Isabelle’s eyes grew wide. “What are you going to—”
The eldest Berab brother’s lip tipped up, though his eyes remained serious. “I believe my brother will be making a journey to America tomorrow. To perhaps find something he can call his own.” He swallowed before turning to Isabelle. “I am—I’m very sorry, Miss Lira, both for how I treated you and for my part in what my brother did. I promise, when we return, after Shabbat, you and I and Mr. Weiss will meet and figure out a plan of action on how to move forward. I hope you can find a way to trust me.”
Aaron glanced at Isabelle, ready for her to tell the man to, well, do something impolite, but instead she gave him a gracious, serious nod.
“I know I can,” she told him, reaching out to give his sleeve a gentle tug. “We’re family, after all. We might argue, but we are stronger together.”
“You’re truly a marvel,” the man said before tipping his hat and returning to his task, Roger right behind him.
Aaron gaped at them before returning to Isabelle. “What was that?” He shook his head, still in disbelief at the scene. “A great deal happened since we last spoke, it seems.”
And for that he was rewarded with a small smile. “Yes, quite a bit.” She pursed her lips. “I did quite a few things I should have done months ago.”
“I wish I could have seen you,” he murmured as he tugged her closer, not caring how many people were milling about, probably staring at them, as he was not letting her go.
“I wish you could have as well. That was something I realized—that anything good is better if I get to share it with you.” She reached up and stroked his most certainly dirty and now wet hair. “I was coming to see you, though, to grovel, as they call it, in a much more eloquent and clear and concise and organized fashion than I am now.”
At that he had to smile. She was just so, well, adorable. “Is that what you call this?”
She wrinkled her nose. “It’s an attempt.” She bit her lip. “I had wanted to do it earlier, but I was told that you were already on the ship.”
“By whom?” he started before rolling his eyes. “Oh, let me guess.” He indicated the prone man who was now being loaded into the Berabs’ coach, his brothers sliding in after.
“Yes, and I’m sorry. So sorry.” She shook her head before glancing around at the remaining coachman, her grandmother, and Pena, who had all averted their gazes in different directions, very clearly working not to make eye contact but listening to every word. “I would have done this so much better and without an audience if I’d had the chance,” she said through clenched teeth.
“They’re at least pretending not to spy,” he said with a smile, stroking her cheek again. Because it truly didn’t matter to him, not when she was looking at him that way, which made him feel a hundred feet tall. “Though, while I’m not going to enter the who-deserves-whom debate, I will say that the two of us do, at least at some point, deserve privacy, for once.”
“Perhaps we can have it,” she whispered, reaching up and wrapping her arms around his neck. “Quite a bit. Every day.”
He stared at her, his heart beginning to pound. “I’m listening,” he managed to say, still holding her close as a flurry of emotion fluttered through his organs.
She chewed her lip. “Now, I don’t want to make you feel obligated, and as I said, you deserve better, but I was wondering, as I am not marrying Mr. Weiss . . .”
And Aaron’s heart was so full he near burst into song. It took everything in him to stop himself from lifting her once more and twirling her around. Instead, he ran a hand through her hair, smiling with the satisfaction of it all. “I thought you weren’t so keen on marriage, especially the potential power a husband might wield against you?” he teased.
“Not if it’s a husband I trust.” She took his hand and squeezed. “And I trust you, Aaron. With all I am.”
“Don’t you want someone useful?” he pressed, just checking, just making sure, because this was truly exactly what he had longed for, wished for, dreamed of, but had never dared to articulate. “Someone who can help in the business or politically or who is smart or skilled or talented or, well, something?”
She rolled her eyes. “First, I’m all of those things, and I don’t deserve you, so, ergo . . .” She wagged a finger at him. “Second, you aren’t just something—you’re someone. Someone who is everything to me. Everything that is important. You’re kind and good and caring, and there is no one else I’d rather talk with or spend time with. I wake up wanting to see you and listen to your thoughts and tell you mine. I want to fall asleep in your arms.” Her beautiful lips spread into a smile. “And do other things in your arms. All the time. Every day.” She reached up and stroked his jaw. “And every day I can be with you would be a gift.”
“Are you sure you aren’t just asking me because your midnight announcement is approaching?” he teased.
“Midnight can hang,” she told him. “I don’t want you to save my face.”
He blinked again, still staring as her words washed over him.
“It’s a very lovely face, though,” he couldn’t help but add.
“I just want you,” she said, her eyes and voice serious. She took an audible breath. “And if you want time to consider it, you can take as much as you require. I don’t need an answer today or tomorrow or the next. I’ll wait however long. Just please know I love you and I just want to make you happy.”
And his heart near burst. It was so full and so complete.
“Who knew I had so much in common with a Surety Princess, because I want the same things. So very much.” He clutched her to him. “Yes, Isabelle, I’ll marry you. There’s nothing I want more in the world. Even when I thought you were marrying Weiss, I couldn’t stay away, couldn’t not want to see you, make sure you were all right, because I love you so much. There would be no greater honor than being your husband, even if I don’t contrib—”
“None of that.” She shook her head. “First, it’s ‘Surety Empress.’ And second, and more importantly, you are everything I want and need. And if I have to spend every day of the rest of our lives convincing you that it’s true, I will. I will spend every waking hour—”
He bent down and took her mouth in his, and the kiss was everything. Sweet and tart and all her. Just beautiful. And soon to be his, as he was already, and would always be, hers. He drank her in, stroking her, and they burned together, despite the chill of the night and the sprinkling rain that had started to roll in through the skies. He could stay there forever, just with her.
