After accepting the gift, Leonie couldn't hide her envy. By the time the two of them made it back to the villa, it was already past midnight.

Once she'd showered, Gwyneth snuggled under the covers first. When

Hawthorne came out of the bathroom and saw her still wide awake, he was a little surprised.

Earlier, when he'd left the room, she'd already fallen asleep or at least he'd thought she had. Turns out, she really had drifted off.

"Still awake?” he asked, towel-drying his hair as he slid into bed and pulled her into his arms.

"Yeah. Not-" Gwyneth instinctively nestled closer to him. In the quiet of the night, they lay there, wrapped up in each other's warmth.

"I have to head to Echo City tomorrow," Hawthorne said. "I'll be tied up with meetings for a while. If you get bored, you should hang out with Leonie-she's pretty much always free."

He paused, thinking it over. "Just promise me you'll stay away from anything risky. Other than that, you two can do whatever you want, go wherever you like."

Gwyneth hadn't realized he was leaving so soon. She looked up at him, already feeling a pang of reluctance at the thought of his absence.

in Echo City?" she

wondered if he and Hawthorne

need to attend in person," he

but with the Everhart family's affairs still requiring his attention, he couldn't hand things off

Stein Campbell-have you ever heard of

around her as he gave a noncommittal "Mm." Gwyneth immediately sat up, eyes wide. "Wait-you actually

the capital is eager to win over.

he'd heard

my mother's brother,"

and suddenly noticed the faint

impossible to break into. By marrying Gwyneth, Hawthorne had unintentionally. landed himself a golden ticket just when he had a few matters he needed

a while. Earlier in the evening, Gwyneth had made a point of

resting on Hawthorne's shoulder. As he tucked the blanket

what on earth

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