He kissed a certain spot. “You’ve fed me the nectar of the gods, but it’s true I still need mortal food and his creations are out of this world. In truth he should be the new cook for the restaurant after Gemma leaves.”
“Have you told him that? Maybe he’d like to do it for a while.”
“I’ll have to run it by Vincenzo. Do you know Cesare had always said his mother was the best cook who ever lived?”
“That’s a thought. We’ll have to talk some more about it, but right now I know you’re hungry. So am I.” She kissed his hard jaw that needed a shave and let him go long enough to slide out of bed and put on her robe. “Stay there and I’ll get it.”
He lay back on the pillows, looking every inch the prince of her dreams. There wasn’t enough she could do for him. “I love you desperately, Takis, and want to do everything I can to make you happy.”
After kissing him passionately, she flew across the room. A staff member had left the tray with Cesare’s breakfast beside the door. It was laden with every conceivable dish Takis would love. She carried it to their bed, where they could lounge and eat to their hearts’ desire.
After eating as much as she could, she lay back. “You’re right. I’ve never tasted better food in my life.” She eyed her fabulous husband. “Would it hurt his feelings if you actually approached him with the idea of being the chef at the hotel in Milan?”
Takis put the tray on the floor, then pulled her back in his arms. “Of course it wouldn’t,” he murmured against her throat. “After running his own chain of restaurants in New York, he’s been begged by restaurants around the world to be their executive chef. All he has to do is name his price.”
She covered his face with kisses. “But he wants to be with you and Vincenzo and Dimi. You four have an amazing relationship. I’d be jealous if I didn’t understand how it all started, and why.”
“We’re very close, but you will always come first.”
“Why did you laugh so hard when Cesare made his toast?”
“I was afraid you would ask.” He kissed her again. “After you left my office, he witnessed my meltdown. I couldn’t understand why Nassos had left me half a hotel.
“To make matters more complicated, I’d just met you after seeing you at the funeral. Since then you’d never been out of my thoughts and I knew in my soul you were the woman meant for me. But I didn’t want to be in love. At the height of my frustration, I threw the deed across the room, but it landed on Cesare’s chest.”
She burrowed her face in his neck, chuckling quietly. “Thank you for telling me. You have no idea how much I love you.” Her eyes filled. “It was the perfect wedding, wasn’t it?”
“Almost as perfect as you. Thank God for Danae giving me her blessing. And thank God for Nassos for bringing us together. If I didn’t know better, I could believe he had an inkling that he might not be on this earth long. Every time I think about his letter to you and the deed to me, I get a prickling down my spine.”
“So do I,” she said in a shaken voice. “I—I can’t imagine life without you now.”
“Don’t try. I’m planning to love you all day and night for the rest of our lives, Kyria Manolis.”
She smiled and kissed him with fervor. “That’s right. I am Mrs. Manolis, and I want a baby with you as soon as possible. The next time we go to the paint store to pick out the color for the nursery, I plan to be the one that woman deals with, not you. I want blue.”
“I was thinking pink.”
They kissed again. “For once we disagree.”
“No. We’ll simply build another couple of rooms on the rear of the house. I’d like to call our first daughter Lysette, in honor of Nassos. He brought us together, my love.”
“That’s so sweet.” She covered his face with kisses. “Spoken like my unmatchable husband. I think our first boy should be Nikos Takis Manolis, in honor of your father and you!”
Takis’s low chuckle melted her bones before he rolled her over and began kissing her into oblivion.
Much later they were served another exquisite meal. After they were replete, Takis lay on his side so they could look into each other’s eyes. “I have an idea what we should do with the hotel in Heraklion.”
“So do I. We’ll keep it and run it together.”
“Yes, and whichever one of our children shows an interest in running it, we’ll let them have at it.”
She traced his lips with her finger. “What if one of them wants to change it in unorthodox ways? How will you feel about that?”
He took a deep breath. “One thing is for sure. All of us will talk everything out together so there can be no chance for misinterpretation that can lead to years of uncertainty.”
“Oh, I’m so glad you said that!” she cried. “No woman was ever so lucky. Come here, my husband, and let me love you like you’ve never been loved before. I might not let you out of this room for days.”
“I’m going to hold you to that promise, you beautiful creature.”
* * *
By the first of June the weather was actually hot in Florence, Italy. Lys had felt sick before they’d flown here and had welcomed the cool of Dimi’s villa.
Either her symptoms meant she was coming down with the flu, or... Was it possible she was pregnant this soon? Gemma had confided that she’d had similar symptoms when she realized she was carrying Vincenzo’s baby.
