Page 65 of Never Lost (The Unchained #3)

“Hell no. But it’s good to know.” I grabbed the back of my apron, fumbling with the ties. “Wait. I don’t want anything separating us. Not even a bakery case. I’m going around.”

“Well, go around then!” Still laughing, he waved me off impatiently.

Still, I kept jerking desperately to unknot the ties until finally Rebekah reached out, grabbed the apron, and yanked it the rest of the way off.

She shoved me forward, and as I stepped around the glass case amid the weight of a dozen gazes, my eyes didn’t leave his because they didn’t have to.

His coat was still cold, but I felt nothing but warmth as Shai reached out, pulled me to him, and kissed me.

And there we joined, bodies melded, curves yielding to angles.

An answer given. A puzzle solved. A dream come—once again—to life.

“Wait, should we clap?” I heard Malin ask the others. “Is this a clapping moment?”

“Yeah, I think it is,” replied Rebekah.

I turned back to my friends, tears cascading down my cheeks, and nodded. And they clapped, joined in by the bewildered customers standing in line.

“Oh, thanks, Malin,” said Shai suddenly, reaching past me to accept the small cup across the bakery case, while my eyes followed the trajectory.

“Since when do you drink macchiato?” I asked.

“I don’t. It’s for you.” He thrust it toward me.

“What?” I stared into the cup, at Malin’s off-center but earnest dot of foam.

“Because I didn’t get you one. The night we met. Not that I didn’t try.”

I folded my arms. “You didn’t try very hard.”

“No, I didn’t,” he admitted with a laugh. “But I’m trying now.”

“Thank you,” I whispered in his ear with another ghost of a kiss. And then, coffee in hand, I stood at arm’s length and took a moment to really look .

To my infinite relief, his hair had grown back beautifully, not a patch to be seen, and he still wore it swept carelessly to one side, though a bit shorter and darker blond; the sunny streaks muted by indoor work, maybe.

He’d let a bit of facial hair grow out, too—a strange but shockingly appealing look on him.

Dark wash jeans, short leather boots, and a clearly very expensive watch.

Everything tasteful, classic, understated, made to last.

This wasn’t his slave castoffs and institutional uniforms. This wasn’t the flashy suits and gaudy bling of the Langer days.

This was him .

“Shai.” I tested the name—not for the first time, but the first time in the world.

He smiled, swallowed, and nodded. “It’s still taking some getting used to.”

No shit. I shook my head, hot tears still blurring my vision. I blinked them back, suddenly angry that they were marring this magnificent view. “You didn’t tell me. And neither did Daddy. Why?”

He took a deep breath and reached for my waist again to pull me close. Some people were looking, but most people weren’t. We were in the middle of a crowded public coffee shop and no one cared .

Talk about a dream come to life.

“Your dad wasn’t sure it would happen, and he didn’t want to break your heart if it didn’t.

And once we knew it would happen, I told him I wanted to be the one to tell you,” he said, tracing rhythmic circles on my hip, as much to comfort himself as me.

“In person. And he respected me enough to let me.”

The message. That was why my dad had asked me to call. He’d known Shai was on his way here, or maybe had already arrived. Astonishingly, my dad had made it happen . And he didn’t want to spoil the surprise.

“Wait. My dad? You? Respect ?”

“I know. Historically, those three things haven’t really gone together, but you should see him, Lou.

I know science, but I don’t know business, and he does, and he’s already taught me a lot, and well…

shit, he’s trying . He really is. Come to think of it,” he said, his awkwardness filling me with sympathy for the countless other awkward moments he and my father must have endured in the past week, “in his own way, I think he always was trying.”

“You know,” I said slowly, “I think he was, too.”

“Want to go for a walk?” Shai asked. “I know you’re working, but?—”

“It’s all good, Louisa!” called Basia with a wink. “Consider this working for the cause.”

Over by the register, Malin piped up, “What cause? Public indecency awareness? You know that by ‘walk,’ he means?—”

Rebekah shushed her, but Basia just laughed.

“You and Malin would get along famously, I think,” I remarked to Shai. “Also, it’s snowing.” No shit. He’d just come in from outside. Clearly, my brain had switched off, but I wasn’t sure it would ever fully switch on again. Not as long as I had this to look at.

“It’s okay. I lived in the desert for a while, you know.

