Chapter 6 - I Fell for the Husband I Never Chose
I tried to ignore my feelings.
It didn't work.
Gabriel was impossible not to notice.
He woke before dawn.
He checked security reports himself.
He remembered my coffee order.
He knew when I was pretending to be fine.
And every night, he asked whether I wanted him to stay.
Not once did he assume.
Then came the night the storm cut the power.
I found him in the kitchen lighting candles.
“You have generators.”
“Yes.”
“So why candles?”
He smiled.
“Because you like them.”
I stared.
“You noticed?”
“Yes.”
I walked toward him.
“I think you're becoming dangerous.”
“I've been dangerous for years.”
“No.”
I smiled.
“Now you're dangerous to my heart.”
He went still.
The room quieted.
Neither of us moved.
Then he said, “Claire.”
“Yes?”
“Don't say things you don't mean.”
“I mean them.”
He stepped closer.
“Are you sure?”
I nodded.
He kissed me.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Like the first kiss mattered more than every promise Luke had ever made.
When we separated, his forehead rested against mine.
“I don't want to rush you.”
“You aren't.”
“I don't want you to feel trapped.”
“I don't.”
He touched my cheek.
“Good.”
Then the phone rang.
Arthur.
“Gabriel.”
“What?”
“Luke disappeared.”
Gabriel's expression changed.
“When?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
“Where?”
“The hospital.”
My heart sank.
“Ethan.”
We rushed to the hospital.
Ethan was gone.
His room was empty.
A single note was taped to the bed.
Bring the Black Ledger.
Gabriel looked furious.
I grabbed the note.
“I know where they'll take him.”
“Where?”
“The old Carter warehouse.”
It had belonged to my father.
The same place where he had stored his business records.
We arrived with a small security team.
Inside, Luke stood beside Ethan.
He wasn't holding a gun.
He looked exhausted.
“Don't shoot.”
Gabriel raised his weapon.
“Get away from him.”
Luke stepped back.
“I didn't kidnap him.”
Ethan looked at us.
“Luke rescued me.”
“What?”
Ethan explained.
Caldwell had discovered Ethan remembered part of the crash.
They wanted to silence him.
Luke had intercepted them.
“They were going to kill me,” Ethan said.
Luke looked down.
“I owed you.”
I stared.
“You owed me the truth.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I was ashamed.”
Gabriel lowered his weapon.
“Where is Caldwell?”
Luke handed him a phone.
“Inside.”
The device contained messages.
Caldwell.
The senator.
Gabriel's uncle.
And another name.
My mother's.
I froze.
“No.”
Luke shook his head.
“She was working undercover.”
I stared.
“What?”
“She thought she could bring them down.”
My mother stepped from the shadows.
She had been hiding nearby.
I nearly collapsed.
“Mom?”
She cried.
“I wanted to save you.”
“You should have told me.”
“I was afraid they'd kill you.”
“I almost lost Ethan.”
“I know.”
Gabriel looked at the messages.
“You were all working around each other.”
My mother nodded.
“We didn't know who to trust.”
Gabriel looked at me.
Then said, “Now we do.”
We finally had enough evidence.
The recordings were delivered to federal authorities.
Senator Callahan was investigated.
Caldwell's network collapsed.
The council was exposed.
But Gabriel's uncle remained.
He knew the evidence was coming.
So he made his final move.
He kidnapped Luke.
Gabriel received the call that night.
“Come alone.”
Gabriel prepared to leave.
I stopped him.
“No.”
“Claire.”
“You don't get to disappear into danger alone.”
“This is different.”
“You're not dying for Luke again.”
He smiled.
“That's not what I intend.”
“You promise?”
“Yes.”
We arrived at an abandoned hotel.
Gabriel entered.
I followed.
His uncle stood on the balcony.
Luke was tied to a chair.
“You chose her,” the uncle said.
Gabriel looked at me.
“Yes.”
“You abandoned the family.”
“No.”
“I made this family.”
“And you destroyed it.”
The uncle laughed.
“You were supposed to marry for power.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“I married for the first time without knowing what marriage meant.”
He looked at me.
“Then I learned.”
The uncle raised his weapon.
Everything happened at once.
Arthur's team entered.
Gunfire echoed.
Luke broke free.
The uncle tried to escape.
Gabriel stopped him.
Not with violence.
With the ledger.
“You lose everything today.”
The uncle froze.
Federal agents entered.
He was arrested.
The Moretti council collapsed.
Luke was safe.
Ethan was alive.
And I realized the last obstacle between Gabriel and freedom was gone.
But Gabriel still had one question.
He found me outside.
“Claire.”
“Yes?”
“The annulment.”
I looked at him.
“You can file it.”
He nodded.
“You don't want it?”
He stared.
I stepped closer.
“No.”
His eyes softened.
“I won't trap you.”
“I know.”
“I won't use the trust.”
“I know.”
“Then why stay?”
I smiled.
“Because now I'm choosing you.”
He pulled me into his arms.
May you like
And for the first time, our marriage wasn't a transaction.
It was ours.
