Her Return to King's Bed

by Maureen Child

  “Which makes what I have to say next that much more uncomfortable. You have to release her from this bargain you and she struck.”

  “I know.”

  Gianni’s eyebrows lifted high on his forehead. “You surprise me. I’d thought I would have to…convince you to uphold your end of the bargain.”

  “The bargain has nothing to do with this. Letting her go is the right thing to do,” Rico said, a sharp stab of pain accompanying those words.

  The thought of losing her broke his heart. But if he kept her here, he would never really have her. If she left…there might be a chance for them later.

  “My father was right about you,” Gianni said softly. “You are a dangerous man.”

  Before he could figure out what the other man meant by that, his office door flew open and Teresa stormed inside. She was wearing her white chef’s uniform and as she slammed the door behind her, she snatched the hat from her head and tossed it aside.

  “Teresa,” her brother said warmly, “you look wonderful.”

  “Gianni, I’m not leaving,” she said flatly.

  “How did you know he was here?” Rico asked.

  “Your assistant called to tell me when Gianni arrived. I had a soufflé in the oven and couldn’t get away until just now.”

  Rico sighed and shook his head. She had friends all over the hotel and they were apparently willing to spy for her.

  “Your brother was just leaving. As are you,” Rico said. “The bargain is finished. Go back to your family.”

  She looked as though he’d slapped her and he winced. It wasn’t his intention to bring her more pain.

  “We talked about this, Rico,” she reminded him, hands at her hips. “I’m staying.”

  “I’ve reconsidered.” He ignored Gianni just as Teresa was. “We made a deal. The month is over.”

  “You can’t mean this,” she muttered. “What if I’m pregnant?”

  “Pregnant?” Gianni scowled at Rico.

  He waved the man’s outburst away with one negligent hand and focused solely on Teresa. “Are you?”

  Teresa chewed on her bottom lip, then grumbled, “No.”

  Disappointment welled inside him as his last hope at keeping her faded. But he had to do this for her. Damn it, he had blackmailed her into a monthlong affair. He would not blackmail her into being his wife. Since reason wasn’t working with her, he released the anger churning inside him.

  “You think I want you to be a sacrifice for your family? Again?” He shook his head. “No, Teresa. You’ll go and you’ll do whatever it is you want to do without worrying about trading your life for theirs.”

  “No one asked her to sacrifice—”

  “Be quiet, Gianni,” she snapped and took two furious steps closer to Rico.

  He saw the fire in her golden eyes and loved her even more. She was magnificent in her fury as she was in every other aspect of her life. This woman was everything to him. And his only chance to prove that was to force her to go.

  “I don’t want you here,” he blurted out.

  She sucked in a gulp of air and fired another glare at him as she shook her head. “You’re lying, Rico. You said you didn’t lie to those you care about, but you’re lying now.”

  “Teresa, I think we should—” Gianni said patiently.

  “Basta! Enough!” She snapped the words out and held up her hand, palm out toward her brother. Gianni shrugged and leaned one hip against Rico’s desk, settling in to watch the show.

  “You’re an idiot,” she said, frowning at Rico.

  Gianni laughed.

  Rico scowled and murmured, “Thank you.”

  “I’m not sacrificing myself by staying here, Rico,” she said, coming closer now, keeping her gaze fixed on his. “I’m staying because I love you.”

  A flare of heat swelled in his chest and Rico breathed easy for the first time since she had stormed into his office. Maybe there was light in his darkness after all. “I love you, too. I always have.”

  Tears swamped her eyes and a tremulous smile curved her mouth. Reaching up, she laid her hand on his cheek and sighed when he turned his head just far enough to plant a kiss in the center of her palm.

  “What about before, Rico? The past. Will that always be there between us?”

  That was one thing he was sure of. “I don’t care about the past, Teresa. All that matters to me is the future. Our future.”

  “And my family?”

  He slid a glance at Gianni, still watching them with a bemused expression on his face. “If I can handle the Kings, I think I can live with the Corettis.” He pointed a finger at the other man. “As long as they stay out of my hotels.”

  “Agreed.” Gianni nodded.

  “But you were going to let me leave,” Teresa complained, drawing his attention back to her. “Why?”

  “Because you had to want to be here. With me. It had to be your choice,” he whispered now, as if only the two of them existed. “But if you had left, I promise you I would have followed.”

  Her smile wobbled, then grew more bright. “Really?”

  “I would have traipsed all over Europe and beyond, romancing you, seducing you, winning your heart until you chose to come home. With me.”

  “Home?”

  “Our home. Here. On Tesoro.”

  “Our home, Rico, is anywhere we’re together.” She went up on her toes and kissed him lightly. “You are my family, Rico. And I will always choose you.”

