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The digital lock on room 412 didn't look broken. That was the most terrifying part. / Chapter 19 / 20

Chapter 19 - The Anniversary ClauseOne year.

Twelve months since the broken door in room 412, the spilled coffee on the marble floor, the frantic sprint across a forty-first-floor maintenance bridge, and the platinum wedding band that had accidentally bound our lives together forever.

We didn't celebrate our anniversary at a fancy rooftop restaurant in Las Vegas or a secluded beach resort in the Maldives.

Instead, we spent it sitting cross-legged on the plush rug of our penthouse living room, surrounded by takeout boxes from our favorite little Thai place in downtown Chicago, wearing oversized sweaters and entirely ignoring our phones.

"One year," I murmured, resting my head against Graham’s shoulder as we watched the Chicago skyline glitter through the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows. "And not a single SWAT team has kicked our door in for months. We're losing our edge."

Graham chuckled, setting his empty chopsticks down on the coffee table and wrapping his arm tighter around me. "Don't worry. I’m thinking of acquiring a competitor just to keep things interesting next Tuesday."

"Don't even joke about that," I groaned, closing my eyes and smiling. "My blood pressure still spikes every time I hear someone knock on a hotel door."

"Good thing we live in a fortress now," he said softly, lifting my left hand and tracing the two rings resting side by side on my finger—the plain platinum band from the midnight chapel, and the diamond eternity band from Aureole.

"You know," I said, turning my head to look up at him, "we never technically filed a formal anniversary date with the Clark County courthouse. Legally speaking, our marriage anniversary is listed as 'Emergency Asset Protection Clause 4B'."

Graham’s dark eyes danced with amusement. "A romantic milestone if I ever heard one. What should we list it as in the family records?"

"How about 'The Best Mistake We Ever Made'?"

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Graham smiled, his expression softening into something so warm and completely unguarded that it still took my breath away after all this time.

"Not a mistake, Avery," he whispered, pressing his lips gently to my forehead. "Never a mistake."

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