by Olivia Gates
A long moment of silence followed his offer.
Then Raiden exhaled. “That’s a very generous offer, Takeo-sama, but I still have to decline.”
“But why, Raiden-san?” That was Megumi, at last breaking her usual silence. “We would have been catastrophic as spouses, but I just know it’s because you were meant to be my brother. And I would love nothing more than to have Scarlett-san as my sister.”
“And now Hashimoto-sama has agreed to give me Megumi-chan’s hand in marriage,” Hiro said eagerly. “I would no longer be only your friend, but your brother, too.”
Delighted for both him and Megumi, Raiden clapped him on the back again. “You move fast, don’t you, Hiro? Good for you.” He turned to Megumi, who was blushing delicately. “You two feel to me as if you were once one whole that was split into two. It’s so good seeing you becoming one again.”
“So won’t you reconsider?” Megumi asked, her eyes entreating. “Why are you refusing at all?”
He turned somber eyes to Hashimoto. “Because I haven’t forgotten what you said about Scarlett, how you viewed her. Scarlett is and has always been the most upstanding and heroic person I know. I don’t only worship her, but I respect and admire her more than anyone in the world. I would have nothing but the absolute best for her, and I would certainly never expose her to being considered an evil to be tolerated but secretly reviled, because your family still needs me.”
Scarlett threaded her arm through his and looked up at him, her eyes silently scolding. “Mr. Hashimoto was under too much pressure at the time, not to mention misconceptions.”
Hashimoto jumped on Scarlett’s life raft. “That is true, and I now regret my words, and my thoughts. I had no proof to support them but hearsay, just because your presence went against my family’s best interests. Can you possibly accept my apology and my assurances that my opinion was one of ignorance and self-service, but one that I have irrevocably changed?”
“Of course I accept, Mr. Hashimoto,” Scarlett said fervently. “I almost caused you all huge losses, just being there, just loving Raiden. And like Hiro said, it’s no thanks to me that everything has been averted and we’ve reached this happy moment.” As Raiden began to protest, she turned to him and hugged him around the waist, all her love in her eyes. “Let’s not dwell on anything that happened before today. The past is dead and gone. Let’s only remember the good parts of it, and look forward to a magnificent future.”
He knew what she meant. They might never be able to forget the past, but it had led them to this point, where they were unimaginably blessed by having each other.
She brought him down to her for a fierce, brief kiss. “But we both do need a family, to make up for the ones we lost. And it will be the best thing for our coming baby, and any other children we will have, to have a big family to dote on them.”
Suddenly unable to wait a second longer, he swept her in his arms, heaved up to his feet and strode back to her bedroom.
At her squeaking protest, he stopped, looked back at the trio, found them on their feet, looking crestfallen.
He raised a mocking eyebrow at them. “Uh, sorry, were you waiting for a response from me?” He groaned in pleasure as Scarlett gave his jaw a punishing nip. His eyes laughed down at her, then back at the guests. “Let me give you a tip for future reference. Once Scarlett has spoken, I am but the executor of her will. She wants us to be family, we will be family.”
After a moment’s uncertainty, the trio’s faces split with smiles, then they each advanced on them, all delighted relief.
At Scarlett’s loving nudge, he put her back on her feet so she could receive with him the hugs of the three people who would be their family.
After an interlude of mutual thanks and excitement, especially on the side of the ladies, who seemed to be delighted to have a girlfriend in their testosterone-dominated lives, Raiden swept Scarlett back up into his arms.
This time their guests took the hint and rushed to the door. Scarlett spluttered that he put her down, that they should stay longer, that she hadn’t even offered them something to drink. But this time he didn’t heed her, and the trio insisted on leaving. It was time, Hashimoto said, to leave the two of them to continue their reunion after such a harrowing separation.
Raiden called after them when they were at the door, “I am grateful we will be family. But remember, we will only be because Scarlett decreed it. Now you all owe her.”
Their voices rose in corroboration as they closed the door behind them. Then he raced with her to her bedroom.
Putting her down on the still-rumpled sheets, as if he was laying down his heart, he pulled off his clothes, then hers, and came down into her arms.
“I wasn’t just making him squirm, you know,” he said against her lips. “I was going to insist on refusing.”
She flushed with passion and embarrassment, unable as usual to take her dues. “But you didn’t, and now you’ll have everything you ever dreamed of and deserve. I won’t have to feel perpetually sad and guilty that my presence in your life deprived you of such a huge thing.”
“It will be huge only because I will share it with you. But if not for you, for your forgiveness and your desire to be part of a family, I wouldn’t have accepted. So they do owe you. Just as I owe you my happiness, my very life.”
Crying out, she pulled him down to her. “And I owe you mine.”
And she took him inside her, taking him home, his one and only home, forever.
