to me for status. To fix me. To outmatch me. But you… you don't reach for anything."
"Maybe I don't trust what I'd find."
He looked at her.
Truly looked.
"I want to tell you something," he said. "But I need you to promise you won't walk away."
"I don't make promises I can't keep."
"That's why I'm telling you."
He took a deep breath.
"My name isn't just feared in the business world. There are… organizations. Systems. People in shadows. They know me. Because I've done things—necessary things—that can't be clean."
Lina stayed quiet.
Not cold. Not scared.
Just listening.
"I've never trafficked in lies," he said. "But I've made people disappear. Protected my family's legacy with blood when money wasn't enough."
A beat.
Then another.
Lina's voice was soft. "Are you telling me this so I'll run?"
"I'm telling you because I don't want to lie to you. Ever."
She looked into his eyes.
Sharp. Guarded. Hurt.
And said, "Then don't."
The space between them evaporated.
Kael reached out, fingertips brushing her wrist—gentle, reverent, as if asking for permission without saying a word.
She didn't pull back.
Didn't run.
He leaned in.
But stopped just short.
"If I kiss you," he said, "I won't forget how."
Lina whispered, "Then don't do it unless you mean to remember."
A breath.
Then he closed the distance.
And kissed her like silence breaking.
Outside, the wind carried their names through the trees.
Inside, two people who didn't know how to love—learned to stay.