The certainty in his voice—the quiet, unflinching promise—hugs me like a shield. I am safe with Elias here.

“Thank you for coming.” It means more to me than he will ever know.

Elias smiles, easy and sure. “Don’t mention it, teine.”

We pull into the lot outside my building, the bright heat of the afternoon beating down on the asphalt. I don’t have time to protest before Elias is shouldering my bags and tossing me a grin over his shoulder.

“Lead the way, boss.”

Elias carries everything in, stacking my bags by the couch like it’s nothing. He straightens up, glancing around—and his gaze catches on the corner of the living room.

He whistles low under his breath, stepping toward the basket filled with rolled-up Samoan mats, the shelf stacked high with books about Samoa and its culture, and the framed map of the islands hanging on the wall, surrounded by a handful of small Samoan artifacts I’d picked up when Alex took me to meet his family.

“Wow,” he says, grinning. “Tinā thinks she loves you now? She’d straight-up lose her mind if she saw this.”

“I love Samoan culture. It’s beautiful. The people. The history and tradition. The heart behind everything.”

Elias nods, warmth in his eyes. “Trust me, we know.” He taps his chest over his heart with his fist. “The whole family knows. We saw it in Samoa—how you didn’t just visit. You soaked it in. And cared. You loved it like it was already part of you.”

The words hit hard, a bittersweet ache blooming behind my ribs. Because even when I wasn’t trying to belong to anyone, they claimed me.

Elias lingers by the basket of mats, his hand brushing over the rough weave of one of them before he glances back at me. “I’m glad you’re back in the family. It was a rough time for Alex.”

My heart squeezes, the ache still sharp. “I didn’t handle being apart from him very well either.”

Violet sucks air between her teeth. “Magnolia did not thrive during her sad-girl era. It was bad.”

Before the moment becomes too serious, Violet claps her hands together. “You know what we should do?”

“I’m sure you’re going to tell us.”

“Let’s take Elias out. Show him a real Lowcountry welcome his first night here. Shrimp and grits, fried green tomatoes, the whole shebang.”

Her grin is pure mischief.

What are you up to, Vi?

“Elias just got off a transpacific flight. He deserves something way better than sad airplane food.”

I bite back a smile. Because let’s be real—Elias flew business class. He wasn’t choking down some sad, plastic-wrapped sandwich and lukewarm coffee at thirty thousand feet.

Still, the way Violet’s looking at me—vibrating with excitement—I can see she’s not about to let this go.