Julian nodded slowly. He understood. Some doors, once closed, stay closed not because of anger, but because opening them again would let in more than just one person.
"You're right," he said quietly.
Then, almost without meaning to, he smiled. A small, private smile, the kind people wear when they are thinking of something good in the middle of something hard.
"You know why I fell in love with you?" he asked. "This crazy, beautiful woman?"
He lifted her hand from her lap. Slowly. Gently. He kissed the back of it, his lips warm against her skin, his eyes only half on the road now.
"My beautiful face," Amara said, teasing, a small smile pulling at the corner of her mouth despite everything.
"Well, yeah. That too." Julian laughed softly. "But it's your heart, Amara. It's the purest thing I've ever known. The kindest. In this whole world full of wicked people, somehow, you stayed soft."
