He entered the room, feeling more out of control than he’d ever felt in his life. She lay leaning against the pillows in a white hospital gown, her hair swept back from her face, a drip feeding liquids into her arm. Her skin was pale, but her features were set to defiant, her hazel eyes and mouth resolute.
He stopped halfway into the room. ‘Tegan…’ he started inadequately.
‘I had to tell the medical staff I was pregnant,’ she snapped. ‘I’m sorry if that was against the rules, but don’t worry, I swore them all to secrecy.’
He held his breath. He deserved that. He deserved everything she wanted to dish out and more.
‘How are you feeling?’
‘It’s just the best Christmas morning I’ve ever had. What do you reckon?’
‘They tell me the baby is okay.’
‘What—so now you care about the baby? That’s a turn-up. What did you come here for, Maverick? To have another go at me? To make me feel even worse? Because you know, if Morgan hadn’t convinced me to see you, you wouldn’t be here at all. So, please, just make it quick.’
‘No,’ he said, moving closer to the bed. ‘I don’t want to make you feel worse. I came to make sure you were all right. When I heard you’d been taken to hospital, I just about went crazy. I had to see you. I had to tell you I was sorry.’ He took a step closer to the bed. ‘And only last night I realised why it mattered.’
‘Because you wanted your baby back? Sorry, it’s a done deal.’
‘No. Because I only realised when I got here why it was so important I see you. Because I love you.’
For a split second she didn’t react, and he held out hope that he’d said the words she most wanted to hear. But then she scoffed, holding a hand to her head. ‘Is that supposed to be a joke? Because, if you’re serious, I have to say you’ve sure got a funny way of showing it.’
‘Tegan, I’m so sorry. For the things I said, for the way I treated you. I’m sorry for everything. I didn’t realise you were so sick yesterday. I should never have got stuck into you like that at all, but while you were so sick it was inexcusable.’
‘You thought I was faking it, so everyone would know I was pregnant and you’d be forced into marrying me.’
He turned his head away, ashamed because what she’d said was true.
‘There is a reason,’ he said.
‘A reason you treated me like crap?’
‘I told you about Tina.’
‘The PA who left you so scarred and cynical. She lied to you. She got pregnant. That’s what you told me.’
‘She did.’
‘As did I! I lied to you about who I was. I got pregnant. Obviously I deserved the worst.’
‘It’s not the same.’ He took a deep breath, raked his hands through his hair. ‘I thought it was, but it’s not. Tina’s baby wasn’t mine. She got pregnant and decided it was her meal ticket. We were working late one night and she made a move on me. She was from a Greek family, and had very striking looks…And, well, one thing led to another. A few weeks later she told me the baby was mine and that her family would disinherit her. I had no reason not to believe her. So I did the honourable thing—I told her I’d marry her.’
‘How did you find out?’
‘Just before the wedding. I overheard her boasting about it to a friend, about how she’d sucked me in completely and had already booked the abortion clinic. She was planning to destroy the child she’d used to trap me with as soon as our honeymoon was over.’
‘Oh my God. How could she?’
‘When I learned you were pregnant, it was Tina happening all over again. I was angry at you, but I was madder at myself for letting it happen. It’s not an excuse. I’m not trying to claim that what happened all those years ago excuses my behaviour. But I just want you to understand why I acted the way I did, and why I jumped to the conclusions that I did—the wrong ones, I know now.’
She blinked and just stared at him, and he was brave enough to walk to her side and sit down on her bed. ‘I guess it didn’t help to have it all dumped on you yesterday like that. I hadn’t planned it that way. I did try to tell you before, several times. Honest.’
‘I know. I didn’t give you a chance to tell me.’
She reached out a hand to his arm. ‘You really believe that?’
‘I didn’t before.’ He caught her hand in his, then spread his fingers wide, matching hers palm to palm before wrapping it once more in his. ‘I was too blind with anger to see anything. I wasn’t thinking. I was reliving the past, and I failed to see you. I only saw Tina and what she’d planned. What she’d done. But I do believe you now. I remembered the times I cut you off. I remembered you asking me not to keep doing this to you. I remembered your frustration. And it all made sense.’
She frowned, and moved to pull her hand away. ‘You know, Maverick, I still haven’t been completely honest with you.’
He wouldn’t let go. ‘What’s that supposed to mean? It is my baby?’
‘Yes, of course it’s yours. There’s been no one else. There is no one else. But do you remember when you told me about Tina? You were just back from Milan. I asked you about her because I needed to know where I stood with you—how you felt about me before I told you the truth, because I knew you’d hate me then. And, when I asked you what she’d done to you, you said those two things—that she’d lied to you and she’d got pregnant. And I got scared. I was guilty of the very same sins. So I got out of bed while you were on the phone and got dressed, because I knew you’d throw me out the minute I told you. But then Nell asked that I be at the lunch if she was going, and you insisted, and I told myself that I was doing it for Nell. I told you that in my defence. Nell gave me a gold-plated reason not to tell you.’
‘I know. I understand.’
