His Contract Christmas Bride (Conveniently Wed!)

by Sharon Kendrick

  Yet could he blame her for being so angry?

  No, he could not.

  Rarely in his life had he been forced to admit that someone else had the higher moral ground, but he did so now, repeating the same words he’d used when he’d turned up on this very same spot a few months back, asking her to marry him.

  ‘Can I come in?’

  ‘No, you can’t. Contact me through my lawyer.’

  He frowned. ‘Have you got a lawyer?’

  ‘Not yet. But I will. At least I suppose I will—isn’t that what people do when they’re going through a divorce?’

  ‘I don’t know, Lucy, because I’ve never been married before and I don’t want a divorce.’

  ‘Well, I do! I can’t think of anything worse than—’ She stopped abruptly, as if his words had only just sunk in, and eyed him suspiciously. ‘What do you mean, you don’t want a divorce?’

  ‘There’s no qualifier to that statement,’ he said drily. ‘I just don’t.’

  ‘Well, I do.’

  He sucked in a deep breath as he read the defiance on her shadowed face. ‘We can’t have this conversation on the doorstep.’

  ‘We seem to be managing perfectly well, so far.’

  ‘Open the door and let’s go inside, Lucy,’ he said gently. ‘Your hair’s all wet.’

  Lucy wanted to shout at him. To tell him not to adopt that silky tone which made her think of all the times he’d cradled her after they’d made love and made her feel so cherished and protected and wanted. Because all that stuff had been an illusion. It had withered and died at the first test, hadn’t it?

  Yet she recognised it would be immature to send him away when he had come all this way to see her. They needed to deal with this situation like adults. He probably wanted her to promise not to give her side of the story to the press—as if she would dream of hanging out all her heartache for the world to see. And besides... She glanced nervously at the look of determination which was making his jutting jaw look so formidable. She swallowed. He didn’t look anything like a man who would accept being turned away.

  ‘Oh, very well,’ she said crossly. ‘But this had better not take long.’

  She made him wait while she lit a couple of lamps and put a match to the fire because the temperature in the room was positively arctic. Then she took off her comfy black work shoes and shot him an acid look as she lined them up next to the others in the hallway. ‘I’m assuming you won’t be spiriting away any of my shoes this time?’ she questioned sarcastically.

  But he didn’t rise to the bait. Instead he walked over to the window and stared outside, his head bent and shoulders suddenly hunched, like a worn-out fist-fighter on the brink of defeat who was about to make one last stab at victory. ‘I just want to say that I’m sorry, Lucy,’ he said, and when he turned round Lucy was shocked by the ravaged expression she could read on his rugged features.

  ‘It doesn’t matter,’ she said woodenly.

  ‘Oh, but it does. It matters a lot. It matters more than anything else in the world that you realise how bitterly I regret the things I said to you that night.’

  She shook her head, because hadn’t her nurse training taught her always to see the other person’s point of view? ‘It doesn’t,’ she repeated, as generously as she could. ‘We all say things we sometimes regret when we’re angry. Or even when we’re not angry. It’s okay, Drakon. Honestly.’

  ‘No, it’s not okay,’ he flared. ‘It’s anything but okay. Stop trying to be kind and reasonable, even though those are the very qualities which drew me to you in the first place.’

  ‘Stop talking like that and just tell me why you’re here, Drakon,’ she demanded, her voice trembling with anger, because she didn’t need to know these things. In fact, weren’t they making the situation even worse?

  ‘I’m here because I miss you, Lucy,’ he bit out. ‘I miss you more than words can ever say and in every way—physically, mentally and emotionally. And Xander misses you, too.’ He shook his head. ‘I can’t believe I didn’t even let you say goodbye to him.’

  ‘But Xander has a nanny,’ Lucy put in fiercely, because it wasn’t fair for him to do this to her. To put her heart through the wringer all over again, only to leave her high and dry. ‘As you told me on the night we parted. Just as you told me you couldn’t tolerate a woman who had lied to you. And as for not saying goodbye to a baby of that age—what difference would it have made? Xander is too young to have realised what was going on and it would only have upset and confused the baby and Sofia.’

  ‘But that wasn’t why I did it,’ he persisted. ‘Why I wouldn’t allow you to go to him.’

  ‘No. I realise that. You did it to punish me because I had failed to live up to the image you’d created of me as your ideal woman.’ She drew in a deep breath. ‘Because that’s the truth of it, isn’t it, Drakon? You’d put me on a pedestal and that’s where I was expected to stay. The nurse. The virgin. The mother. And you didn’t like it when I blurred those roles, did you? When your good girl became a good-time girl and seduced you in the back of the limousine, you could hardly hide your dismay. You couldn’t bear to accept that I had flaws, just like everyone else—or that I was a real person with real needs. Maybe if you hadn’t been so intent on perfection, I might have had the courage to tell you I was infertile before. But I didn’t want to risk you not marrying me,’ she admitted huskily, because what did she have to lose now? ‘I had an opportunity to do just that when we first discussed it, over lunch in the Granchester that day, when you presented me with my engagement ring.’

  ‘But you didn’t?’ he questioned slowly.

