Chapter 12 - Midnight Confessions
That night, after the exhausting dinner concluded, Clara found herself unable to sleep in the massive, antique-filled guest bedroom assigned to them.
She slipped out of bed, wrapping a thick cashmere shawl over her silk nightgown, and walked out onto the private stone balcony overlooking the moonlit gardens.
The autumn air was sharp and cold, biting at her cheeks as she looked out at the silver reflections dancing across the estate's private lake.
“You shouldn't be out here without a coat. You’ll catch a chill.”
Clara turned around to see Gabriel stepping out through the French doors, dressed in dark silk pajama bottoms and a loose black robe tied at his waist.
He walked over to her without hesitation, opening his heavy wool robe to wrap it around her shoulders, pulling her back against his warm chest.
“I couldn't sleep,” Clara murmured, leaning her head back against his shoulder as his arms secured her firmly against his body.
“Every time I close my eyes, I keep thinking about how easily we lied to those people at dinner tonight. It feels... dangerous.”
“It wasn't entirely a lie, Clara,” Gabriel said softly, his deep voice vibrating against her back in the quiet midnight air.
Clara went still, her breath catching in her throat as she turned her head slightly to look up at his profile in the moonlight.
“What do you mean by that, Gabriel?”
Gabriel sighed, resting his chin on the top of her dark hair as he looked out over the dark, quiet grounds of the Vance estate.
“When I made that outrageous offer to you at the gala, I wasn't just acting out of arrogance or boredom,” Gabriel confessed quietly.
“I had spent ten years surrounded by people who only looked at my bank account, my influence, or what they could extract from my name.”
His arms tightened around her waist, holding her as if she were something incredibly rare and fragile that he was terrified of losing.
“When you slapped me across the face and walked out into the cold without taking a single dollar, you were the first honest thing I had encountered in a decade.”
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He turned her around in his arms, his dark eyes searching her face with an intensity that made the cold night air suddenly feel scorching hot.
“I told myself I brought you into my life to close a merger, Clara,” Gabriel whispered, his thumb stroking her jawline. “But the truth is, I just couldn't bear the thought of letting you disappear.”
