by Marinelli, Carol; Hayward, Jennifer; Stephens, Susan; Anderson, Natalie
‘I’m not surprised.’
She nodded and then looked at him, her heart thudding. ‘How can I help?’
He drew his hand from his pocket. She gasped as she saw what he held—Margot’s diamonds.
‘Where did you get that?’ she asked.
‘You’re not to sell it, Kitty—it means too much to you.’
‘How did you get it?’ She’d left it in the safe at the auction house.
‘I bought it.’ A wry grin crossed his face. ‘It and several rather stylish dresses.’
‘You didn’t. From my auction?’
He nodded.
‘You bought everything?’ That was crazy.
‘I know it’s stupid, but I couldn’t bear to think of anyone else wearing them.’
‘But you paid for them all twice.’
‘I don’t care.’
‘Oh, Alejandro.’ Tears pricked her eyes. He melted her, every time. ‘Why did you do that?’
Alejandro turned and walked away from her. There was too much he had to say and he lost track of everything when he looked at her. ‘I need to tell you about my father.’
He heard her sharp inhalation.
‘You don’t have to do that.’
‘I do. Please.’ He took a seat at the furthest end of the table from her so he wasn’t tempted to touch her. He had to get this off his chest. He had to get her to understand. ‘I don’t like to talk about it much, but there’s a lot I remember. There’d been other incidents before that day. He was possessive. Jealous. He hit her. And me.’ He dragged in another shuddering breath. Saying this aloud to her was harder than he’d thought it would be. But he’d worked on it with his new counsellor, and he was determined he’d get himself sorted. For himself and for Kitty. ‘He’d get jealous of me. He’d say she spent more time with me than with him. That she loved me more than him. Like it was a competition.’
Kitty didn’t say anything; she just came forward and sat in the chair next to his.
His father had been wrong. His father had been evil. But he had his blood in his veins.
‘When she took me and left him for good, he flipped out.’ Alejandro avoided looking at Kitty’s face as he said it. ‘He tracked us down and came after her. She stepped in front of me. She died protecting me.’ It hurt so much but he could never forget. And until now he’d never really understood what had driven her. ‘That’s what mothers do, isn’t it? They fight for their young. They’ll do anything for their children. Fathers should too.’ He lifted his head and looked at her. ‘And fathers should love their daughters every bit as much as they love their sons.’
Her sweet face crumpled. ‘Alejandro—’
‘I think my father confused love with possession. He held on to her and refused to let her go because he saw her as his.’ He fought back the emotion clogging his throat. ‘And I promised myself I was never going to be like that with any woman. I wasn’t going to marry. I wasn’t going to have kids. It was all so clear and so easy for so long. And then you stole into my new home and I turned into a demanding creep.’
‘No—’
‘I locked you in the library,’ he growled. ‘For heaven’s sake, Kitty, I was awful to you that night.’
But she shook her head. ‘You weren’t that bad. I was the one who’d broken in. I was the one in the wrong.’
‘But I took advantage of that. I saw you and I wanted you so I used every chance that came my way to keep you with me.’ He’d taken total advantage of everything to do with her. ‘All you wanted was what should always have been yours. The necklace.’
‘But I also wanted you,’ she said softly with a small shrug. ‘I took one look at you and…you fascinated me. Maddened me. But I wanted you the second I saw you. You were more honest about that than me.’ She licked her lips. ‘And then I got to know you. You didn’t bully me into staying there with you. You didn’t threaten me with violence. Not once.’
‘But you had to stay only because I had something you wanted.’
‘What I really wanted was you.’ She smiled sadly at him. ‘And if I had really wanted to leave, you wouldn’t have stopped me. We both know that.’
Did they? Would he have let her walk out? Not with the diamonds, but without. Yes, he would have.
Her smile deepened as she watched him. ‘You would have figured out the ownership of the necklace and returned it. You’re not dishonest. You’re just. And that night with the necklace was the catalyst for the attraction between us. My staying here was convenient for us both. It’s just that I couldn’t admit it at the time. I never wanted to admit how attracted I was to you because it overwhelmed me. But I stayed and then really got to know you. That’s when I was really in trouble.’
Alejandro couldn’t dare believe that she truly cared for him. He didn’t deserve it when he’d been so arrogant and so damn dismissive. ‘I don’t want to make you unhappy. I don’t want you to feel trapped. I need to be able to let you go. I have to let you go.’ He ruffled his hair distractedly, unable to get the words right. ‘Because I’m afraid of myself.’ He looked up at her. ‘But now I’m more afraid of life without you. I’m so sorry I walked away from you that day in Scotland, Kitty. I’m so sorry.’
Kitty was struggling to believe that he was here. That he’d bought all those dresses all over again. That he was gifting her the diamonds.
Most of all that he’d opened up to her about his father and about his fears.
And she was too afraid to really question why. She couldn’t bear to have her heart broken twice over.
‘There’s something I need to tell you,’ she said quickly. ‘I had my first pregnancy scan yesterday.’
He paled and she saw the fear flare in his eyes.
‘It’s okay,’ she added quickly. ‘Everything is okay.’ She swallowed. ‘Better than okay in some ways.’ She breathed out, struggling to stay in control. ‘I’m having twins.’
