The deeds, the master ledgers, the family charters, everything that makes Alsbury function is behind that door. Norah didn't take it. She took a step back, her cynical defense mechanisms flaring up instantly. "Why are you giving this to me?" "Because you know how to protect it better than I do," Gabriel said plainly. Because you tore through Croft's corruption like a knife, and the men trust you more than they trust God, and because I refuse to run this estate without you." Norah crossed her arms over her chest. "Gabriel, if this is your strange, convoluted way of offering me employment as your permanent steward. It's my strange, convoluted way of asking you to be my wife." Gabriel interrupted smoothly.
The wind seemed to stop. Norah froze. She stared at him, looking for the joke, looking for the pity, looking for the transaction. She found nothing but absolute terrifying sincerity. “Don't mock me,” Norah whispered, her voice cracking.
I am not a lady of the ton. I have no dowry. I have a ruined reputation. If you marry me, the House of Lords will treat you like a pariah. I am already a pariah," Gabriel said, taking a step closer.
He caught her hand, unfolding her arms, and pressed theavy iron key into her palm. His fingers closed over hers. "I don't want a lady of the ton. I don't want a woman who careins about drawing room politics or the cut of a silk. I want a partner who knows how to fight. He stepped into her space, his chest brushing against hers. "The heat of him was undeniable.
You saw a man dying in the dirt. And you walked through fire to bring him water," Gabriel said, his voice dropping into that low, rough whisper that unraveled her every time. "You didn't care about the rules. You didn't care about your own ruin. You just cared about what was right." He reached up, cupping her face in both of his large, calloused hands. “I don't offer you London,” Gabriel told her fiercely.
I don't offer you balls or the approval of society. Let them rot in their parlors. I offer you this land. I offer you the work. I offer you a life where you are never invisible again.
Norah looked up into his eyes. The cynicism, the bitter armor she had worn for years shattered. It didn't break violently. It just dissolved, washed away by the sheer, undeniable weight of being seen. Truly, completely seen, she reached up, her hands gripping the lapels of his coat. “I'll need a larger desk,” Norah whispered. Gabriel laughed.
The sound was swallowed by the wind. And then he kissed her. It wasn't a polite, gentle kiss. It was heavy, desperate, and deeply grounded. It tasted of the cold wind, of survival, and of absolute certainty.
Norah kissed him back with a fierce, quiet violence, her fingers digging into his shoulders, grounding herself against the solid, immovable reality of the man who had torn down a world just to find her. They stood on the edge of the reservoir. The Duke who had bled in the dirt and the invisible girl who had saved him stood looking out over a kingdom. They were going to rebuild with their own hands.