"You run my heart," he cut in gently, before she could finish talking herself back down into something smaller than she was. He lifted her hands to his lips and kissed her knuckles, once, slow and certain. "That's a bigger empire than any boardroom, Amara. Don't you dare talk yourself out of this. Not tonight."
She was still trying to find the words to answer him, trying, and failing, because there was something about being looked at like that, like she was the single most remarkable thing he had ever encountered, that always managed to steal every clever sentence right out of her head when the sound of small, hurried footsteps came thundering down the hallway toward the study, accompanied by a chorus of delighted giggling.
"Mama! Papa!"
