Christmas at the Tycoon's Command
Page 17
Her heart skipped a beat. Hope bloomed inside her, so powerful, potent, it would have knocked her off her feet had she been standing. But there was also fear—fear he would do this to her again.
Clearly realizing how badly he’d screwed up, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a brightly wrapped box. The blood in her veins pumped, jagged, erratic, as he sank down on one knee in front of her.
“Nico,” she gasped, “what are you doing?”
“Proposing.” He gave her an annoyed look. “I took Santo jewelry shopping, for God’s sake. Let me get there.”
Her stomach fell off a shelf and crashed to the floor. Oh, no, he wasn’t doing this to her on Christmas Eve. The night fairy tales were made of.
“Marry me,” he murmured, eyes on hers as he held up the most brilliant sparkling diamond she’d ever seen.
“Don’t you think this is a bit extreme?” she breathed, eyes glued to the ring. “I forgive you. There, I’ve said it.”
He shook his head. “It’s always been you, Chloe. Always you.”
That was it. She was done for. Forever and always.
She held out a trembling hand. Watched as he slid the brilliant diamond on her finger. It was like watching her most secret, most unobtainable fantasy come true. She couldn’t speak, could only fling her arms around his neck as he gathered her up and sat down with her in his lap.
“I love you,” she murmured against his amazing mouth. “So much. I’ve been so miserable, I think Mireille was dreading spending the evening with me.”
“She’s coming back. She’s bringing Lazzero and Santo with her.”
She pulled back. “You were that sure of me?”
He shook his head. “Willing to crash and burn.”
Her heart contracted on a low pull. “I’ll have one of those rather earth-shattering kisses now, thank you. You’ve earned it.”
He gave her exactly that. When they finally came up for air, he pulled another box from his pocket. “One more.”
She slid the box open to find a stunning Murano glass star nestled inside.
“So we can start our own traditions,” he explained quietly. “Make new memories.”
Her heart shattered. Turned to dust. But it was a good thing because with that last barrier smashed, she knew they would put each other back together again. Stronger. Better. Because that was what they’d always been about.
Nico stood with her in his arms. Boosted her up to set the star on top of the tree. She wrapped her arms around his neck as she stared up at it, glittering like the most gorgeous jewel in the sky.
“When did you say the others are coming back?”
He carried her toward the stairs. “Later. There’s a tradition I’d like to start right now.”
Her thoughts exactly.
* * * * *
EXCLUSIVE EXTRACT
Leonidas Betancur was presumed dead after a plane crash, and he cannot recall the vows he made to his bride Susannah four years ago. But once tracked down, his memories resurface – and he’s ready to collect his belated wedding night! Susannah wants Leonidas to reclaim his empire and free her of his legacy. But dangerously attractive Leonidas steals her innocence with a touch… And the consequences of their passion will bind them together for ever!
Read on for a sneak preview of Caitlin Crews’ next story
A BABY TO BIND HIS BRIDE
One Night With Consequences
There was a discreet knock on the paneled door and the doctor stepped back into the room.
“Congratulations, madame, monsieur,” the doctor said, nodding at each of them in turn while Susannah’s breath caught in her throat. “The test is positive. You are indeed pregnant, as you suspected.”
She barely noticed when Leonidas escorted the doctor from the room. He could have been gone for hours. When he returned he shut the door behind him, enclosing them in the salon that had seemed spacious before, and that was when Susannah walked stiffly around the settee to sit on it.
His dark, tawny gaze had changed, she noticed. It had gone molten. He still held himself still, though she could tell the difference in that, too. It was as if an electrical current ran through him now, charging the air all around him even while his mouth remained in an unsmiling line.
And he looked at her as if she was naked. Stripped. Flesh and bone with nothing left to hide.
“Is it so bad, then?” he asked in a mild sort of tone she didn’t believe at all.
Susannah’s chest was so heavy, and she couldn’t tell if it was the crushing weight of misery or something far more dangerous. She held her belly with one hand as if it was already sticking out. As if the baby might start kicking at any second.
“The Betancur family is a cage,” she told him, or the parquet floor beneath the area rug that stretched out in front of the fireplace, and it cost her to speak so precisely. So matter-of-factly. “I don’t want to live in a cage. There must be options.”
“I am not a cage,” Leonidas said with quiet certainty. “The Betancur name has drawbacks, it is true, and most of them were at that gala tonight. But it is also not a cage. On the contrary. I own enough of the world that it is for all intents and purposes yours now. Literally.” dpg!
“I don’t want the world.” She didn’t realize she’d shot to her feet until she was taking a step toward him, very much as if she thought she might take a swing at him next. As if she’d dare. “I don’t need you. I don’t want you. I want to be free.”
He took her face in his hands, holding her fast, and this close his eyes were a storm. Ink dark with gold like lightning, and she felt the buzz of it. Everywhere.
“This is as close as you’re going to get, little one,” he told her, the sound of that same madness in his gaze, his voice.
And then he claimed her mouth with his.
Don’t miss
A BABY TO BIND HIS BRIDE
By Caitlin Crews
Available January 2018
www.millsandboon.co.uk
Copyright ©2017 Caitlin Crews
ISBN: 978-1-474-05321-1
CHRISTMAS AT THE TYCOON’S COMMAND
© 2017 Jennifer Hayward
Published in Great Britain 2017
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
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