* * * * *
If you loved THE BILLIONAIRES OF BLACK CASTLE and SCANDALOUSLY EXPECTING HIS CHILD, pick up Rafael’s story from USA TODAY bestselling author Olivia Gates,
FROM ENEMY’S DAUGHTER TO EXPECTANT BRIDE.
Available now from Harlequin Desire!
And look for Numair’s story, coming March 2015, only from USA TODAY bestselling author Olivia Gates and Harlequin Desire!
Keep reading for an excerpt from THE SECRET AFFAIR by Brenda Jackson.
Ten years ago one devastating night changed everything for Austin, Hunter and Alex. Now they must each play their part in the revenge against the one man who ruined it all.
Austin Treffen has the plan… Hunter has the money… Alex has the power!
Read each of their stories in the captivating Fifth Avenue trilogy,
only from Harlequin Presents:
Avenge Me by Maisey Yates (June 2014)
Scandalize Me by Caitlin Crews (July 2014)
Expose Me by Kate Hewitt (August 2014)
And don’t miss the Fifth Avenue prequel that started it all, Take Me, by Maisey Yates!
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Prologue
Jillian Novak stared across the table at her sister, not believing what she’d just heard.
Jillian placed the glass of wine she’d been holding on the table, barely keeping the drink from spilling. “What do you mean you aren’t going with me? That’s crazy, Paige. Need I remind you that you’re the one who planned the trip?”
“A reminder isn’t needed, Jill, but please understand my dilemma,” Paige said in a rueful tone, her dark brown eyes shaded with regret. “Getting a part in a Steven Spielberg movie is a dream come true. You can’t imagine what I was feeling—happiness at being chosen one minute, and then disappointment the next, when I found out that shooting starts the same week I was supposed to be on the cruise with you.”
“Let me guess, your happiness overpowered your disappointment, right?” Jillian felt a pounding pressure in her head and knew why. She had been looking forward to the Mediterranean cruise—for many reasons—and now it appeared she wouldn’t be going.
“I’m sorry, Jill. You’ve never gone on a cruise and I know it’s one of the things on your bucket list.”
Paige’s apology only made Jillian feel worse. She’d made her sister feel awful for making a choice Jillian would have made herself if given the chance. Reaching across the table, she grabbed Paige’s hand.
“I’m the one who should be apologizing, Paige. I was only thinking of myself. You’re right. Getting that part in the movie is a dream come true and you’d be crazy not to take it. I’m truly happy for you. Congratulations.”
A bright smile spread across Paige’s lips. “Thanks. I wanted so much for us to spend time together on the cruise. It’s been ages since me, you, Pam and Nadia have had sister time.”
Nadia, a senior in college, was their youngest sister. At twenty-one she was two years younger than Paige and four years younger than Jillian. Pamela, their oldest sister—who Jillian, Nadia and Paige were convinced was the best older sister anyone could ever have—was ten years older than Jillian. A former actress, Pam had given up the glitter of Hollywood to return home to Gamble, Wyoming, and raise them when their father died. Now Pam lived in Denver. She was married, the mother of two and the CEO of two acting schools, one in Denver and the other in Gamble. Paige had followed in Pam’s footsteps and pursued an acting career. She lived in Los Angeles.
With Pam’s busy schedule, she’d said accompanying them on the cruise would have been close to impossible. Nadia had wanted to go but finals kept her from doing so. Jillian had wanted sister time with at least one of her siblings. And now that she had completed medical school, she needed those two weeks on the cruise as a getaway before starting her residency. But there was another reason she wanted to take that two-week cruise.
Aidan Westmoreland.
It was hard to believe it had been a little over a year since she’d broken things off with him. And every time she remembered the reason she’d done so her heart ached. She needed a distraction from her memories.
“You okay, Jill?”
Jillian glanced up at Paige and forced a smile. “Yes, why do you ask?”
“You zoned out on me just now. I was talking and you appeared to be a million miles away. I noticed you haven’t been yourself since I arrived in New Orleans. More than once you’ve seemed preoccupied about something. Is everything okay?”
Jillian waved off Paige’s words. The last thing she wanted was for her sister to start worrying and begin digging. “Yes, everything is okay, Paige.”
Paige didn’t look convinced. “Um, I don’t know. Maybe I should forget about being in that movie and go on that cruise with you after all.”
Jillian picked up her wineglass to take a sip. “Don’t be silly. You’re doing the right thing. Besides, I’m not going on the cruise.”
“Why not?”
Jillian was surprised at her sister’s question. “Surely you don’t expect me to go without you.”
“You need a break before starting your residency.”
Jillian rolled her eyes. “Get real, Paige. What would I do on a two-week cruise by myself?”
“Rest, relax, enjoy the sights, the ocean, the peace and quiet. And you might luck up and meet some nice single guy.”
