Kidnapped for Her Secret Son

by Andie Brock

  He felt her hesitate against his body.

  ‘And why should I believe you?’

  ‘Because it’s the truth, Leah.’ He loosened his hold a fraction. ‘And because once you hear what I have to say everything will become clear.’

  ‘So, tell me now.’ Determination glowed in her eyes as she threw back her head to look at him. ‘You can say whatever it is you have to say out here. Right now.’

  Jaco hesitated. ‘Very well.’ He pulled in a breath, dropping his arms but taking hold of her hands until Leah gave them an aggressive shake to get them free. ‘But it is getting cold. Gabriel should go back inside.’

  He signalled to Cesare, who silently stepped forward.

  ‘Cesare, would you take my son back down to Ms McDonald’s suite and wait for us there?’

  Displaying only the merest flicker of surprise, Cesare held out his arms obediently.

  ‘No.’ Leah stood firm. ‘I’m not giving Gabriel to him.’ She reached down to take hold of one of Gabriel’s legs that was dangling outside the sling, cupping his foot for comfort, squeezing it in her hand.

  ‘Yes, you are. Cesare is the father of six. He is more than capable of watching over Gabriel while I talk to you.’

  Leah hesitated, feeling the chill of the night breeze blowing over her face. Regarding Cesare with deep suspicion, she nevertheless released the sling from behind her back and reluctantly handed Gabriel over.

  ‘But this is just for five minutes. And if you so much as harm a hair on his head...’

  ‘There is no fear of that, Leah.’ Jaco stated sternly. ‘Protecting my son is what this has been all about.’

  With Gabriel nestled in the crook of his arm, Cesare turned to take him below deck.

  Tucking her windswept hair behind her ears, Leah positioned herself in front of Jaco, fire in her eyes.

  ‘So come on, then—I’m waiting. What is this explanation that’s going to change everything?’

  Jaco took a step closer, holding her shining defiant gaze, physically having to stop himself from gathering her in his arms.

  ‘Va bene. The reason I have had to keep you and Gabriel hidden away is because I have been involved in an extremely dangerous and complex mission.’

  ‘A mission?’ Leah scoffed. ‘Is that what you call it?’

  Jaco ground down hard on his jaw. ‘But, as of tonight, I am pleased to say it is all over. The mission has been successfully completed.’

  Leah’s silence simmered between them. ‘And I see you have the injuries to prove it.’

  Jaco followed her disgusted gaze to the knuckles of his hand, the swelling clearly visible in the light of the moon. He tucked his hand into his underarm.

  ‘The important thing is that the plan worked and the family have been caught red-handed...’

  ‘The family? What family?’

  ‘The Garalino family.’

  ‘Your family?’

  ‘They are not my family.’ Jaco swallowed an embittered breath. ‘Luigi Garalino is a sadistic, evil bastard.’ He paused for a moment to steady himself. ‘But now, finally, I have managed to remove him from my life for ever.’

  ‘What...? You mean...?’

  ‘Dio, Leah!’

  Jaco caught the look of horror on her face and it struck him like a boot to the chest. What sort of person did she think he was? What the hell did she think he was capable of doing?

  He raked a hand through his hair, forcing himself to calm down, to get back on track. ‘What I mean is...’ he spoke slowly and clearly ‘...that Garalino and his sons and all their accomplices have been arrested by the police. And they will be put away for a very long time.’

  ‘Oh...’ Her mouth fell open in a deliciously soft pout. ‘I had no idea.’

  ‘No, nobody did. Secrecy was of the utmost importance.’

  ‘I see.’

  Leah turned her head away, her profile lit by the moon; her nose and upper lip, her chin, the sweep of her neck, highlighted as if by the tip of a silver pen. She was so beautiful. Suddenly all the irritation and frustration, the sheer, crazy exasperation of everything that was Leah McDonald fell away, until Jaco was left with nothing but the pure, distilled truth.

  He loved her. It was as simple as that.

  But it was not a truth he had shared with her.

  ‘So that means Gabriel and I are now free to go?’