  ‘No, I didn’t. You didn’t ask why I didn’t want children of my own and I was glad you hadn’t, because in that moment I was living the dream and I didn’t want to wake up from it. And like I said, we didn’t really know each other—there was no expectation that we would ever care for each other—so why would I confide something so intensely personal?’

  There was silence for a moment and when eventually he spoke, his voice was very low. ‘What if I were to tell you again that I’m sorry for what I did and that I care very much? What if I were to tell you that my life has been empty without you and that I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you and our son?’

  Lucy couldn’t prevent the surge of hope which flooded into her chest, but she quashed it and forced herself to ask the question which still hung between them, like a dark spectre. ‘But you want more children, Drakon!’ she declared, her voice shaking. ‘That hasn’t changed. You want more children and I can’t give them to you.’

  ‘I wanted more children with you,’ he corrected sombrely. ‘And if that isn’t possible, then I will count my blessings and be content with the family I’ve already got. All I’m asking is for another chance, Lucy. To show you that I mean what I say. To love you in the way that you deserve to be loved.’

  Lucy stared at him as those two words resonated more than any others. Another chance. How could she deny him that, even if she wanted to? Because how many people would give everything they owned for one more chance? Her brother would have liked the chance to have dodged that stray sniper’s bullet—and if that had happened, her mother would never have faded away, like the blowsy roses which grew in the walled garden at Milton school.

  She swallowed, knowing that this was the biggest and most important decision she’d ever had to make. If she accepted Drakon’s offer, she would be taking a risk and she had never been a natural risk-taker. But what was the alternative? To turn him away and say goodbye? Yes, she might get hurt if she stayed with him—that was a very real possibility in every single relationship—but wasn’t she being given the opportunity to spend the rest of her life with the only man she had ever loved? And wouldn’t the hurt of turning him away transcend any other pain she’d ever known?

  Because Lucy had glimpsed a world wi
thout Drakon in it and it was a bleak one. And maybe this place in which they now found themselves was the best place of all. One where all the barriers and fears with which they had surrounded themselves had crumbled away and all that was left were two people who loved each other and wanted to be together. She clasped her hands together as if in prayer and looked at him with all the tenderness she had never dared show before.

  ‘Yes, Drakon,’ she said softly. ‘Yes, to everything you ask of me. Because I love you, too. I love the man I see beneath the hard layer you present to the world—and I’d like the world to see more of him.’

  He nodded as he took a step towards her. ‘Just know one thing, Lucy.’ His voice was shaking as he pulled her into his arms and buried his face against her hair and she could feel his powerful body trembling. ‘That I won’t ever let you down. Not again.’

  But Lucy knew that already, in the only place which mattered.

  She knew it in her heart.

  EPILOGUE

  ‘YOU’RE NOT COLD?’

  ‘Cold?’ Lucy smiled up at Drakon. His arm was protectively clasped around her shoulders and she thought how handsome he looked in his dark dinner suit and black bow tie. ‘Not at all. Mainly because I’m wearing thermal knickers.’

  ‘Are you joking?’

  ‘Of course I’m joking, darling. Do you really think I would have passed over all that deliciously decadent lingerie you bought me for Christmas in favour of a pair of sensible pants? And besides...’ She snuck a glance at the jewel-studded wristwatch she’d also found nestling at the bottom of her stocking a week earlier. A delicate watch with ink-spot sapphires he’d had made specially. ‘It’s not long to wait until the fireworks.’

  Her husband’s black eyes gleamed as he studied her. ‘Do you know how much I love you, Lucy Konstantinou?’ he questioned softly.

  ‘I think I’ve got a good idea. Just so long as you understand that the feeling is completely mutual, my darling. S’agapo.’

  Noting Drakon’s nod of contentment at her increasingly confident use of Greek, Lucy took the opportunity to look at the lavishly dressed guests who were milling around, drinking champagne beneath the fairy lights on the roof terrace of the Granchester Hotel as they waited for midnight.

  ‘People seem to be having a good time,’ she whispered. ‘Don’t you think?’

  ‘Mmm,’ he said, more concerned with dipping his head to brush his lips over the fall of her hair. ‘The best time in the world, but of course—the moment I’m most looking forward to is when the fireworks are over and I can take you along to the penthouse suite to continue our own, very private party.’

  ‘I’m looking forward to it, too,’ said Lucy. ‘Though I’m still not quite sure why we’re staying the night here, when we only live down the road in Mayfair and have a car at our disposal.’

  ‘I thought you might enjoy sleeping in the same bed we occupied on the first night of our honeymoon.’ His mouth quirked. ‘Or not sleeping, as the case may be.’

  Lucy gave a contented sigh. ‘You are a very romantic man, Drakon Konstantinou—as well as being an exceedingly sexy one.’

  ‘I do my best. Because I gather that’s what you like.’ He whispered a fingertip over her waist. ‘Am I right, agape mou?’

  ‘Irrefutably,’ she purred.