” He pushed open the door with a rapid, nearly undetectable glance at me, something about its slyness bringing on memories so strong they almost knocked me over before the brisk rush of air even had a chance.

And then there we were, as public as public gets, emerging right out onto the sidewalk, into the rush of traffic and the orange glow of the streetlamps just lit.

In front of cars. In front of people. In front of the world that was about to be ours.

“So I kind of like the snow,” he explained. “It’s more like home. Only problem is I’m in a Porsche convertible.”

“Excuse me?”

He laughed, brushing a few stray flakes from my hair playfully.

“Don’t worry, it’s just a rental. A really fucking stupid rental, given the forecast,” he said sheepishly.

“But it’s smarter than a motorcycle, which I was also considering.

Although at least with that, it would have been easier to find parking. ”

We strolled to the end of the block, boots crunching. I nestled closer into him, shielding myself against the chill.

“You have a driver’s license already?”

“Let me put it this way: Until you have friends in the feds, you don’t realize how much you need them.”

We paused at the edge of the common, taking in the serenity.

“And the money?—”

“I’m getting a salary. A modest one. But the majority of it, for right now, will go right back into the business, to help us scale. Your dad’s getting some extra to go toward freeing the other slaves. The board considered that a business expense, too. Optics, you know.”

When we got to the first light, he pulled me closer, our bodies pressed together as the snow fell gently over us, the rapid beat of his heart right up against my own chest. I gazed up at him in shock. “Wait, are you serious?”

“Dead serious. The valet, of course, said he’d rather stay, and your dad’s promised him a home for life, in any case.”

“But Aveline—” I asked, thinking of the maid who had finally confessed her birth name to me in San Diego after one too many passionfruit margaritas.

It was probably the one thing that had actually gone right during that bizarre little jaunt, but I didn’t regret any of it, and I hoped she didn’t, either.

“She’s headed up north with the housekeeper—Samantha, that is. Newfoundland, I think? Sam wants to try to see her kids, and Aveline says she has no interest in tracking down her parents, so they decided to stick together for a while.”

I leaned into him, resting my head on his shoulder as we walked, the snow muffling the distant sounds of the city surrounding us. There would be time enough for all of that now.

“Are they okay? Also, how have my parents not starved to death under a pile of dirt?”

“Your dad can cook and clean, as it turns out. It’s been twenty years since he’s had to, but he can.

” He continued in a quieter voice as we waited for the next light to change, the weight of his arm resting perfectly around my waist. He raised my hand, thumb on the back of my palm, fingers mingling with mine.

“And as for them… Well, it’s not easy, Lou. For any of us.”

And it’s not something you’ll ever fully understand was implied.

But there was so much about slavery I’d never fully understand.

Its enormity was so unfathomable that most people didn’t even try.

But I did try, and I was going to keep trying.

The only reason I had this life, and this man, was because a long time ago, I had made the decision to try. And that had changed the entire game.

“So about the startup,” I said as we crossed the next street. “If slavery is still legal…”

He took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling against me.

“It’s complicated, Lou. But if we can get this distributed and on the market—even if it’s not legal for slaves to possess—it will still do a lot of good.

For one thing, there will be fewer people like Resi stealing, hurting, and terrorizing them because they’re afraid of being caught if they run.

And more will run, at least until the pro-slavery lobby gets harsher laws passed to prevent it, and don’t get me wrong—they will.

In the meantime, we’re getting it past the regulators by convincing them that it’s for pets.

Dogs and cats. That was your dad’s idea. Which was genius, actually.”

In astonishment, I reached up and brushed away a few stray snowflakes that had landed on his lashes. “Did… did you just say something nice about Daddy?”

He caught my hand and squeezed it. “Funny, it became a lot easier once he didn’t own me,” he said. “And showed me my stock certificate. Look, it’s going to be a hard fight, Lou. It may not happen in our lifetime.”

My heart sank into my knees. It wasn’t as if I thought we could abolish slavery overnight, but?—

I stopped walking, turning to face him. Snowflakes clung to my lashes in the fading light, melting into my eyes along with the tears. “But it will happen. Right?”

“It will happen. And it will get easier in time, as more and more people like your dad realize that they want to be on the right side of history.”

“And more people like you convince them.”

“I didn’t convince him. You did.”