  Somewhere in the fug of his addled brain he realised that Leah was still talking, speaking her words into the void of the night, as if she couldn’t bring herself to look at him. She was talking about leaving. He had to explain—quickly. He had to make her see what was in his heart.

  ‘No!’ Alarm clawed at him, and without thinking he made a grab for her hand again.

  ‘I knew it!’ Leah snatched it back, facing him full-on again. ‘I knew you didn’t mean it. I knew I couldn’t trust anything you say.’

  ‘Leah, listen to me!’

  ‘What? So you can try and talk me round? Not a chance.’ She turned roughly away from him.

  ‘At least let me explain.’ He reached for her arm to try and turn her back, but she sidestepped him. ‘I’m not saying you can’t leave...’ He dragged some air into his lungs. ‘I’m saying I don’t want you to leave.’

  Leah swung back in surprise. ‘Why? Why would you possibly want me to stay?’

  ‘Because...’

  ‘It doesn’t matter.’ Like a gathering storm, Leah swept on. ‘One way or another, Gabriel and I are getting off this boat as soon as we possibly can—and that’s all there is to it.’

  ‘No!’ He reached out to her again. Leah batted at his hands until he caught them, holding them against his chest. ‘Not until you have heard what I have to say.’

  ‘Nothing you could say to me would make any difference.’ She shoved against him, pushing him away, losing her balance so that she stumbled backwards towards the edge of the pool.

  ‘Dio, Leah—be careful.’

  Instinctively Jaco caught her in his arms to steady her, his heart thumping.

  He exhaled slowly to try and calm things down. ‘You might not want to hear it, but I’m going to say it anyway. The fact is...’

  He kept his hands weighted on her shoulders to hold her steady, feeling her muscles and bones shift beneath his hold, sensing the fragility of her, how very precious she was. All that passion and heat and fire in such a delicate, slender frame. It was now or never.

  ‘The fact is... I love you, Leah McDonald.’

  There was a shocked silence. For a second Leah went completely still, but then with a burst of energy she came to life again, holding her arms out in front of her so that they slammed into his chest, twisting out of his grasp so that she could see his face.

  ‘What did you just say?’

  ‘I love you.’ He repeated the words softly into the dark.

  ‘No!’ She gazed at up him. ‘You can’t. That can’t be true.’

  ‘Oh, but it is, Leah.’

  A wary silence fell between them.

  Taking a step forward, Jaco meant to close the gap between them, but with a slight shake of her head Leah backed away. His arms shot forward to try and grab her, but he was too late. There was a small gasp, followed by a resounding splash.

  Leah had tumbled backwards into the pool.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  DIVING STRAIGHT IN, Jaco was beside her in a couple of seconds, scooping Leah up into his arms and wading towards the shallower water until he could safely set her down.

  ‘What is it with you, Ms McDonald?’ He pushed the streaming wet hair away from her face. ‘Why are you so determined to drown yourself in front of me?’

  ‘I’m not!’ Leah spluttered on a watery cough, rubbing her eyes and blinking furiously. ‘At least, not intentionally.’ She picked up a clump of hair and lifted
it over her shoulder. ‘But thank you anyway. For the rescue, I mean.’ She looked up at him almost shyly.

  ‘Prego. You’re welcome.’ Jaco wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. ‘If rescuing you became my life’s work I would do it gladly. I would never let any harm come to you. You do know that, don’t you?’

  ‘Yes.’ She trembled against his neck, her words muffled. ‘I think I do.’

  Jaco closed his eyes, savouring the moment. They were standing in a swimming pool, waist-high in water, fully clothed and soaked to the skin, but somehow it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except this sweet moment of happiness. For several seconds they stayed like that, locked together, swaying slightly with the giddy absurdity of it all.

  Finally Leah tipped back her head, searching Jaco’s eyes for clues. ‘What you said before...’

  She sounded so unsure, so vulnerable, that Jaco felt his throat work on a painful swallow.

  ‘It’s true, mia cara.’ He rushed to take away her doubt, cupping her face in his hands, gazing down at her. ‘Ti amo. I love you, Leah.’

