Elliot reached Roman's Los Angeles apartment shortly after sunrise.

He had driven through the night with Roman's ring in his pocket and the photograph still open on his phone.

Roman answered the buzzer on the third attempt.

A private elevator carried Elliot to the top floor. When the doors opened, Roman stood in the hallway wearing yesterday's clothes.

"Elliot?"

Elliot stepped out.

Roman glanced toward the windows. "Did you drive here?"

"Yes."

"From Vancouver?"

Elliot walked past him before his anger could collapse into exhaustion.

Roman followed him inside. "You should have called."

"I did."

The apartment felt warmer than the one in Vancouver. A suitcase stood near the entryway, and a woman's coat hung beside Roman's.

Elliot looked at it.

Roman noticed.

"I saw the photograph," Elliot said.

His voice came out calmer than he expected.

Roman closed the door. "I can explain."

"You disappeared for a week."

"I had press meetings."

"You didn't tell me about them."

"I thought you needed space."

Elliot laughed under his breath. "You thought I needed space, so you stopped calling and let me discover through an article that you were in another city with someone else."

Roman rubbed a hand over his face. "That was badly handled."

"Who is she?"

"Sophie."

The name meant nothing to Elliot.

"She arrived late last night," Roman continued. "I picked her up from the airport."

"And carried her luggage into a hotel."

"She was staying there until I convinced her to use the guest room."

Elliot looked toward the hallway.

Roman stepped closer. "Sophie is my cousin."

The answer should have relieved him. It did, though the anger remained.

"You could have sent one message."

"I should have."

"You ignored me."

"I answered."

"You replied like my accountant."

Roman's mouth tightened.

Elliot took the ring from his pocket and placed it on the table between them.

"I spent the entire week trying to understand whether any of this meant something to you."

Roman looked down at the ring. "You know it does."

"I know what you say when I force the words out of you. Then you leave before I can decide what they mean."

"I came to Los Angeles for work."

"You left without saying goodbye."

Roman's gaze lifted.

Elliot heard the echo as soon as he said it. Eight years earlier, Roman had been the one left behind without an explanation.

"That was unfair," Elliot said.

"No. It wasn't."

Roman reached for the ring but stopped before touching it.

"I wanted you to have time after what happened at my apartment," he said. "You had just learned about the letter and the audition. I didn't want you choosing me because I got hurt protecting you."

"You think that's why I'm here?"

"I don't know."

"Then ask."

Roman studied his face. The exhaustion in his eyes softened something in Elliot, though he was still furious.

"Why are you here?" Roman asked.

Elliot had rehearsed several answers during the drive. None survived the question.

He looked toward the woman's coat, the suitcase and the ring on the table.

"I hated seeing you with her."

Roman remained still.

"I hated waiting for messages you weren't sending. I hated waking up and remembering you wouldn't be outside."

Elliot pressed his palms against the edge of the table.

"I kept telling myself our agreement had ended. That didn't help."

Roman moved closer. "Elliot."

"I broke the fifth rule."

Roman's attention stayed on him.

"No feelings," Elliot said. "That one."

The room fell quiet.

Roman stopped an arm's length away. "What do you want from me?"

Elliot looked at him.

Roman had finally asked the right question without trying to answer it for him.

"I want you to stop leaving things unfinished."

"All right."

"I want you to tell me when you're going away."

Roman nodded.

"And I want you to kiss me when there isn't a camera waiting."

Roman's breath changed.

"Are you sure?"

Elliot grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him closer.

The kiss carried a week of silence and a night spent driving south. Roman held Elliot's face but allowed him to control the pace.

Elliot kissed him again before either of them could speak.

Roman's forehead rested against his.

"I missed you," he said.

"It was one week."

"I know."

Elliot closed his eyes.

Roman's thumb moved carefully along his cheek. "You came all this way because of a photograph."

"Don't sound pleased."

"I'm trying not to."

A door opened down the hallway.

Elliot stepped back.

A woman with long dark hair appeared wearing an oversized T-shirt and carrying an empty glass. She shared Roman's eyes and the same controlled expression, though hers quickly turned amused.

Her gaze moved between them.

"You must be Elliot."

Elliot glanced at Roman. "You know me?"

The woman entered the kitchen and held out her hand.

"I'm Sophie Hale. Roman's cousin."

Elliot shook it.

Sophie looked at Roman's rumpled clothes and Elliot's swollen lips.

"I assume somebody finally explained the photograph."

"Somebody waited a week," Elliot said.

Sophie gave Roman a disappointed look. "Of course he did."

Roman exhaled. "Good morning, Sophie."

"I warned you that staying quiet would make this worse."

Elliot turned toward him. "She warned you?"

"She usually does."

Sophie filled her glass at the sink. "I've spent eight years warning him."

Roman's expression changed.

Sophie noticed too late.

Elliot looked between them. "Eight years?"

She set down the glass.

Roman reached for the ring on the table and closed his fingers around it.

"Sophie," he said quietly.

Her gaze moved to the silver band.

"You still have that?"

Elliot's pulse quickened. "You know about the ring?"

Sophie looked at Roman, waiting for permission he did not give.

When she answered, her voice had lost its teasing warmth.

"I was with him when he bought it."

Roman remained beside the table with the ring hidden inside his fist.

Elliot waited.

Sophie took her coffee and moved toward the hallway.

"You two need to talk," she said.

Her door closed behind her.

Elliot looked at Roman.

"This time," he said, "start at the beginning."