by Lee, Nadia
Too? “Excuse me?”
“The woman you asked about is here. You know, the one who comes to your sister’s grave every month? Been doing it for ten years. I think I told you that last time you came by.”
“Yes, you did. Thank you.” Daniel started walking faster. Maybe…
He stopped short when he saw the familiar figure of Merry. Despite a long winter coat, she seemed thinner than before. He didn’t need to be told it was due to his silent treatment. The wind whipped her unbound hair, and her small hand rested gently on the headstone. As he got closer, he heard her say, “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
He swallowed. He didn’t have an answer for her.
“Claude found out about Eric. I had no idea he was such a bad person. He actually kidnapped Eric. We got him back, but…”
Daniel stopped, feeling vaguely like an eavesdropper.
“And Daniel’s angry with me. I think I ruined everything by hiding who Eric is. I hope that doesn’t mean he’s going to start ignoring him. Eric really likes Daniel.” She laid a bouquet of flowers on the grave. Next to it was another that had withered and fallen half-apart.
Without realizing it, he took several steps back. He couldn’t hear anything else with the blood roaring in his head.
Merry had visited Judy’s grave every month for the last ten years to talk to her about Eric and other things in her life…and Daniel hadn’t. He’d stayed angry at Merry for not coming to Judy’s funeral, while she had been faithful to his sister.
Every month for ten years.
Here was a woman who would never change. Who would always do everything out of love.
Daniel’s knees shook. He had a choice. He could stay angry that Merry had hidden the truth, or accept the fact that Eric was much better off with Merry, who loved him unconditionally…because her love would always stay true.
A woman who had visited her dead friend’s grave every month for the last ten years wasn’t the type to change with every shift in the wind. A woman who had the integrity to tell the whole truth, even when it might embarrass her or implicate her, wasn’t the type to run when things got tough.
He felt a sea change come over him. He’d never once allowed himself to grieve for his sister. He’d been furious at the world for taking her from him, and at his family for keeping him from her when she had lain dying. And he’d blamed so many people for keeping him in the dark or abandoning Judy. But he’d never taken the time to grieve.
He recalled the mischievous sparkle in Eric’s eyes and the way his boyish chin grew sharp at the tip—just like Judy’s. He would’ve been able to see all of that immediately if he hadn’t been blinded by his own unresolved issues.
Hot tears began to flow, and he pressed a fist against his lips, holding back a sob. He couldn’t help but wonder if this was something Judy would have wanted for him—to grieve, let go and move on.
He’d been colossally foolish to think there was nothing left between him and Merry other than the resort. There was Eric. And there was this searing realization that he loved her, that he could give her his heart fearlessly.
Merry stilled, then turned around. She too had tears in her eyes, and she blinked them away. “Daniel?”
With an enormous effort, he mastered himself. “Merry.”
“What…” She tried to tuck her hair behind an ear. “What are you doing here?”
“Seeking some closure,” he said.
“Did you find it?” Her eyes soft, she reached out and wiped the tears from his face. “I come here because it helps to think things through with Judy. It gives me clarity. She was always so brave and smart, I feel like she can communicate with me from heaven.”
“She gave me clarity too.”
“Good.” Merry flashed him an uncertain smile. “Well… I should get going.”
“Wait.” He took her wrist. He could feel her pulse throbbing against his cold hand. “I have to tell you something.”
She stopped and turned to face him. Her gaze was unsure, and he hated it that he was the one responsible for dimming the light in her eyes.
“I always thought people weren’t to be trusted because they changed too easily. Judy was the only one who was really constant in my life, so when she died, it cut deep.” A long breath shuddered out of him, a strand of white fog in the cold. “I never thought I’d find anyone else as true…until you. You’ve surprised me at every turn. I keep waiting for you to slip and show me I’m right, but then you do something to prove how wrong I am instead. You did what you thought was the right thing for Eric. I shouldn’t have been angry with you at all. In your place…I might have done the same.” He took a deep breath. “I’m not like you, Merry. My family probably isn’t accepting and loving like yours, either. I don’t know that Ella or Ashley would’ve come to my rescue the way your family did with you, and you probably don’t want the messed up baggage, but…”
His throat worked. This was much harder than making a multi-million-dollar investment decision for Aylster Resorts. This could decide his future. “I love you, Meredith Lloyd.”
A big smile split her face, and she glowed until he ached inside. “I love you too, Daniel.” She pulled her wrist from his grip and put her arms around him. “I thought I’d lost you forever.”
“Never. I’m no match for the goodness in you.” He buried his face in her neck and hair, breathing in the familiar peach and womanly scent. “I probably did this all wrong.”
Merry pulled back, her eyes twinkling. “What makes you think you did it all wrong?”
“Kerri said you wanted a grand romance. Sort of what Gavin’s secretary got.”
Merry laughed. “Daniel, I’d trade a thousand grand gestures for that simple ‘I love you’ from your lips. You make me the happiest woman in the world.”
“And you make me the happiest man.”
Chapter Thirty
Meredith couldn’t suppress a smile. Eric had fallen asleep after staying awake until midnight to open three of his Christmas presents. She hadn’t opened any—neither had Daniel—and they’d arisen at six thirty, before Eric could get up.
Bear whined at them, and she patted the dog’s head. “It’s all right, sweetie. Come on. We have a present for you, too, but you have to wait until Eric’s up.”