She shook her head. ‘But you don’t. Because I didn’t do it for Nell. Not entirely. You were right when you mocked me. Because I did it for me. I took the option of staying your mistress for two more weeks over being honest with you then. I took the path of least resistance. Oh, I liked Nell, and wanted her to be happy, but I wanted to be happy even more. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing you, and I knew that if I told you that’s exactly what would happen. I knew I was taking a risk, and it couldn’t help but end ugly, and it did.’
‘I’m sorry I made it so ugly for you.’
‘You couldn’t help it. I left you no option. I lied to you from the start. I pretended to be someone else. I can’t blame you for hating me.’
‘You haven’t been listening to me. I told you, I love you.’
She shook her head. ‘You can’t mean that. Not after everything that’s happened. You don’t have to be nice to me just because it’s Christmas. I’m not going to make you marry me like that other woman. You don’t have to pretend.’
He allowed himself a smile. ‘I’m not being nice to you because it’s Christmas. And I know you wouldn’t marry me if I was the last man left on Earth, but I was wondering…’
He picked up both her hands in his, stroking the back of them with his thumbs, so tender where the canula was taped into one.
‘I was wondering whether you’d consider having me as your husband if maybe I wasn’t the last man left on Earth?’
She looked up at him. ‘You’re asking me to marry you?’
‘No,’ he said. ‘I’m begging you to marry me.’
‘Because I’m having your baby?’
‘The baby is a bonus. I want to marry you because I love you, and I can’t stand the thought of trying to live without you.’
‘You really love me?’
‘With all my heart and soul.’
She threw her arms around his neck. ‘Of course I will. I have loved you for so long!’
He put her away by the shoulders. ‘You have? Why didn’t you tell me?’
‘How could I, when I wasn’t even me? How could I admit anything? I didn’t even know who I was supposed to be. And meanwhile you were expecting this thing between us
to burn out in two weeks.’
He looked into her eyes. ‘This thing between us is never going to burn out—you better believe it.’
She looked up at him, her colour back, her eyes warm and delicious, her lips an open invitation. ‘I want to believe it.’
‘Then maybe this will convince you,’ he said, and lowered his mouth to hers. He kissed her, with all the depths of passion that he felt for her, with all the respect she deserved for what she’d done, with all the love for her that would never be more than she deserved.
And he felt her love in her kiss, in the way her arms pulled him to her, in the way her mouth moved under his.
The door burst open and a nurse bustled in. ‘Everything all right in here? This man isn’t bothering you, is he, Miss Fielding? Your sister sent me in to check.’
‘No,’ she said, looking into the eyes of the man she loved, the father of her child, the man she was going to marry. ‘He’s not bothering me at all. Tell Morgan everything is just perfect. And you know what else you can tell her for me?’
The nurse looked a little perplexed. ‘What’s that?’
Without taking her eyes from his, she smiled up at him, a smile that he’d been looking for for ever, a smile that he would treasure until the day he died, and his heart swelled like it was about to burst.
‘Just tell her there really is a Santa Claus.’
EPILOGUE
MAVERICK hated to be kept waiting. He hated not being in control, and he hated feeling helpless. And more than anything he hated watching the woman he loved in so much pain, her brow glistening with perspiration, her face contorted with every contraction. So he was damn sure he never wanted to go through this whole childbirth experience again.
That is until, with one final push, their baby emerged with a short cry into the world.
Their baby.
He squeezed Tegan’s hand and watched with awe and frustration while the cord was clamped and cut and the baby assessed.
‘Congratulations,’ said the midwife, smiling broadly as she handed the wrapped child to its mother. ‘You have a beautiful baby girl.’
‘Nell was right!’ she cried as she cradled the child against her breast. ‘We have a daughter.’
She was beautiful, with a shock of black hair that framed her face, a tiny Cupid’s bow mouth and muddy blue eyes that looked up at her mother in fascination as she wriggled her limbs, testing her new-found freedom.
Maverick found himself moved to tears. Never had he seen a more perfect picture than the one before him now: the woman he loved holding the baby they’d created together.
His woman.
His child.
His fortune.
‘She is beautiful,’ he agreed huskily, planting a kiss on their daughter’s downy, soft hair before turning to his wife. ‘Just like her mother.’
The team quietly and efficiently finished up around them in the minutes following, and drifted away one by one, leaving the new family some time to get acquainted.
Maverick had his turn to cuddle the tiny bundle, letting its hand latch onto his finger, feeling the strength of her grip, and he was totally bewitched. She was so utterly defenceless and yet, like the tiny hand around his finger, already she had a powerful grip around his heart.
‘So what do we call you, little one?’ he asked.
‘Nell knew that too,’ Tegan offered. ‘She’s our Christmas gift. We should call her Holly. Holly Eleanor, after your gran.’
‘Holly Eleanor? I like it.’ He looked into the peaceful face of his wife, her beautiful face calm now where previously her features had been contorted with pain, her hair waving in curls around her face where before it had been slick with sweat. Never had he had more admiration and respect for a person than he did now.
‘You were truly magnificent back there,’ he told her. ‘I wanted to do something, anything, to help you but there was nothing I could do.’
