Page 43 of The Gilded Lady (The Gilded West #3)

Everything else happened in an instant. Glory lurched and rammed herself into Dubose.

The man holding the gun on Zane fired, but Zane had already dived to the ground, ramming his shoulder into the man’s legs.

The bullet lodged into the side of the train car.

The man fell and Zane punched him in the face.

The man fought back, but they broke apart when a gun fired.

Dubose fell off the side of the bed, clutching his chest. Able had shot him.

“Pierce!” Able called.

Zane lurched to the side in time to get out of the way as Able shot the man Zane had been fighting. He’d dropped to pick up his gun and had been about to shoot Zane.

That was the last of them. Zane walked on his knees to the bed and pulled Glory into his arms. She held onto him, but most of her strength was gone.

“What did they do to you?” he asked.

She shook her head and said, “Don’t know. Something in my arm.” Her words were so slurred that he could barely distinguish what she said.

“Laudanum or opium straight, I’d guess.” Able walked up beside them and put a hand on her forehead. “The coward used that when anyone got out of line.”

Zane closed his eyes and held her closer. The nightmare was over.

Glory awoke to a pounding in her head and her mouth felt like someone had stuffed it with cotton.

She rolled onto her back on a soft mattress.

Her limbs were heavy but nothing felt out of place or injured.

She brought a hand to her face and winced at the pain it caused.

It hurt so badly that there was bound to be a big ugly bruise on her cheekbone.

What had happened to make her feel so horrible?

Zane! She forced her eyes open and managed to croak out his name. The room was lit by a single lamp across the room. It wasn’t her room.

“I’m here.” He took her hand and brought it to his face.

He’d been sitting on the bed next to her all along, she realized.

He moved over her, smiling down into her face.

He was wearing pants, though he wasn’t wearing a shirt or boots.

A white bandage was wrapped around his upper arm.

She was tucked into a bed, the covers up under her arms, and she wore a clean, cream silk dressing gown.

The fire could’ve been days away. Or maybe it had all been some kind of strange dream, though she doubted that because she could still smell the smoke, and this wasn’t her room at Victoria House.

Could they be at The Baroness? She looked back up into Zane’s deep brown eyes and knew that whichever it was, they were safe now and she was with him. He was alive. That’s all that mattered.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“I think I’m fine. I could use some water.” She wanted to hold him, but with the way they had left things, she wasn't certain that she should.

He looked down at her mouth, hesitated and moved from the bed to get her a glass of water from a pitcher on the table. When he came back, he helped her sit up in bed and handed it to her. She drank it gratefully, the cool liquid sliding down her throat and making her feel immediately better.

“What happened to your arm?”

He glanced down as if he’d forgotten about it. “A graze. It’s nothing. Do you remember what happened?” he asked when she handed him the nearly empty glass.

It was starting to come back to her. She remembered the fire, the carriage ride, the terrifying sight of Dubose’s face, but then everything went hazy. “I remember Justin took me to the train, but I’m not certain. After that everything seems like a dream.”

“Able and I found you soon after. Dubose drugged you. We sent for Caroline and she thinks its laudanum.”

“How long have I been out?” Some light peeked in through the curtains of the fancy room, but she couldn’t tell if it was dawn or dusk.

“Since this morning when he drugged you. The sun’s going down now.”

A horrible thought came to her. “What about the twins and Clara? Justin didn’t find them?”

“No.” He was quick to reassure her. “They’re fine. Dubose never went to the ranch.”

She breathed a sigh of relief.

“No one at the House was seriously injured. I want you to know that Dubose is dead, Glory, and so are the men he hired. The sheriff has identified them all as men wanted in other parts of the territory. We think he hired the investigator to find you and then hired men to bring you back with him. He made everyone think he had gone to France, he didn’t want anyone from South Carolina to know the truth. ”

She remembered that part of their conversation.

“He planned to tell them I was in an asylum in France for all these years. He wanted to run for public office and apparently a missing wife wasn’t helping his plans.

” He’d been prepared to kill her if she didn’t go along with his vision of domestic bliss. She shuddered at the thought.

Zane took her trembling hand in his. “How are you?” he asked again, his dark eyes solemn and full of concern. “We brought you to The Baroness. Caroline’s in the next room waiting. Do I need to get her so you can talk to her alone?”

Her heart twisted as she realized what he meant, and she squeezed his hand. “He didn’t hurt me.” Her memory was spotty, but she was certain she’d remember if Justin had forced himself on her. “Not that way. I’m glad he won’t be around to hurt us anymore.”

She stared up into his eyes, hoping that his concern was a sign that he’d had a change of heart.

Perhaps she should be angry with him for walking out on her, but she couldn’t find it in her.

Not after last night. He could’ve spared himself and not come after her.

He might’ve even saved himself from the fire, but he hadn’t.

He’d stayed behind to help everyone out, putting himself in danger to do it.

Then he’d wasted no time in finding where Dubose had taken her.

