Chapter 9 - THE EXITGabriel survived surgery with local anesthesia and a truly irresponsible amount of whiskey.
By five in the morning, Dr. Aris left.
Norah remained.
Gabriel looked pale.
Human.
He held out an envelope.
“What is this?”
“An exit.”
Inside were bank documents.
A new apartment lease in another city.
Six months of living expenses.
A letter of recommendation under the legitimate Rossi Holdings name.
And enough money to start again.
Norah stared.
“You’re firing me.”
“No.”
“You’re sending me away.”
“I’m giving you the option.”
“Why?”
“Leo targeted the house because of me.”
“He targeted me.”
Gabriel’s jaw tightened.
“Because he believes hurting you affects me.”
“Does it?”
Silence.
“Yes.”
Norah stopped breathing.
Gabriel continued.
“That makes you dangerous to yourself while you’re near me.”
“You once told me I belonged to the house.”
“I was wrong.”
She stared.
Gabriel looked away.
“I wanted something good near me.”
“Gabriel.”
“I confused wanting you safe with wanting you where I could see you.”
He looked back.
“They are not the same.”
Norah sat beside him.
“So you want me to leave.”
“No.”
The answer came immediately.
That hurt more.
“I want you to stay.”
His voice lowered.
“But if you stay because I paid your rent, threatened Ray, protected you, or made leaving impossible, then what I want doesn’t matter.”
Norah looked down at the envelope.
Three months earlier, she would have refused it instantly.
Now she understood something.
If she wanted her choice to mean anything, she needed to know she could make the other one.
So she took the envelope.
Gabriel’s expression went blank.
But his fingers tightened around the blanket.
“I’m going to use the apartment.”
He nodded.
“I’m going to finish physical therapy.”
Another nod.
“I’m going to get another job.”
His jaw flexed.
“All right.”
“And you will not follow me.”
Silence.
“Reasonable security only if there’s a verified threat.”
Gabriel almost smiled.
“You negotiate aggressively.”
“I learned from the wrong employer.”
He laughed once, then winced.
Norah stood.
Gabriel looked at her.
“When?”
“After Leo is handled.”
“No.”
“What?”
“You leave today.”
“I’m not abandoning you while people are shooting through your kitchen.”
“This is precisely why—”
Norah leaned down.
“Do not ruin your progress by ordering me.”
Gabriel stopped.
Then:
“Would you consider leaving today?”
“No.”
His mouth twitched.
“Understood.”
Three days later, Norah moved out.
For the first time since Ray broke her wrist—
May you like
she was safe because she had somewhere else to go.
Not because someone had decided she belonged to them.
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