Harper stepped closer. “The truth, even when you don’t like it.”

“I expected that.”

“My loyalty, as long as you deserve it.”

His expression became serious. “And?”

She looked through the windows at the crowded room where he had first turned her humiliation into power. Then she looked back at him. “And this.”

Harper kissed him. There was an audience again. People noticed through the windows. Conversations paused. Cameras lifted. But this kiss was not a shield.