Jillian shook her head. “Nice single guys don’t go on cruises alone. Besides, the last thing I need right now is a man in my life.”
Paige laughed. “Jill, you haven’t had a guy in your life since you dated Cobb Grindstone in your senior year at Gamble High. I think what’s missing in your life is a man.”
Jillian bristled at her sister’s words. “Not hardly, especially with my busy schedule. And I don’t see you with anyone special.”
“At least I’ve been dating over the years. You haven’t. Or, if you have, you haven’t told me about it.”
Jillian schooled her expression into an impassive facade. She’d never told Paige about her affair with Aidan, and considering how it had ended she was glad she hadn’t.
“Jill?”
She glanced up at her sister. “Yes?”
A teasing smile spread across Paige’s lips. “You aren’t keeping secrets, are you?”
Jill knew Paige had given her the perfect opportunity to come clean about her affair with Aidan, but she wasn’t ready. Even after a year, the pain was still raw. And the last thing Jillian needed was for Paige to start probing for more information.
“You know the reason I don’t have a man in my life is because of time. My focus has been on becoming a doctor and nothing else.” Paige didn’t have to know that a few years ago Aidan had wiggled his way past that focus without much effort. That had been a mistake that cost her.
“That’s why I think you should go on that cruise without me,” Paige said. “You’ve worked hard and need to rest and enjoy yourself for a change. Once you begin your residency you’ll have even less time for yourself—or anything else.”
“That’s true,” Jillian said. “But—”
“No buts, Jillian.”
Jillian knew that tone. She also knew that whenever Paige called her by her full name she meant business. “If I were to go on that cruise alone I’d be bored stiff. You’re talking about two weeks.”
Paige gave her a pointed look. “I’m talking about two weeks that I believe you need. And just think of all the fabulous places you’ll get to see—Barcelona, France, Rome, Greece and Turkey.” Now it was Paige who reached out to take hold of Jillian’s hand. “Look, Jill, there is something going on with you, I can feel it. Whatever it is, it’s tearing you apart. I picked up on it months ago, the last time I came to visit you.”
A wry smile touched Paige’s lips when she added, “Perhaps you are keeping secrets. Maybe there’s some doctor in medical school that caught your eye and you’re not ready to tell me about him. One who has blown your mind and you don’t know how to handle the intensity of such a relationship. If that’s the case, I understand. All of us at some time or another have issues we prefer to deal with alone. That’s why I believe two weeks on the open seas will be good for you.”
Jillian drew in a deep breath. Paige didn’t know how close she was to the truth. Her problem did center on some doctor, but not one attending medical school with her.
At that moment the waitress returned with their meal, and Jillian appreciated the interruption. She knew Paige would not be happy until Jillian agreed to go on the cruise. She’d heard what Paige had said—Paige knew something was bothering Jillian. It would only be a matter of time before Pam and Nadia knew as well, if they didn’t already. Besides, Jillian had already taken those two weeks off. If she didn’t go on the cruise, the family would expect her to come home and spend that time with them. She couldn’t do t
hat. What if Aidan came home unexpectedly while she was there? He was the last person she wanted to see.
“Jill?”
Jillian drew in another deep breath and met Paige’s gaze. “Okay, I’ll do it. I’ll go cruising alone. Hopefully, I’ll enjoy myself.”
Paige smiled. “You will. There will be plenty for you to do and on those days when you feel like doing nothing, you can do that, too. Everybody needs to give their mind a rest once in a while.”
Jillian nodded. Her mind definitely needed a rest. She would be the first to admit that she had missed Aidan—the steamy hot text messages, the emails that made her adrenaline surge and the late-night phone calls that sent heat sizzling through her entire body.
But that had been before she’d learned the truth. Now all she wanted to do was get over him.
She sighed deeply while thinking that Paige was right. Jillian needed that cruise and the time away it would give her. She would go on the cruise alone.
* * *
Dr. Aidan Westmoreland entered his apartment and removed his lab coat. After running a frustrated hand down his face, he glanced at his watch. He’d hoped he would have heard something by now. What if...
The ringing of his cell phone made him pause on his way to the kitchen. It was the call he’d been waiting for. “Paige?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
“Is she still going?” he asked, not wasting time with chitchat.
There was a slight pause on the other end and in that short space of time knots formed in his stomach. “Yes, she’s still going on the cruise, Aidan.”
He released the breath he’d been holding as Paige continued, “Jill still has no idea I’m aware that the two of you had an affair.”
Aidan hadn’t known Paige knew the truth, either, until she’d paid him a surprise visit last month. According to her, she’d figured things out the year Jillian had entered medical school. She’d become suspicious when he’d come home for his cousin Riley’s wedding and she’d overheard him call Jillian Jilly in an intimate tone. Paige had been concerned this past year when she’d noticed Jillian seemed troubled by something that she wouldn’t share with Paige.