“Don’t be. I appreciate that we can be honest with each other.”
At the distant sound of thunder, they both glanced up. Though they were still in sun with the odd cloud, in the distance they could see the storm brewing.
“We’d better get packed up.” As she started to reach for things, he stopped her.
“Let the servants do it. The others will have heard it too and be back soon, we can head to the car and wait for them.”
She nodded, picked up her own things, and allowed him to help her up. A moment later, they heard laughter and running feet from the hill above as the others made their way back.
After a word to the servants, he grabbed his coat and chanced holding her hand on the way back to the car. She didn’t pull away, not even when he grasped it again inside the car, which gave him a bit of hope. Not much, but a little.
Once the others arrived and scrambled into their cars, Gabriel knocked on the privacy screen to signal for the driver to leave. They pulled away as the first drops hit the car, though the storm had already started in other parts of the capital.
When she jerked in her seat from a sudden boom of thunder, he pulled her closer and kissed her palm. “Are you cold, my dear?”
“Just a little. It’s fine.”
He wrapped his coat around her shoulders and tucked her against him, rubbing her back gently. He always preferred his cars to be on the colder side, as he seemed to run hot, but he’d not considered how that might have affected the other riders.
Was he so self-centered that he didn’t consider others? Or was he just privileged and used to getting his way? Likely both.
When they neared her house, the rain was pelting down and the road had indeed flooded.
Gabriel brought down the privacy screen. “Is the water too high?”
“Sir, I don’t feel we should risk it.”
Gabriel nodded. “We’ll?—”
“You can take me to the Kaur’s. They’re only a few minutes away. If you just?—”
“Nonsense. You’ll stay at the palace for the night. It’s the least I could do. Let’s head there now.”
“Yes, Sir.”
As the privacy screen went up, she looked at him in disbelief.
“Did you not hear a damn thing I said in those ruins? Do you know what people will say when they hear I spent the night at the palace? Do you know what my mother will do? Force me to the doctor for a pregnancy test.”
“We have guests over all the time. Do you think my brothers’ guests haven’t stayed before? We have many guestrooms.”
She tried to pull away from him, but he didn’t let her go. “Do you honestly think I believe they stayed in guestrooms? Thatyou’lllet me stay in a guestroom?”
He grinned. “The private lives of my siblings are not my business. Everyone here is an adult, including you, and decide what to do.” He grasped her chin. “I hope you know that I would never hurt you. I would never do anything you didn’t want me to, nor force you. I’m not like that asshole whose name you won’t share.”
He didn’t let her turn her head away either. “If we’re ever in the same room together, you need to tell me.”
“Why? So you can punch him and cause a scene?”
“No. So I can protect you from him.”
Her eyes widened.
“I told you before I can ruin their life without them ever knowing why, and it’s still true. I’d never want to cause you embarrassment. I hope you can trust me for that at least.”
She sighed and settled her head back on his chest. “I think I do.”
It was strange but he had the oddest sense of achievement with her words. Knowing that she trusted him, at least a little bit…it was a start. Maybe they didn’t have an ending together, but it was the start of something.