  Gianni cleared his throat and stood up, interrupting. “I will tell Papa what happened here. He’ll be disappointed that you’re not coming home, but I think he’ll understand.”

  Teresa went to her brother and hugged him tightly. “Thank you, Gianni.”

  He shrugged and kissed her forehead. “You should know,” he said, talking to Rico now, “Papa will probably want another wedding for you two—since we weren’t invited to the first one.”

  “Yes, about that,” Teresa said.

  “Doesn’t matter now, little sister,” he said, “as long as you’re happy. And I can see that you are.”

  She grinned at him, then watched as he walked to the cold fireplace on the far wall. “Gas?” he asked.

  “The switch on the wall,” Rico told him, knowing just what the other man was going to do.

  Gianni hit the switch, gas flames erupted and he went down on one knee in front of it. Carefully, he tossed the envelope of evidence onto the flames and watched as it burned. When it was nothing but curling paper and ash, he stood again to face his sister and Rico.

  “Now that’s done, I can go.”

  “Where, Gianni?”

  “London, for now.” He went to her and pulled her in close for another hug. Then, looking from her to Rico, he said, “You don’t have to worry about me anymore. The reason Papa couldn’t get me on the phone this month is that I’ve been in talks with Interpol.”

  “What?”

  He smiled at Teresa’s shock. “In exchange for immunity, I’m going to work with their people. Help them catch thieves for a change.” He shrugged. “Could be fun. And I think I might be able to talk Paulo and Papa into doing the same.”

  “Good luck with that,” Rico said on a laugh.

  “It’s worth a try,” Teresa said and beamed at her brother. “I’m so proud of you, Gianni.”

  “Imagine. Me. Working for the police.” Shaking his head, he walked to the door and paused only long enough to look b
ack at Rico and say, “Treat her well, Rico. I’ll be in touch.”

  When he was gone, Rico grabbed Teresa, pulled her against him and just held on. Burying his face in the curve of her neck, he inhaled her scent and dragged it so deep inside him he would never take another breath without tasting her on it.

  “I love you, Teresa Coretti King.”

  “I’m going to want to hear that a lot,” she said, leaning back to look up at him. “I love you so much, Rico. I always have. Living without you was so horrible—”

  “Shh. That’s done. It’s gone. Neither of us will ever have to feel that misery again, that’s all that matters.”

  “Being here. With you. On Tesoro. It’s perfect.” She leaned her head on his chest and whispered, “Take me home, Rico. To our home.”

  “First,” he told her as he stepped away, “I have something for you.”

  “All I need is you, Rico.”

  He grinned at her. God, he felt freer than he had in years. Just hearing her say that filled him with the kind of joy he had never really expected to feel again. But this had to be done. “Trust me. This you need.”

  He walked to his desk, opened the top drawer and took out a small velvet box that he had looked at every day for the last five years. When he brought it to her, he opened it and Teresa gasped.

  “It’s your ring,” he said unnecessarily. “The one you left behind with your note, telling me only that you had to leave.”

  “Oh, God.” She stared at the yellow diamond and clapped one hand over her mouth. “It almost killed me to take that ring off, Rico. It—you—meant everything to me.” Shaking her head, she murmured, “You kept it. I can’t believe you kept it all this time.”

  “Sometimes,” he said, “I admit, I thought about selling it or even tossing it into the sea.”

  “Oh, God…”

  “But something kept me from it,” he admitted as he plucked the ring from the velvet and slid it onto her finger. He sealed it there with a kiss, then met her eyes, now drenched again in what he knew were tears of happiness. “I think a part of me knew that we would find our way to each other again.

  “Because you are my one. My only. And now the ring—and you—are back where you belong.”

  “And this time,” Teresa whispered as she lifted her face for his kiss, “my romantic, wonderful husband, it’s forever.”

  “It is a deal,” he said with a smile, then kissed her with all the love he held in his now healed heart.

  * * * * *

  If you loved Rico’s story, don’t miss a single novel in the KINGS OF CALIFORNIA, a series from USA TODAY bestselling author Maureen Child:

  BARGAINING FOR KING’S BABY

  MARRYING FOR KING’S MILLIONS

  FALLING FOR KING’S FORTUNE

  CONQUERING KING’S HEART

  CLAIMING KING’S BABY

  WEDDING AT KING’S CONVENIENCE

  THE LAST LONE WOLF

  CINDERELLA & THE CEO

  KING’S MILLION-DOLLAR SECRET

  READY FOR KING’S SEDUCTION

  THE TEMPORARY MRS. KING

  TO KISS A KING

  THE KING NEXT DOOR

  All available now from Harlequin Desire!

  Keep reading for an excerpt from IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT by Kathie DeNosky.

