She looked him square in the eye for a long moment.
“All right.”
He stepped inside,
Hannah closed the door carefully behind them. To her surprise, she saw he was carrying the mobile from the nursery. Kyril caught her looking.
“What’s that? A parting gift?”
“I brought this,” he began, eyes blazing, “because it reminded me of you. And it reminded me that you’re not a fragile, delicate flower. You’re strong, Hannah. You’re so strong.”
She smiled, then straightened ou
t her face and waited. “I am.” Joy fluttered in her veins, but Hannah didn’t let it get the best of her. Not yet.
“I sat there in that empty nursery, thinking of how poor a job I’d done at honoring your strength, and I knew. I had to take a chance on you.”
Hannah fought the temptation to accept his apology immediately. “Before you go any further—”
“Hannah, let me—”
“No.” She interrupted him without hesitation. “Before you go any further, I need to know. Are you saying this because you love me or because you want to salvage your reputation?”
He did not look away. “I want to salvage my reputation. But more than that, I love you.”
“I don’t know that I can take your word for it.”
“Then let me say something else. You’re perfect for me.” She scoffed, but Kyril kept speaking. “My family and I had no right to try and force you to fit into our notion of what my wife should be or how you should live. If that happened—” He laughed. “If that ever happened, if I managed to protect you from everything in the world, you wouldn’t be the strong Hannah who’s perfect in every way. Who fits me in every way. You wouldn’t be the independent woman I love.”
Hannah felt one tear slip down her cheek, then another.
“I love you, Kyril.” She trembled in front of him, and he put the mobile on the hotel dresser and took her in his arms. From head to toe, she relaxed in his embrace. His touch was the sweetest thing she’d experienced all day. Maybe all year.
She allowed him to hold her for a moment, then straightened up. She found herself drawn to the mobile. “Oh—you finished it.”
“I hope you don’t mind.”
“I do mind. This was my project. You shouldn’t have taken it over.”
“Apologies,” said Kyril.
“That said—” It was the perfect combination of both of their sensibilities. He’d participated in the arrangement without overpowering her vision, which was exactly what she wanted out of a life together. “You did a nice job.” She turned back to him and kissed his cheek.
“I couldn’t have done it without you, Hannah.”
She walked into his arms and let him hold her for a long moment.
Then Hannah sniffled. “I’ve been so lonely here.” She let out a laugh. “I didn’t expect that.”
“You don’t have to be lonely anymore. But look—” Kyril drew something out of his pocket. An envelope. He opened it and took out a blueprint. It was surprisingly large when he unfolded it, and for a moment she wondered how he’d managed to conceal it in his pocket. Then again, she’d only been paying attention to the look in his eyes, not checking his pocket. “It doesn’t have to be the way it was before. I’ve spoken to my mother and sister, and they’ve agreed to postpone the wedding ceremony. Indefinitely.”
Hannah raised one eyebrow. “It took a blueprint to get them to do that?”
He squeezed her hand and led her over to the desk. “This is something else entirely. Another proposal of sorts.”
Hannah looked down at the plans but didn’t recognize a thing about them. “What is this?”
“This is a building on the palace grounds, but separate from the main area by quite a bit. All of the gardens surround this place.” Kyril ran a finger lovingly over the white lines against the dark blue paper. “It’s an old carriage house and stable. At least, that’s what it was in my great-grandfather’s day.” He took a deep breath. “I’ve had an engineer and an architect come look at it, and they both say it’s structurally sound. Perfectly safe.”