Crewe

Ariel was waiting in my office when I walked inside.

“I’m glad you showed up.”

“To work?” she asked with a smile.

I chuckled. “To Duke Vasile’s party.”

She shrugged. “Cassandra wanted to go. She’s obsessed with all that royalty bullshit. I wanted to impress her so I would get laid.”

“You’d probably get laid anyway.”

“True. But I like it when she goes the extra mile.”

I sat at my desk and looked through the messages Ariel piled on my desk. My inbox was relatively empty, but that would change as the day passed. We had a new client interested in a bulk deal, and we were currently breaking into Canadian businesses.

“Did you have a good time?”

“I did.” When London slipped from my arms, I wasn’t pleased. But I eventually tracked her down again, and everything felt right. It seemed like something was wrong, but she assured me everything was fine. The only reason why I believed her was because there was no reason to lie. If something was on her mind, she usually told me.

“Duke Vasile was very generous. Thanks for putting me on the spot, by the way.”

“Stop hiding who you are. I’m just giving you a nudge.”

“I don’t hide who I am.” She made a note in her notebook. “In my personal time, I do exactly what I want. But when I’m at work or a work function, that’s totally different. Wouldn’t want to offend anyone.”

“If they’re offended, that’s their problem.” I looked out the window and saw the heavy fog roll in. In waves, it blanketed the countryside and blocked out the sight of the hills in the distance. Winter was approaching fast.

“I enjoyed Lady Anna’s company.”

“Yeah, she was nice.” She had a personality, unlike most members of the nobility. Spending four years in America suited her well. “Her father is nice too, so that’s probably where she gets it from.”

“That kind of loveliness comes from a whole new place.”

My eyes moved to her face. “Have a thing for her?”

“No,” she said quickly. “It’s very obvious she’s straight.”

Honestly, I couldn’t tell. I didn’t know Ariel was gay, and I’d known her for ten years. I grabbed my phone and called Dunbar, asking him to bring us coffee. Then I hung up and tossed the phone back on the desk.

“What did you think of her?”

“Think of whom?”

“Ana.”

I raised an eyebrow. “I said she was nice.” I’d talked to her for ten minutes. It’s not like I knew her well enough to know her life story. “Why?”

“I think she’s smart, refined, and more important, fun. She’d make a great partner.”

Like a business partner? “What do you mean, Ariel?”

“I mean in marriage. She’s the daughter of a duke, and you are a duke.” She spoke with simplicity, like everything she said was perfectly normal.

I didn’t let my anger get to me because I didn’t want to make assumptions. “You think I should marry her?”

She shrugged. “We’ve always talked about finding you a good partner. She clearly fits the bill.”

“She’s not my type.” I thought she was beautiful, but my thoughts didn’t exceed that quality. When she walked away from me, I didn’t think about her again. I hadn’t put a lot of thought into marriage, but I knew Anna wasn’t the one for me. There was only one woman I could picture myself with.

“Not your type?” she asked incredulously. “She’s perfect. And I think she was smitten with you.”

“Didn’t notice.”

“I thought it was obvious. I could always contact her and see if she’d like to have dinner with you.”

Now she was pushing it too far. “Ariel, I’m not interested. You can stop playing cupid.”

“I thought we established you wanted someone with her exact qualities?”

When the time came for me to do it, I couldn’t go through with it. I was certain Anna was capable of being everything I wanted in a partner, but when I spoke to her, I didn’t feel anything. All I could think about was the woman who left my side. I could barely participate in the conversation with Anna because I was distracted about London’s well-being. In my heart, I knew I would never be happy with anyone else but the woman currently sharing my bed.

That’s when everything hit me.

London was never meant to be anything more than a pawn in a game, but now she was the center of my world. She made me a better man, far happier and far less bitter. She tested my strengths and erased my weakness. That void that was created when my family was taken had been completely filled by her spirit, something Josephine had never accomplished.

London didn’t satisfy my political and financial goals, but she made me happy in categories I’d never considered to be important. In turn, she made those previous goals seem negligible. I felt like an idiot for even considering marrying someone else. Seemed stupid to let a woman like London slip away. “I don’t want anyone else but London.” I didn’t care about Ariel’s reaction. I broke my promise to her, something I never did, but if she was a loyal friend she would let that go. This woman made me happy, and happiness was something I had never experienced before.

Ariel looked at me with an unreadable expression, a purposeful poker face so she could hide her thoughts underneath her skin.

London asked me what our future included, and at the time, I didn’t really have an answer. But if I offered her my commitment, wealth, and fidelity for the rest of my life, she would undoubtedly make the lifelong sacrifice to be my dutiful wife. She’d probably give up her career to be a mother to my children. “I intend to marry her, so we can forget Anna.”

Ariel gripped her pen and pressed her lips tightly together. With a look of consternation, she sighed quietly and avoided my look. When she looked up again, she couldn’t hide the annoyance deep in her eyes. “Are you planning to propose soon?”

I hadn’t thought about it until this moment. As time progressed, I began to understand what London meant to me. And now that everything hit me at once, I began to understand what I wanted for the rest of my life. There was no reason to wait. I didn’t need more time to know how well she completed me. “Yeah…I think so.”

Ariel spun the pen with her fingertips.

“I know you aren’t happy about this, but it would mean a lot to me if you could be supportive. Maybe the two of you could spend some time together and find a way to coexist.” London had enough influence to make Ariel stay in the first place, so there was hope they could reconcile.

Ariel held my gaze in silence. Her annoyance was palpable, like heat rising to the ceiling. “I’m sure she and I could work something out.” She looked down at her folder, dismissing the conversation because that was the best support she could offer.

And that was more than enough.

When London was in the shower, I opened the safe behind the portrait and looked through the relics that had lasted hundreds of years. My ancestors had touched the prized possessions, their DNA possibly still on the metal from their oil secretions. Timeless and elegant, the ancient crown reminded me of where I’d come from. I knew the noble thing was to marry someone of equal status.

But I wanted to be happy.

I’d tried to do it the right way by choosing Josephine. She was the best woman at the time, and I’d managed to love her. But that love was never real, so neither was her loyalty. Didn’t it make sense to choose someone for deeper reasons than political gain? I never really knew my mother, but based on stories I heard about her, she would want me to be happy.

I think she’d want me to marry for love.

With the handkerchief, I pulled the artifacts out of the cabinet until I found the ring that had been passed down through every duchess until my mother received it. My father had given it to my mother, and she wore it every single day until she died. She probably would have been buried with it if the custom didn’t dictate it.

Now it was my turn to give it to someone.

I never gave it to Josephine because I intended to give it to her on our wedding day. I proposed with a slender band infused with rare diamonds as a placeholder. Now I was grateful for my decision in the past.

Because this belonged to London.

I dropped it in my pocket and returned everything to the safe before I locked it up again. I corrected the picture then left the room as the water still ran in the shower. Dunbar was downstairs at his post, so I walked up to him and handed the ring over. “Could you call Eleanor to come and clean this? I just want it to shine a bit more.”

He took it in his large hand, examining the diamond before he closed his fist around it. “Of course, sir. When do you need it by?”

“As soon as possible.”