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  Prologue

  When Josh Gordon let himself into his girlfriend’s apartment, he wanted two things—to make love to Lori and get some much-needed sleep. He’d spent a long day preparing job bids for Gordon Construction and an even longer evening wining and dining a potential client, who couldn’t seem to make up his mind whether to give the contract for his new office building to the construction business Josh and his twin brother, Sam, co-owned or to one of their competitors.

  Josh wasn’t overly proud or happy about it, but they’d had enough to drink to float a fleet of ships before the man finally gave the nod to Gordon Construction. That’s why Josh had made the decision to spend the night with Lori. The wine had dulled his normally sharp senses and he didn’t think his being behind the steering wheel of a car was in anyone’s best interest. Since she had given him a key to her apartment a few weeks back and it was only a couple of blocks from the restaurant, walking to Lori’s place had seemed wiser than trying to drive the five miles to his ranch outside of town. Besides, he hadn’t seen her in a few days and missed losing himself in her soft charms.

  The fact that their relationship was more of a physical connection than it was an emotional attachment should have bothered him. But neither he nor Lori wanted anything more, and he couldn’t see any harm in two consenting adults spending their time enjoying each other for as long as the attraction lasted.

  As he made his way across the dark living room and headed down the hall toward her bedroom, he decided not to turn on a lamp. The headache that had developed during the last few rounds of drinks already had his head feeling like his brain had outgrown his skull. The harsh glare of a light certainly wouldn’t make it feel any better.

  Loosening his tie, he removed his suit jacket as he quietly opened the bedroom door and, stripping off the rest of his clothes, climbed into bed with the feminine form he could just make out beneath the covers. Without thinking twice he took her in his arms and teased her lips with his to wake her.

  He thought he heard her murmur something a moment before she began to kiss him back, but Josh didn’t give her a chance to say more. He was too captivated by her. Lori had never tasted as sweet and the scent of whatever new shampoo she had used caused him to ache with the urgent need to sink himself deep inside of her.

  When she ran her hands over his shoulders, then tangled her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck as she kissed him with a passion that robbed him of breath, a shaft of longing coursed through him. She needed him as badly as he needed her. He didn’t hesitate to slide his hand down her side to her knee, then, catching the hem of her nightshirt, he brought it up to her waist. Never breaking the kiss, he made quick work of removing the scrap of silk and lace covering her feminine secrets and nudged her knees apart.

  His heart felt like it might jump right out of his chest when he rose over her and she reached to guide him to her. Her desire for him to join their bodies was as strong as his and, giving them what they both wanted, he entered her in one smooth stroke.

  Setting an urgent pace, he marveled at how much tighter she felt, how her body seemed to cling to his. But the white-hot haze of passion was stronger than his ability to reason and he dismissed his confusion as a result of too much wine.

  When she clenched her tiny feminine muscles, he knew she was poised on the edge, and deepening his strokes, Josh pushed them both over the edge. As he emptied himself deep inside of her, her moan indicated that she was experiencing the same mind-blowing pleasure that pulsed through him, and feeling drained of energy, he collapsed on top of her.

  “Oh, Mark, that was incredible.”

&n
bsp; Josh went completely still as his mind tried to process what he had heard. The woman he had just made love with had called him Mark. If that wasn’t enough to send a cold sense of dread knifing through him, the fact that it wasn’t Lori’s voice sure as hell was.

  What had he done? Where was Lori? And who was the woman he had just made love with?

  Sobering faster than he could blink, Josh levered himself to her side, then quickly sat up on the side of the bed to reach for his discarded clothes. “I…um…oh, hell. I’m really sorry. I thought…you were Lori.”

  The woman was silent for a moment before she gasped and he heard her jump to her feet on the other side of the bed. “Oh, dear God! No, this can’t be… We didn’t… You must be—”

  “Josh,” he finished for her, since she seemed to be having problems conveying her thoughts.

  He kept his back to her as he pulled on his pants and shirt. Not that she could see in the dark any more than he could. But all things considered, it just seemed like the right thing to do.

  “I really am sorry.” He knew his apologies weren’t nearly adequate enough for the circumstances, but then he wasn’t sure anything he could say or do would make the situation any less humiliating for either of them. “I swear to God, I thought you were Lori.”

  “I’m her…sister,” the woman said, sounding like she might be recovering her ability to speak in a complete sentence.

  He knew Lori had a sister, but since their relationship was mostly physical, he and Lori hadn’t delved too deeply into the details of each other’s lives. And if she had mentioned her sister by name, he’d be damned if he could think of it now.

  “I’d give anything if this hadn’t—”

  “Please, don’t,” she said, cutting him off. “Just leave…Josh.”

  He hesitated, then, deciding that it was probably the best—the only—thing he could do, he walked to the front door and let himself out of the apartment. He had no sooner pulled the door shut than he heard her set the dead bolt and slide the chain into place.