  It was New Year’s Eve and Drakon had thrown the party to end all parties to celebrate the discovery of a new oil field, which was being mooted as the biggest find in almost a century. And although Lucy sometimes mused that he really didn’t need to earn any more money, the philanthropic arm of his empire had benefited in so many ways that she couldn’t really complain. Her husband had taken over the entire hotel and the evening was—apparently—the hottest New Year ticket in town. Movers and shakers had flown in from pretty much every country in the world, as well as Hollywood actors and international sports stars, whose arrival was thrilling the growing crowds who had gathered outside behind the roped-off barriers.

  Everyone who’d been at their wedding was here. Caro and her husband, as well as Lucy’s two waitress friends, Judii and Jade. Patti and Tom were enjoying their first outing since the birth of their second child. And Amy was there too, with her not-so-new partner and proclaimed love of her life. Lucy smiled. When she and Drakon had decided to give their marriage another go, he had arranged a meeting with Amy. Gently, he’d explained to his business partner that the smokescreen of their close working relationship must necessarily end, because he intended travelling a lot less in future and spending more time with his family. Perhaps his words had galvanised her into action, for Amy had taken Michelle to meet her parents and told them she was in love. And in the end, perhaps her parents had recognised that their daughter’s happiness was more important than a prejudice which they simply had to learn to let go of.

  Lucy sighed as she stared up at a clear and starlit sky, which boded well for the eagerly awaited fireworks. What a long time ago their wedding seemed now, and how the years seemed to have flown by in the time it took to blink your eye. Three whole years—and back then she’d been so scared. A trembling mass of nerves in her too-fancy dress as she’d walked down the aisle towards a man she’d never stopped wanting. She’d never for a moment imagined she’d get love and devotion from someone who made no secret of having a heart of stone. But Drakon’s heart wasn’t made of stone, she’d realised. These days she would describe it as a heart of gold—for he had learnt to show his love, not just for her, but for their darling little Xander, who flourished with each day which passed.

  ‘Something is different about you,’ Drakon said, his velvety voice breaking into her thoughts.

  Lucy turned her attention away from the star-spangled sky to study the ruggedly handsome face of her husband. ‘What do you mean, different?’

  He shrugged. ‘You’ve been...thoughtful all day,’ he said slowly. ‘And your face has a kind of radiance about it which I’ve never seen before.’

  How perceptive he was, Lucy thought, and savoured the moment before telling him what she still couldn’t quite believe herself. ‘I’m pregnant, my darling,’ she said softly. ‘I’m having your baby, Drakon.’

  He stared at her without comprehension and it was several dazed moments before he could speak. ‘But you said—’

  ‘That I had endometriosis and because of that I was infertile, yes. That’s what I was told. So when I started getting symptoms of pregnancy, I thought it must be something else. But when I saw the doctor this morning, she confirmed what I hardly dared dream. She told me that miracles do happen, and this is ours, Drakon—our very own miracle.’

  Drakon felt a lump rise in his throat and the hot spring of tears at the backs of his eyes as he put his arms around her and held her tightly against his beating heart. Not for the first time, he wondered what he had done to deserve a wife like Lucy. A woman who had been prepared to take on an orphaned baby and to love the helpless tot without condition, just as she loved him. She had forgiven her sometimes irascible husband his many transgressions and taught him the things in life which were truly important, and the most important of these was love.

  ‘I discovered that myself on the day I met you again, my love,’ he said gruffly. ‘Although it took me a long time to realise it.’

  She pulled back from him. ‘Realise what?’

  ‘That miracles really do come true. Sometimes they are right in front of your eyes...you just have to let your vision clear for long enough to see them properly.’

  ‘Oh, Drakon,’ she said shakily.

  The first chime of Big Ben rang out and the guests began counting down the seconds towards midnight. Trumpets sounded and streamers were popped and people started to sing as the final chime faded away. But as one year merged seamlessly into the next and a kaleidoscope of fireworks exploded on the London skyline, nothing came close to the burst of joy in Drakon’s heart as he held Lucy tightly in his arms, a
nd kissed her.

  * * *

  If you enjoyed His Contract Christmas Bride by Sharon Kendrick, you’re sure to enjoy these other Conveniently Wed! stories!

  Bought Bride for the Argentinian

  by Sharon Kendrick

  Contracted as His Cinderella Bride

  by Heidi Rice

  Shock Marriage for the Powerful Spaniard

  by Cathy Williams

  The Innocent’s Emergency Wedding

  by Natalie Anderson

  Available now!

  Keep reading for an excerpt from Bound by Their Nine-Month Scandal by Dani Collins.

  We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Presents title.

  You want alpha males, decadent glamour and jet-set lifestyles. Step into the sensational, sophisticated world of Harlequin Presents, where sinfully tempting heroes ignite a fierce and wickedly irresistible passion!

  Enjoy eight new stories from Harlequin Presents every month!

  Connect with us on Harlequin.com for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!

  Other ways to keep in touch:

  Harlequin.com/newsletters

  Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks

  Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks

  HarlequinBlog.com

  Bound by Their Nine-Month Scandal

  by Dani Collins

  CHAPTER ONE

  PIA MONTERO FEARED her sister-in-law’s masquerade ball would be interminable, and it was, but not for the reason she had anticipated.