‘Twins,’ he echoed softly, his eyebrows lifting.
‘Two babies. Twins. Yes.’ She still couldn’t believe it herself. ‘That’s why I’m showing so much more at this stage.’
‘I thought that was just because you’re not very…’ He trailed off. ‘Twins…’ He looked dumbfounded.
‘Yes. It’s in the family.’ She half smiled.
But his expression was shuttered.
She kicked herself for the reminder about genetics and the passing on of particular traits. ‘Not that we inherit…’
‘No, it’s okay.’ He huffed out a breath. ‘It’s just that I don’t want you to think I’m here because of the baby… Babies.’ He rubbed his hand through his hair. ‘The pregnancy isn’t relevant—it’s you I want.’
Her pulse pounded loudly in her ears and she was glad because she was terrified of hearing what he was going to say next.
‘Kitty—’
‘You know that marriages with multiples are more likely to fail?’ she interrupted in a rush. ‘Financial pressures. Lack of sleep. Extra stress.’
He smiled at her—a slow, tender, vulnerable smile. ‘We won’t have financial pressures and we can get help—nannies, cooks, cleaners, whatever it takes. We’re in a better position than most. The thing is, I don’t know how to be a father,’ he said huskily. ‘I didn’t have a good example.’
She shifted on her seat, moving nearer so she could hear every one of his almost whispered words.
‘And I’ve never had a relationship last much longer than a month.’ He leaned closer to her too. ‘But I want it all with you, Kitty. I want you. I love you.’
‘I don’t really know how to be a mother yet, either,’ she offered shyly. ‘A bit of instinct maybe, some help from the experts, and we’ll be okay.’
‘More than okay. I know I need help processing everything.’ He looked intense. ‘I kn
ow you know about the nightmares. I hadn’t had them in so long, but then with you I guess everything opened up…’ He trailed off and cleared his throat. ‘I thought I had it all together, but I didn’t. I wince at the way I treated those women. I was cavalier. I thought I was doing no harm. But I was.’
She reached out and framed his face with her hands. He needed to stop beating himself up. He needed to believe in himself the way she did. ‘You’re okay, Alejandro. You’re a good guy. And I love you.’
‘You’ve changed my life,’ he said simply. ‘I love you so much. I want to be the man you need. I’m going to be.’
There was the determination she loved in him.
‘You already are,’ she promised him. ‘You are.’
A half smile lit in his eyes and he reached into his pocket. ‘I got this for you.’
There was a rushing in her ears as he opened the small box and she saw the diamond ring.
‘The jeweller worked round the clock to match the style to the choker, but if you don’t like it we can get another.’
‘I don’t want another.’
‘You don’t have to wear it.’
She laughed through her tears. ‘Stop it. I love it. You didn’t have to do that—just coming here was enough. All I wanted was you.’
‘Oh?’ He reached into his pocket again, some of his cocky arrogance returning. ‘But I got these too. For, I don’t know…next week?’
She stared at the heavy matching wedding bands in his palm.
‘Too soon?’ There was an edge of anxiety in him now.
‘No,’ she whispered. ‘Oh, Alejandro.’ She launched into his arms. ‘I need to feel you again,’ she confessed. ‘So much.’
His laugh was brief but exultant and he stood and quickly turned, flinging the rings to the floor so both his hands were free—to hold her close. Caress her. Claim her.
The kisses were fiery and frantic and the fabric separating their bodies tore. But then, just when he was so nearly hers, he stilled.
‘I’ve missed you.’ He trembled as he held back. ‘I don’t want to hurt you—’
‘You won’t. It’s okay. I want you so much.’
He was gentle anyway, holding her protectively in his arms as they reconnected again in this most intimate, most emotional of ways.
‘I love you,’ he told her.
Again. Then again. Until her tears flowed and he kissed them away and made her sigh in unbearable pleasure. She’d never imagined it was possible to be this happy.
‘Two babies,’ he breathed hoarsely as he rolled onto his back and lifted her so her head rested on his chest. ‘Heaven help me if they have red hair.’
‘And freckles.’ She mock-shivered. ‘The poor kids.’
‘They’ll be lucky to have them,’ he said, idly tracing hers now with a lazy fingertip. ‘They’re beautiful on you.’
She pushed up and rolled so she was astride him. She shook her head, letting her hair tumble to tickle him, and delighted in the way he looked at her. Finally, she believed in them both. ‘You’re crazy.’
He smiled into her eyes, relaxed and free, able to enjoy the tease. ‘About you. Absolutely.’ He kissed her tenderly. ‘Always.’
* * * * *
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ISBN-13: 9781459293106
Claiming His Convenient Fiancée
Copyright © 2017 by Natalie Anderson
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, M3B 3K9 Canada.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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ISBN-13: 9781460351802
Copyright © 2017 Harlequin Books S.A.
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:
Sicilian’s Baby of Shame
Copyright © 2017 by Carol Marinelli
Salazar’s One-Night Heir
Copyright © 2017 by Jennifer Drogell
The Secret Kept from the Greek
Copyright © 2017 by Susan Stephens
Claiming His Convenient Fiancée
Copyright © 2017 by Natalie Anderson
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
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