She responded with a dazzling smile that made him feel good all the way down to his toes. ‘Just having you here holding my hand was all the help I needed,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’
‘No.’ he said. ‘Thank you. You saved me. Last Christmas I was nothing more than a cynical businessman—“self-aggrandising”—isn’t that how you put it?’
She laughed. ‘Oh, my, did I really say that?’
‘And you were right. All I cared about was Royalty Cove and making it a success.’
‘And you cared about Nell! But Royalty Cove is a great success. Otherwise why would Zeppabanca want to take the concept to Italy?’
‘Well, they’ll be taking it there without me. I’ve suggested Rogerson head the deal this time.’
‘But it’s what you wanted. It’s what you were working towards all along.’
He shook his head. ‘Only because I didn’t know what was really worth chasing. I don’t need more money, not now I’ve found you. You’ve taught me there’s something far more precious—your love—love that comes from the heart. And I love you for saving me, Tegan, with all my heart and soul. And today, with your gift of Holly Eleanor, I love you more than ever.’
Her eyes glowed with happiness. ‘You’re the father of my child. How could I not love you? But then I feel sometimes that I’ve always loved you, and that I was just waiting to meet you.’
‘I’m so glad Morgan decided to go to that wedding,’ he murmured, drawing closer. ‘Remind me to thank her next time I see her.’
He wound his free arm behind his wife’s neck and pulled her in close for a kiss, their child squirming in protest between them.
Tegan broke the kiss with a laugh. ‘What’s wrong, little Holly, are we ignoring you?’ she asked, placing her own hand under the child alongside Maverick’s, and gazing down at the face of her baby. ‘You know, I do believe this coming Christmas is going to be even more special than last year’s.’
Maverick didn’t doubt it. ‘With you in my life,’ he told her, ‘every single day is going to be special.’
And it was.
The Spanish Duke’s Virgin Bride
By Chantelle Shaw
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
EPILOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
‘I ASSUME this is some sort of joke?’
Duque Javier Alejandro Diego Herrera swung away from the castle window that afforded stunning views of the Andalucian countryside and glared at the elderly man in front of him.
‘I assure you I would not make a joke of such a serious matter,’ Ramon Aguilar replied stiffly. His silver moustache bristled with indignation, but the nervous shuffling of the documents in his hands betrayed his tension. ‘The terms of your grandfather’s will are most specific. If you do not marry before your thirty-sixth birthday, control of El Banco de Herrera will be awarded to your cousin Lorenzo.’
Javier swore succinctly, his dark brows drawn together and his olive skin stretched taut over his sharp cheekbones. ‘Dios!’ he spat. ‘As my grandfather so often commented, Lorenzo is as feeble as a small child. He has no drive, no ambition. Tell me, what does he have that led Carlos to believe he would make a more credible successor as president of the bank than me?’ Incredulity and disbelief were giving way to a level fury that emanated in waves from his lean, whipcord body. In his anger the new Duque was a truly awesome sight and Señor Aguilar cleared his throat nervously.
‘He has a wife,’ he murmured.
The quiet, almost apologetic comment dropped into the silent room like a pebble thrown into still waters. Javier had been prowling the room like a caged tiger but now he stopped abruptly, every fibre of his concentration directed at the hapless lawyer who had been Carlos Herrera’s oldest and most
trusted confidant.
‘Since I was ten years old my grandfather groomed me to take his place as head of the Herrera family, and more importantly as president of El Banco de Herrera,’ Javier hissed, his jaw rigid with the effort of containing his temper. ‘Why would he suddenly change his mind?’
The Duque is dead; long live the Duque, he thought cynically. His aristocratic title was of little importance to him; his overriding interest was in taking control of the Herrera family’s banking business. Carlos’s son—Javier’s father—was also dead, although Fernando had been cast out of the family long before a drug overdose had ended his life. As the next male heir, Javier had taken his rightful place as the new Duque de Herrera when Carlos died, but it seemed that control of the bank—the golden grail—was still beyond his grasp.
‘Are you saying that I have been denied what should be mine because my cousin is married and I am not? That’s the only reason?’ he demanded grimly, his amber eyes flashing fire for a second before he imposed iron self-control over his emotions and his face resumed its mask of haughty arrogance.
‘Your grandfather’s dying wish was to leave the bank in the hands of a man who he felt confident would ensure its continued success.’
‘And I am that man,’ Javier growled impatiently.
Ramon Aguilar continued as if Javier had not spoken. ‘There have been concerns among the board in recent months. Carlos was aware of, and even shared, many of those concerns,’ he added. As he spoke he scattered a number of photographs onto the desk—all featured Javier in the company of a different woman, although it was notable that each of his companions shared similar attributes of blonde hair and an eye-catching cleavage.
Javier glanced briefly at the photos and shrugged his shoulders to indicate his supreme indifference. The women were no more than arm candy—he couldn’t even remember most of their names although undoubtedly they had all shared his appetite for mutually enjoyable sex, free from the complication of messy emotions. ‘I did not realise that my grandfather expected me to take a vow of celibacy,’ he snapped, drawing himself up to his full six-feet-four to pierce Carlos’s legal advisor with a disdainful stare.
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