Chapter Nine
734 Words
Elena wasn’t sure what had made her agree to stay longer at Montgomery Manor.
Maybe it was Liam’s sleepy voice calling her Mommy.
Maybe it was the way Christian had gone utterly silent after that moment, something unreadable flashing across his face.
Or maybe—just maybe—it was the way she felt when she was here, tangled in something she couldn’t quite name.
Now, hours later, she sat curled on the couch in the library, a book open in her lap, though she hadn’t read a single word. The fire crackled softly in the background, casting flickering shadows against the dark oak walls. Across from her, Christian was seated near the window, his wheelchair positioned slightly away from her, as if he wasn’t sure how much space he wanted to allow between them.
Liam had fallen asleep almost immediately after climbing onto her lap, and she had carried him to bed, tucking him in under Christian’s watchful gaze. That was the moment things had shifted.
Now, they sat in the aftermath of it.
“You didn’t correct him.”
Christian’s fingers stilled on the armrest of his chair.
“Should I have?”
Elena exhaled, setting the book aside. “He’s just a child, Christian. He doesn’t understand what this is.”
“And what is this, Elena?” His voice was low, smooth, but there was an edge beneath it.
She hesitated.
She had walked into this arrangement knowing what it was supposed to be. A marriage in name. A partnership for Liam’s sake. A duty.
But somehow, in the dim glow of the library, with Christian watching her like he was unraveling something in his mind, she couldn’t bring herself to say those words.
Instead, she asked, “Why me?”
Christian didn’t answer immediately. He shifted slightly, his gaze sweeping over her before settling on the fire.
“Because you didn’t treat me like glass.”
Elena’s breath hitched.
He wasn’t looking at her when he said it, but she could see the weight of those words pressing down on him.
Everyone around him—the entire world, perhaps—saw only his injuries. His limitations. The heir-turned-invalid. The man who would never again command a room with his presence the way he once did.
But Elena had never treated him like a man who was less.
He turned to her then, his expression unreadable. “And because Liam chose you.”
The air between them shifted, something unspoken weaving into the silence.
Elena had always known that Liam adored her. But hearing it from Christian’s lips, hearing the quiet acceptance in his tone, did something to her.
Something dangerous.
She cleared her throat, forcing herself to break eye contact. “Well… I suppose that means I have two Montgomery men depending on me now.”
A dry chuckle escaped Christian. “I wouldn’t call myself dependent on you, Elena.”
“No?” She raised a brow, smirking slightly. “Then what do you call it when someone can’t stop looking for me in a room?”
Christian went still.
Gotcha.
He hadn’t been expecting her to push back.
And yet, the way his lips quirked, the way his gaze darkened just slightly, told her he didn’t entirely hate it.
“Elena.” His voice was quieter now, almost dangerous.
She shouldn’t test him.
She shouldn’t push.
But something in her needed to know.
“Say it, Christian,” she murmured.
He exhaled sharply, like he was fighting something.
Then, after a long pause—
“I don’t want you to leave.”
The words were soft, but they landed like a storm in her chest.
Elena swallowed, her pulse suddenly too loud in her ears.
She should leave.
She should remind him that this wasn’t real, that their marriage was still just an arrangement, that feelings—real feelings—had no place in this.
But instead, she did the one thing she shouldn’t have.
She reached forward, resting her hand over his.
Christian tensed—just for a second—before his fingers curled, his thumb brushing over hers in the faintest, most devastating movement.
“Elena,” he murmured again, his voice rough.
Her heart pounded.
And in that moment, she knew—
This was no longer just an arrangement.
This was something else. Something raw, something dangerous.
And there was no turning back now.
- Writer