She and Daniel sat next to each other, and she watched the orange flames lick the logs, resting her head on his shoulder. “This is the first Christmas morning I’ve ever spent with a guy,” she said. “It’s sweet and romantic.”
Daniel had moved in two weeks before. She liked it that he was at her place. It made it easier to transition, and Eric hadn’t minded that Daniel wanted to live with them, for which she was grateful. It didn’t hurt that he liked Daniel, and his idol Uncle Ethan had nodded sagely and said, “Well, that’s just how it goes when two people like each other.”
The boy agreed with everything Ethan said, and she hoped he’d eventually learn to trust and look up to Daniel as much as he did Ethan.
“So, do you want to open your present before Eric gets up? It’s going to be a madhouse—and he’s going to want to go over to his grandma’s for Christmas brunch. The whole family’s going to be there. Ella and Ashley too.” They’d approached her, and she’d invited them. They deserved to get to know Eric, and her mom didn’t mind entertaining two additional guests.
“It feels like an overindulgence to get a present when I have you,” Daniel said.
She chuckled. “Well. It does to me too, but tradition is tradition.”
“Your family’s big on that, right?”
“Yup. And if you don’t bring your own traditions, you sort of have to adopt ours.” She kissed him on the mouth and reached under the tree for a heavy, square box. It was festively wrapped with a reindeer-and-Christmas-tree-patterned paper. “For you.”
He opened it, and peered at the beautifully embossed velvet cover: Eric’s First Ten Years.
“I know you missed them, and since he’s your nephew an
d all, I feel like you should be able to catch up.” Meredith smiled. “It has his photos and writings and tests and all sorts of stuff that I’ve kept over the years. It’s half photo album and half scrapbook.”
Daniel’s throat worked. “Thank you. It’s wonderful.”
“I’m going to start another one to record all our time together, too.”
“I’d like that.” He reached under the tree and handed her a small, oblong box. “It made me think of you.”
It was wrapped with expensive-looking navy blue paper with small golden stars. She opened it and saw a blue jeweler’s box. Inside was a platinum necklace with a pink diamond heart pendant. “Daniel… It’s beautiful,” she said, looking into his eyes.
He lifted the necklace and fastened it around her neck, his warm fingers brushing her skin. “My heart is forever yours.”
She wrapped one hand around the pendant and with the other pulled him down until their lips were almost touching. “I’ll cherish it as long as I live.”
And then she brought them together.
——
Thank you for being a part of the Lloyd family. But you don’t have to say goodbye! You’ll see your favorite familiar faces and meet some new ones in my spin-off series, The Pryce Family.
See what Gavin Lloyd’s best friend Mark Pryce does to win the love of his life in The Billionaire’s Counterfeit Girlfriend [US :: UK :: Canada :: Australia] today!
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Titles by Nadia Lee
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——
The Billionaire’s Claim Duet
Book 1: Obsession
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Book 2: Redemption
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——
Sweet Darlings Inc. Series
Book 1: That Man Next Door
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Book 2: That Sexy Stranger
US :: UK :: Canada :: Australia
Book 3: That Wild Player
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——
Billionaires’ Brides of Convenience Series
Book 1: A Hollywood Deal
US :: UK :: Canada :: Australia
Book 2: A Hollywood Bride
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Book 3: An Improper Deal
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Book 4: An Improper Bride
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Book 5: An Improper Ever After
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Book 6: An Unlikely Deal
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Book 7: An Unlikely Bride
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Book 8: A Final Deal
US :: UK :: Canada :: Australia
——
The Pryce Family Series
Book 1: The Billionaire’s Counterfeit Girlfriend
US :: UK :: Canada :: Australia
Book 2: The Billionaire’s Inconvenient Obsession
US :: UK :: Canada :: Australia
Book 3: The Billionaire’s Secret Wife
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Book 4: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Fiancée
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Book 5: The Billionaire’s Forbidden Desire
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Book 6: The Billionaire’s Holiday Bride
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——
Seduced by the Billionaire Series
Book 1: The Billionaire’s Revenge
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Book 2: The Billionaire’s Pursuit
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Book 3: The Billionaire’s Baby
US :: UK :: Canada :: Australia
Book 3.5: The Millionaire’s Crush
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Book 4: The Billionaire’s Secret
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Book 5: The Billionaire’s Scandal
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——
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About Nadia Lee
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Nadia Lee writes sexy, emotional contemporary romance. Born with a love for excellent food, travel and adventure, she has lived in four different countries, kissed stingrays, been bitten by a shark, ridden an elephant and petted tigers.
Currently, she shares a condo overlooking a small river and sakura trees in Japan with her husband and son. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading books by her favorite authors or planning another trip.
To learn more about Nadia and her projects, please visit www.nadialee.net. To receive updates about upcoming works from Nadia, please visit www.nadialee.net to subscribe to her new release alert.
Seduced by the Billionaire: The Complete Collection
Copyright © 2016 by Hyun J Kyung
The Billionaire’s Revenge Revised Edition Copyright © 2014 by Hyun J Kyung
The Billionaire’s Revenge Original Copyright © 2011 by Hyun J Kyung
The Billionaire’s Pursuit Copyright © 2014 by Hyun J Kyung
The Billionaire’s Baby Copyright © 2014 by Hyun J Kyung
The Millionaire’s Crush Copyright © 2014 by Hyun J Kyung
The Billionaire’s Secret Copyright © 2014 by Hyun J Kyung
The Billionaire’s Scandal Copyright © 2014 by Hyun J Kyung
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without the prior written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews.
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