  ‘You love me?’ She repeated the words as if in a sort of daze, and her eyes, fringed by clumps of dark lashes, widened as she stared at him.

  ‘Sí, I do. More than I ever thought possible...more than anything in the world.’

  ‘But how...? I mean why...? How can this have happened?’ She pushed away slightly, her brow furrowed with confusion.

  ‘All too easily.’ Jaco pulled her back into his arms. ‘I admit I have tried to fight it, and that there have been times when you have driven me completely crazy, but when you feel something here, deep in your heart, there’s not a thing you can do about it.’

  ‘Really?’ She angled back her head, watching him cautiously.

  ‘Really.’ He was surprised at how easy it was to say. As if by stating his declaration out loud all the barriers between them had tumbled down like dominoes.

  Leah’s frown cleared and she gave him a look of such happiness, such open honesty, that Jaco felt his heart soar with hope. But as he held her to him, willing her to tell him that she had feelings for him too—something, anything, to give him some hope—he felt her slender body shiver violently in his arms.

  What was he doing, selfishly keeping her here like this, letting her freeze to death?

  ‘Come on—we need to get you inside.’

  Sweeping her up into his arms again, Jaco moved them to the side of the pool, negotiating the metal steps one-handed, before setting her down and firmly taking hold of her hand, leading her below deck, their feet squelching along the carpeted corridors, until they were back at Leah’s suite of rooms.

  Crossing the threshold, Jaco switched on the light and they gazed at one another, bemused, bedraggled, speechless. Water pooled at their feet.

  Cesare appeared silently from the bedroom, a look of concern on his face at the sight of the two of them, until Jaco quickly assured him that everything was fine. After solemnly stating that the child was still asleep, he was thanked by Jaco and told he could go.

  Jaco closed the door behind him and then turned to Leah.

  Gazing at him in bewilderment, Leah searched the depths of his eyes to make sure this was actually happening. Here was the man she loved with all her heart. And he loved her too!

  With his shirt plastered across his chest, every powerful muscle accentuated through the transparent fabric, his trousers sticking to him like a second skin, it was all she could do not to gasp at the wonder of him. Was it really possible that he could love her anything like as much as she loved him?

  Somewhere inside her doubt started to fray the edges of her happiness.

  Leaning forward, Jaco traced her jawline with fingers that had a slight tremble, and through the fog of her mind Leah could hear him telling her that they had to get out of their wet clothes. He was unfastening his shirt buttons, tugging the wet cotton over his torso and throwing the shirt on the floor. His trousers soon went the same way.

  ‘Your turn.’

  He stood before her, wearing nothing but a pair of sodden boxers that clung to his shape, leaving little to the imagination. With his arms folded across his chest, his wet skin gleaming in the bright light, he looked simply magnificent.

  ‘Unless you would like me to do it for you?’

  Leah moved unsteadily towards him, wanting nothing more than for Jaco to strip her bare, to take her in his arms and never let her go. But despite his macho show of glorious manhood, his teasingly seductive tone, and despite the heart-melting half-smile that threatened to undo her completely, Leah could see that his eyes were wary...serious. Yes, deadly serious.

  He was waiting for her to speak. Waiting for her to reveal how she felt about him.

  She reached up, cupping his face, her fingertips grazing over the rasp of stubble. How could it not be patently, painfully obvious that she loved him with every fibre of her being?

  To Leah it had always felt as if she wore her love for him like an uncomfortable skin—a transparent layer that meant he could see through her to everything he meant to her. As if she gave herself away with every blush, every lowered glance, every barbed comment. But it seemed that Jaco needed proof.

  Rising onto tiptoes, she pulled his beautiful face down to hers to plant the softest of kisses on his lips. Jaco groaned quietly against her mouth, his arms automatically moving over her bare back, pressing her against his chest.

  Leah linked her arms around his neck, threading her fingers through his wet curls. She parted the cushion of her lips, breathing against him, sliding the tip of her tongue along the seam of his mouth until he opened it for her and she found the tip of his. He groaned again, more loudly this time, crushing her against him, and his glorious near-nakedness sent a thrill of sexual awareness to her core.