Before leaving for the church the next morning, Lys did a home pregnancy test. To her joy, it showed she was pregnant with Takis’s baby. But she didn’t want to tell him the news until after Dimi’s wedding.
The festivities leading up to the big day and exquisite marriage ceremony had worn her out and after they left for Dimi’s villa following the reception, she noticed the temperature hadn’t cooled down.
For the moment, she longed to lie down in their room until their flight home tomorrow. But once they were in the limo, Takis told the chauffeur to drive them to the airport. She turned to her husband in alarm. “I thought we weren’t leaving until tomorrow.”
He flashed her his mysterious smile. “Don’t worry. I made arrangements for our luggage to be put on the plane. We’re taking a little twenty-four-hour detour to Milan before we go home. After our honeymoon on the yacht several months ago, I wanted us to enjoy another one in Milan, but decided to save this surprise until after Dimi’s wedding.”
She hated to tell him she wasn’t feeling well and spoil his plans. “I—I didn’t realize you have work to do at the castello this trip,” her voice faltered. All she wanted was to get back to the villa and go to sleep in a cold room, but he’d been so wonderful to her, she couldn’t dampen his happiness right now. With Dimi’s marriage, he was on a high.
Takis kissed her. “This isn’t for work. Humor me, agape mou.”
She loved him so much she would do it if it killed her.
Two hours later when they pulled up to the front entrance parking, he kissed her awake. “Come on, sleepyhead. We’re here.”
She tried her best to cooperate as they walked up the endless stairs leading to the main entrance. He hurried them inside and down the hall to the rear of the castello, where she had to face a winding stone staircase.
Her head began to swim as they ascended the medieval tower, and positive she wouldn’t make it, she sagged against him.
“Are you all right? We’re almost there.”
“My darling husband—are you sure you don’t hope I’ll expire before we reach the top?”
The whole shadowy medieval stairway echoed with his laughter. “A few more minutes and all your fears will disappear.”
When she reached the fortress-like door, he opened it for her. “We’ve arrived where it will be my joy to wait upon my precious wife.”
Her heart kicked her ribs hard as they walked over the
threshold and he led her toward the bedroom. The tower suite was a vision of ducal elegance dating back several centuries. The light through the stained-glass windows covered the room in thousands of different colors and nearly took her breath away.
“Takis?”
“Go ahead and lie down on the bed. I’ll be right back.”
It was heaven to take off her suit and just sink onto the bed. She had no strength at this point. A minute later she heard him call to her and she opened her eyes.
Lys didn’t know what to expect, but it wasn’t to see the prince of her dreams come to life before her eyes. He looked so magnificent in the white tunic, and in the dimly lit room, Takis’s eyes gleamed from his bronzed face.
In spite of how ill she felt, Lys’s heart began to beat in time with the desire that thrummed through her veins and she tried to sit up, but he sank down on the massive bed next to her.
“Don’t move. I want to look at my beautiful wife.”
“Takis—”
“Since the moment you became my wife, since the moment I met you, I knew that you were the one person I needed, the one person I loved. I swore on our wedding night that I’d love you forever. And I intend to show you just how seriously I take that oath. Come here to me, darling.”
But as he lowered his mouth to kiss her in frantic need, she had to turn away from him.
“Lys—are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” she cried gently. “It’s just that... I’m not feeling too good.”
He smoothed his hand against her cheek. “I had no idea you felt ill. You should have told me.”
“It’s been coming on for a couple of days. I didn’t want to say anything.”
“I’m sending for the doctor.” Anxiety had wiped the glow from his face and eyes. It reminded her of the way Vincenzo had looked at Gemma, who’d suffered serious morning sickness in the beginning of her pregnancy.
“No. It’s all right. I don’t need a doctor. I took a test.”
“A test?” Takis looked at her expectantly.
“We’re pregnant, darling, isn’t it wonderful?”
For the second time in a minute the expression on his handsome face changed. This time to one of shock and joy. His hand slid to her belly. “Our baby...?” His voice of wonder reached the core of her being.
“I’ll go to the doctor as soon as we get back to Tylissos. But as much as I want to make love to you right now, I can’t.”
Suddenly she rolled off the bed and hurried into the bathroom and was sick. He followed her in to help her.
“What can I do for you?”
She rinsed her mouth and face before turning to him with a faint smile. “I think you’ve already done it, big time.” He helped her back to the bed. “But I do have one more favor.”
“What is it? I’d do anything for you.”
