"Maybe…," he began, and she put one of his helplessly fluttering hands over with her own.

"Another time?" she completed, and he nodded gratefully. "That is all right. I can wait for you to be ready.".

The catch was, Theo wasn't certain he'd ever be ready. Despite everything that had happened, he loved Natasha, and he didn't know how to do without it. Although her previous behavior had been unconscionable, it had also been completely out of character. How could the woman who now loved her daughter so unconditionally have disapproved of his promotion to begin with? It didn't add up. But yet, although he was muddled and conflicted, he...