  The kiss burst into flames until they were lost to it, swept along by its raging heat. But suddenly Jaco stopped, prising his lips away on a tortured breath, the hands that had roamed to her bottom stilling where they lay.

  ‘I need to know, Leah.’ He gazed at her with eyes of the darkest, deepest brown, searing into her very soul. ‘I need to know if you can find it in your heart ever to love me.’

  ‘Oh, Jaco!’ The words choked out on a sob of emotion, a solitary tear sliding down her cheek. ‘Of course I love you. I have always loved you and I always will.’

  ‘Grazie Dio.’ Holding her eyes for a long, dazed moment. Jaco traced the path of her tear with his thumb, leaning forward to kiss her damp cheek. ‘Then you truly make me the happiest man in the world.’ He paused, his face darkening. ‘Though I don’t know what I have done to deserve your love after the way I have treated you...’

  Leah touched a finger to his lips. ‘We have both made mistakes. I should never have thought all those awful things about you.’

  ‘You had every right.’ He kissed her finger, then clasped her hand in his. ‘I know I have to try and make amends. But first let’s get you warm.’

  Leading her through the bedroom, where Gabriel’s sleeping breaths lightly stirred the air, Jaco went into the bathroom and turned on the taps of the large circular bath.

  Leah stood motionless, still in a daze, as he started to strip off her wet clothes, obediently raising her arms so that he could pull her sweatshirt over her head, then unclip her soggy bra to release her breasts. She felt them tighten with pleasure as he pressed feather-light kisses over them.

  Lifting first one leg and then the other, she let him peel off her jeans and her panties, and watched as he stayed crouched at her feet, trailing his lips up her legs, along her inner thighs, until he reached her most intimate place, making Leah stiffen in glorious anticipation.

  His breath was hot against her cold skin as he laid soft kisses against her, using his tongue to make her shudder and whimper with longing. He was saying something now, something dark and sexy, spoken in his nati
ve tongue, his words partly lost in the thunder of water.

  Leah had no hope of understanding what he’d said. It didn’t matter. Gazing down at his bent head, blurred and out of focus beneath the rising steam, she simply let her eyes close against the bliss.

  ‘Bath.’

  Coming up to stand, he lifted her effortlessly into the bubbling water and she slid down until she was submerged up to her neck. Pulling off his boxers, Jaco settled himself beside her.

  ‘Nice?’

  ‘Mmm...’ Leah sighed with pleasure. The heat, combined with the lack of sleep and the rollercoaster of emotions this evening had brought, made her close her eyes again.

  Jaco took hold of her hand under the water. ‘There is so much I want to say to you, Leah. So much I need to explain.’

  ‘There’s no need, really.’ Leah turned drowsily to face him. ‘You did what you felt you had to do.’

  ‘But I was wrong. Wrong not to tell you the truth. Not to realise you were the one person I could trust. Instead I made everything worse by holding you against your will, refusing to talk to you, behaving like a jerk. I treated you very cruelly. Can you ever forgive me?’

  ‘I’ll think about it.’ Hiding a smile, Leah raised her hand to gently touch Jaco’s lips, then let it drift under the water and down his chest, watching as his nipples tightened and his abs flexed beneath her touch. ‘I suppose I haven’t always been the easiest person to get along with.’

  ‘True.’ Jaco mirrored her covert smile. ‘You’ve been a nightmare.’ He caught her hand before it could travel any lower. ‘It’s hard to believe that someone so lovely could have caused me so much trouble.’

  ‘Trouble is my middle name.’ Leah gazed at him, suddenly serious. ‘You should know that.’

  ‘No, it’s not, Leah. You must never think that. We’ve both had our fair share of problems in the past, but that’s all over now. The future is what matters, and I intend to make yours as happy as I possibly can. That’s if you will let me, of course.’

  Leah hesitated, feeling the doubts creeping in again. Was it possible that Jaco could ever really make her happy? He said that he loved her now, but what if he didn’t truly mean it, or if it was some sort of temporary aberration? What if she was making another stupid mistake? One from which she would never recover.