“Promise you won’t make too much fuss.”
“I promise I’ll try to take this in my stride.”
“Liar,” she teased.
“I only want to take the best care of you and the baby,” said Takis. “That’s why I took you here.”
“And it was a beautiful surprise to be brought here to the castello by my Cretan prince. I love you, Takis”.
“And I love you too, Lys,” said Takis, “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you, my love, my everlasting love.”
* * * * *
If you really enjoyed this story
then you won’t want to miss
RETURN OF HER ITALIAN DUKE,
the first book in Rebecca Winters’s
THE BILLIONAIRE’S CLUB trilogy.
Available now!
If you want to read about another
gorgeous billionaire hero then make sure
to indulge in
THE BOSS’S FAKE FIANCÉE
by Susan Meier.
Keep reading for an excerpt from
THEIR BABY SURPRISE
by Katrina Cudmore.
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Their Baby Surprise
by Katrina Cudmore
CHAPTER ONE
YOU CAN’T OUTRUN your past.
And right now Lucien Duval’s past was staring at him from the radio studio’s anteroom with as much warmth as a canister of liquid nitrogen.
That past being Charlotte Aldridge, the verbal assassin of Huet Construction’s legal department.
Ten minutes ago, like an avenging angel to his guilty conscience, she had stalked into the anteroom, presumably sent to monitor every word he uttered in his early morning radio interview.
Ash-blonde hair coiled into a tight bun. Dark suit with buttoned-up blouse. Professional. Serious. A walking, talking, breathing human Hands Off! sign.
The type of woman he typically gave a wide berth to.
But those sea-green eyes of hers, which always observed him as though he was a disappointment, somehow also managed to burn something hot and liquid through his veins. Every. Single. Time.
And two months ago, he had learned that that tense mouth of hers was capable of softening and sending his pulse into another year.
And that those sea-green eyes, so cool and detached normally, could melt into a gaze of vulnerability and caution that had tripped over his heart. Two months on and he was still trying to shake off whatever hold she had on him.
The old scar just above his right ear began to tighten and itch.
He already had his board of directors haranguing him for his outspoken criticism of how the UK housing and infrastructure crisis was being managed—he didn’t need the added disapproval of an employee he had recklessly slept with.
Charlotte had been an error in judgement, a slip in his usual strict self-control.
His honeymoon period as the new CEO and majority shareholder of Huet Construction was rapidly coming to an end. If he didn’t start producing the results the City expected, the share price and investor confidence of one of the world’s largest construction companies would soon be heading south.
And all of those who were sceptical of his buy-out of Huet, who said he was an opportunist, a maverick, would be proved right.
Never.
He shifted in his seat; he needed to get out of this radio studio.
Now.
He didn’t have time to be listening to yet more
empty promises from a politician.
He had a gigabyte worth of emails waiting for him...and points to prove.
He leaned forward across the studio table and growled, ‘Enough.’
Mid-sentence, the Housing Minister, his fellow interviewee on the UK’s largest breakfast radio show, leapt in his seat, his studio headphones twisting around, momentarily leaving him unable to speak as he tugged them back into place.
A quick look towards Charlotte’s glacial gaze intensified his need to agitate, revolt, defy.
He switched his attention back across the table. ‘Minister, I think you have bored the listeners enough, don’t you? Let’s allow them to enjoy their breakfasts in peace. It’s the least you can do considering that the majority of them are actually having to live on a daily basis with the circumstances of this housing crisis: spiralling rents, the inability to provide a home for their families, couples unable to start families. And yet again, you’re waffling and making excuses while not taking a single worthwhile action. When are you going to actually tackle the issues around land banking, compulsory purchase orders and the transparent disposal of public sector land? Look at innovative ideas like pre-fab housing? I say never because you have neither the courage nor the ability to do so. I’d have more faith in a bunch of toddlers with a box of play building bricks to sort out this crisis.’
With the minister grappling for words, an amused-looking radio presenter took the opportunity to wrap up the interview.
Lucien stood and approached the minister, who reluctantly accepted his handshake. Lucien gave him a brief nod and turned away. His plane was waiting for him at London City Airport.
* * *
Lucien swept through the anteroom and out into the corridor without as much as a glance in her direction.
Charlotte tried not to wince.
They had not spoken since their night together. It had been excruciating enough the few times they had passed one another in the corridors of Huet headquarters to nod in his direction, knowing what it was like to feel the weight of his powerful, hard body on hers, knowing the havoc his hands could cause.
Bound to Her Greek Billionaire Page 15