Page 101 of Bound

She looks up, brows raised. “For the receipt.”

“Lucian Bachman.”

She writes it.

“And the item?”

“Engagement ring.”

“For?”

My chest tightens.

“Erin.”

Paige waits. Teasing me with her smile.

I exhale.

“Erin Bachman.”

Her smile turns brilliant.

“Sounds lovely, doesn’t it?”

Bronson makes a small sound.

I look at him.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“It was not nothing.”

“It is only satisfying,” he says, “watching another man get ruined properly.”

Paige laughs.

I look down at the ring box, red leather beneath my hand, Bachman’s stamped in gold across the top.

Once, a woman stood outside this building and wondered what secrets it held.

She found Bronson.

Erin found me through a different door.

And the ring I have imagined on Erin’s finger since before I had the courage to ask is finally in my hand.

Paige slides the receipt across the counter.

I sign it.

Lucian Bachman.

For Erin Bachman.

The letters look like a vow.