Zane was a good man. He would’ve done those things whether or not he’d meant it when he’d told her that he loved her. Had the words said in a moment of crisis actually meant anything to him?

He leaned forward. “I’m sorry, Glory. I told you that he wouldn’t hurt you anymore and then I let him take you.” Shaking his head, he added, “I’ll never forgive myself for that.”

“Please, don’t be sorry.” Her fingers were shaking when she brushed back the hair that had fallen over his forehead, needing to touch him. “It wasn’t your fault. No one expected him to start a fire.”

“I should’ve expected it.”

She sat up, taking his face in her hands. “No, Zane. You did everything you could. Please don’t let him take anymore from us. He’s gone. It’s over.”

“I thought I’d lost you,” he whispered, his voice breaking.

She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I thought so too. When the house exploded and you were inside…I was so scared, Zane.”

He closed his eyes as he dropped his head so that his forehead rested on hers. “Forgive me for being a fool. I let my fear push you away, but I want you, Glory. I want to live the rest of my life with you.”

She made a sound that was half laugh, half sob.

“I never should have wanted to keep us a secret. What do I care if the staff knows about us? Sally accused me of always making excuses for not living my life, and she was right. I do it because I’m afraid too.

But I don’t want to live in fear anymore, Zane.

I want to live with you. Every day. I love you. ”

He pulled back enough to look down into her eyes.

He kept looking at her as if he couldn’t believe she was whole.

His eyes were soft and sweet as his gaze stroked her face.

“Marry me, Glory. I love you, and I don’t want to spend another day without you.

I want you to have your own house with your own rose garden.

I want to see Emily and Edward grow up with you as their mother. ”

She could barely see him through the tears in her eyes as he offered her everything she’d ever wanted.

“I do want that, but there’s something you should know first.” Her breath stuck in her throat as she tried to figure out how to say the words.

It was the last obstacle in front of them, but it wouldn’t be fair of her to accept without giving him the choice.

“I can’t bear children. When I lost the baby, he made the doctor do something that would ensure I wouldn’t get pregnant again. ” She said it fast to get it over with.

His face was a mixture of pain and rage. “That bastard. I’d kill him all over again if I could.”

Uncertain if this had changed his feelings on marriage, she hurried to say, “I know that I should’ve told you before.

I knew that I should, but I couldn’t find the words or the right time—when is it appropriate to tell someone that?

—so I waited. And then you said what you said about love, so I thought it wouldn’t even matter—”

He took her face in his hands and covered her mouth with his.

She fell into the kiss, needing the affirmation that they were together.

That they’d survived. When he pulled back, he looked down at her and his face was so full of love that her chest ached.

“I want you, Glory. As long as I get to be with you nothing else matters.”

She did cry then. Relief made her weak, but it didn’t matter because he held her.

She wrapped her arms around him and he climbed into bed beside her, holding her against him.

He brushed kisses along her hairline and down to her jaw, so she turned her head and took his lips again. He groaned and deepened the kiss.

When they pulled back for breath, she asked, “Are you sure, Zane? I know that you think love is fleeting.”

He groaned again, laughing at his own words. “That was a stupid thing to say. I know that my love for you isn’t fleeting. It won’t go away, not as long as I have breath in my body.”

She smiled and brushed away a tear. “And I’ll make sure every day that you know how much I love you.”

He smiled and wrapped his arms around her. “Then we’ll get married as soon as you’re better. Wherever you want.”

She didn’t care where, as long as it meant she’d be his forever. But it made her think of her home. “How bad is Victoria House?”

“It’s mostly gone, Glory. I’m so sorry.”

She nodded, having already expected that to be true.

After the explosion and the fire, whatever was left would probably have to be torn down.

Her heart should be breaking. Her life’s work was gone.

The boardinghouse she’d struggled to make into something that would help people was gone.

And yet, she felt strangely free. She’d spent so many years hiding within the walls of Victoria House that she almost felt giddy with the prospect of not having to hide anymore.

“What about the staff and the ladies? Where have they gone?” she asked.

He explained that Able had found rooms for them at hotels and boardinghouses for the time being. She knew it was only a matter of time before they scattered to other parts of the world, because she didn’t plan to build Victoria House back. She had a very different future in mind.

As if he read her thoughts, he said, “I have some money saved up from my years with the Jamesons. Enough to build a small house. Hunter offered me a portion of the ranch at a good price. We could raise horses. You could rebuild your boardinghouse.”

She smiled up at him. “That sounds lovely.”

He grinned. “It does?”

“Yes, every bit of it.”

“You won’t miss the fancy lounges or your fancy chef?”

She scoffed. “Who says I can’t keep my fancy chef? He can move with us and cook for our family.”

He chuckled and then kissed her softly. “You really mean yes?”

“Yes!” She laughed, and he tightened his arms around her and rolled, bringing her across his chest.

“I love you, Glory Winters. Get used to hearing that every day.”

“Except maybe change it to Glory Pierce. I love the way it sounds.”

He groaned and pulled her down for a thorough kissing.