Page 12 of Till Death Do Us Part

Her smile dropped, and she turned to me with a serious look. “If we’re married, Whitecliff killing you will only leave the South Yard to the Blackbirds instead. They’d have to kill me first. And they can’t. They’ve tried.”

My mouth hung open as I stared at her.

Oh, God. She was serious.

“I am… not… marrying an assassin I just met.”

She smirked, brushing her hair back. “Oh, not your type, huh?”

“I—” I blushed, folding my arms. Her eyes darkened.

“Fancy your odds against those Whitecliff operatives, then?”

“Well… it’s…” My insides were all tangled. There’s no way. No way, no way, no way. My heart pounded so hard I felt dizzy.

It made sense. They clearly couldn’t do anything to Vera herself. As long as my inheritance wasn’t shared with anyone, the Whitecliff assassins would just keep trying to find their opportunity to get to me while Vera’s back was turned.

But if we were… married…

I felt impossibly shy all of a sudden, blushing hard, looking down. I’d always dreamed of getting married one day, but while I was trying to keep my family afloat, I never had time to date. I had crushes on boys and girls at school, and I’d had a boyfriend for two years in college, but he’d hated how much time I spent working for my family. The relationship hadn’t survived his graduation, and I’d given up hope of ever finding the one.

I’d never dreamed it would come to me looking anything like this.

“We wouldn’t have to stay married, obviously,” she said. “The Whitecliffs are in a precarious position right now. Just a bit more scrutiny, a bit more time for deals to fall through, and they’ll lose their shot at the project anyway. Once that happens, the South Yard will just be a tiny strip of property you can sell for enough to buy a good used car. And we can have an amicable divorce.” Her eyes gleamed. “Just as long as you don’t fall for me. But try not to. I’m hard to keep up with.”

This whole thing was so far beyond surreal. The most beautiful woman I’d ever met, tearing through the lot outside my apartment and leaping from the car to save my life, whisking me off, and asking me to marry her…

Nobody would ever believe me if I told this story.

It all caught up with me at once, another rush of blood to the head, and I felt my vision blur. Vera moved quickly to catch me as I slumped.

“Elaine!”

“I’m sorry… I’m okay. I can keep working.” She hadn’t asked me to work. It was just an automatic reflex. I was saying it to my mother, not to Vera.

“Shush.” She put two fingers to my neck, and I shivered at the touch, but I couldn’t have really moved if I wanted to… let alone against the strength of Vera’s touch. She pulled my sleeve up, checking my wrist, feeling up along the length of my arm, and I blushed furiously as I let her move me.

Impossibly strong, but never hurting me, just directing me into position to… to what?

“You haven’t been sleeping,” she said. “Nor eating properly. Too much exertion. Signs of high cortisol.”

“I’ve been… I’ve been working. I have to…”

“Elaine—”

“I have to.”

“At this rate, the Whitecliffs won’t have to do anything. You’ll kill yourself long before they do.”

I shook my head, a hot feeling in my face. “I have to. My family…”

“Elaine.” She cupped my face in her hands, turning me to face her, and it shocked me out of the thought spiral, my heart jumping. “What you have to do is survive. You’re here to live. That’s what comes first. That’s the only thing that can ever come first. Do you understand?”

“I… I don’t… know.” I whispered it like a quiet prayer. She pursed her lips.

“Then I’ll have to show you.” She stood up, and like the silly girl I was, I found myself missing the stability of her touch—at least until, without any exertion at all, she bent down and swept me up into her arms, holding me in a bridal carry.

“Oh—Vera!” I was fully out of the haze now.