Rumours: The Secret Billionaires. Дженнифер Хейворд
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to the mistrust she felt towards him. He’d hidden behind a disguise to spy on her and now this revelation. What next?
* * *
‘I will promise to keep you and Leo out of the media spotlight.’ Antonio heard himself making yet another promise to a woman, a promise that once again he would be honour-bound to keep. He’d kept Eloisa’s secret, but could he continue to do so and protect Sadie and Leo? Why had he nearly told Sadie the truth of it all? What was it about Sadie that undid everything, stripped him back to the man he really was, the man beneath the cold hardness which life had made him adopt?
‘If Leo and I went to England, that would make it easier.’ The hope in Sadie’s voice cut deep into the emotions he was trying to ignore. His feelings for Sadie were becoming more complicated with each day and, worse, they were exactly the kind of feelings he’d never wanted to succumb to.
‘No. That will not happen, Sadie. I want my son in my life; I don’t want to just send a card on his birthday and make the odd visit. I want him in my life all the time.’ He couldn’t stem the words. ‘I want to make up for not seeing his first steps, for not hearing his first word. I want to be there for him, Sadie—every day.’
‘Then whatever it is the press are digging for, why not give it to them, tell them what they want to know, then they might leave us alone.’ She kept her focus on the water as she skimmed her toes over the surface of the gentle waves. It made her look vulnerable and innocent, the complete opposite of Eloisa, but, even so, he couldn’t do as she suggested. Not when he’d made a promise to his first wife to keep her secret.
‘That wouldn’t help.’ He spoke far more firmly than he should have and softened his tone. ‘We shall stay here for two or three weeks, like any couple on honeymoon, and the storm will have eased when we return to Rome.’
She looked up at him and the expression in her eyes was so alluringly innocent all he wanted to do was kiss her. Without any warning, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against him. This time she didn’t fight him, didn’t fight the attraction which grew with each passing second.
‘Besides, I want to be here with you, I want to enjoy every moment of my honeymoon and right now I want to kiss you.’
Instead of fighting him, of pushing against him, she moved closer, her eyes wide open as she lifted her chin to his kiss. As his lips met hers, he watched her eyes flutter closed, the power of the moment forcing his to do the same.
Around their feet the waves slipped in and out, heightening the spinning sensation as he kissed her harder and deeper than he’d ever kissed any woman, the burning need within him demanding satisfaction. She pressed her body against his, the same fire within her, and he was lost to the moment.
‘I want you, Sadie, I want to truly make you my wife. I want it to be as it was when we first met.’
Her eyes flew wide with alarm and she looked up at him, shaking her head, as her body began to tremble with desire. ‘What about Leo?’
‘One of the staff in the cottages has a little boy and they are there now, making friends, laying the groundwork for a sleepover—I think that is what it is called in England.’
She smiled teasingly up at him—the Sadie he’d first met finally back. ‘You wicked man. You planned this all along.’
He brushed his lips to hers. ‘We are honeymooners, so it’s only natural the staff want to give us privacy to be just that. How can I resist that kindness?’
A blush spread over her face as she slipped from his embrace. ‘I’m not sure—maybe Leo won’t go.’
‘You can’t hide from me, Sadie. You are my wife and I intend to make you exactly that, mia bella.’
NERVES SPIRALLED THROUGH Sadie as she stood on the beach, looking out at the setting sun with Antonio. All through the candlelit dinner they’d shared, the simmering tension and awareness had been palpable. As if they both knew where the night would lead—and both wanting exactly that.
It was obvious what Antonio’s intentions were. Why else would he have engineered for Leo to be elsewhere if not to give them time alone? Time to become a married couple in the true sense of the word.
She shouldn’t want it. Shouldn’t want Antonio, but she did. She couldn’t help herself. She’d only ever been his and to share a night of passion with him again was all she wanted right now.
He put his arm around her, drawing her close, and she trembled at his touch, trembled at his closeness and the thought of being his once more.
‘You are cold,’ he stated calmly, as in control as he always was.
If she hadn’t been so consumed with desire for him, she might have said he was cold, but such notions were well and truly being buried now. Each desire-laden look, each touch, broke down her resistance and now all she wanted was one more night in his arms. Was that so wrong? To want her husband?
Shyly she looked up at him. ‘No, I’m not cold.’
Did he know that just being close to him did untold things to her, that his touch made her tremble with desire? He smiled at her and even in the dimming light of the sunset she knew he was well aware of how he made her feel.
‘We can return to the villa,’ he said, the heavy silkiness of his voice caressing her senses. ‘If you are cold.’
‘Not just yet. I’d like to see the sunset first. Remember it for a painting one day.’ She focused her attention on the orange orb sinking lower into the sky, not daring to look at him, trying anything to distract herself, but the effort was too much and she turned to him, all thought of everything else gone.
‘First?’ He looked at her, his brows raised in the deliciously sexy and mischievous way she’d fallen for the first time she’d met him, and she wondered how she’d never noticed it when he’d been in the disguise of an ordinary mechanic. ‘Before what, mia bella?’
She asked herself the same question and the same answer she’d had all evening came back at her. Before she gave herself to him, became completely his for ever. There would be no half measures for her, she knew that much. Just as she knew deep down she would always be his.
‘It is almost gone,’ she whispered as the sun sank lower, but the anticipation between them rose rapidly until it all but sparked in the warm air around them.
She turned again to face him, aware of the movement of the inky-dark waters as the sky rapidly darkened now the sun had slipped below the horizon. She wanted him to kiss her, wanted him to hold her. She’d been resisting him since he’d revealed his true identity, but now the fight was finally slipping from her. Was it the unfamiliar but luxurious surroundings or was she falling for him all over again? Right now she didn’t care. She just wanted to feel his lips on hers.
‘You look beautiful this evening, mia bella.’ His words, husky and deep, only intensified the fire of desire within her, making it leap wildly, seeking release.
She blushed, wondering if he knew the effort she’d taken this evening or how many dresses she’d discarded before settling on the brilliant red halter-neck maxi dress, the soft silk printed with a white pattern perfect for an evening of dining on the beach on this exotic paradise island.
‘It’s very easy to feel beautiful in a place as lovely as this.’ Silently she added, Especially when you look at me with such open desire and adoration.
Ever since he’d stepped out of the shadow of being Toni Adessi, she’d been trying to be cautious, trying to keep her distance, but right now, here on this island so far from reality, she didn’t care about the past—or the future. All she wanted was this moment and to be truly his wife.
He slid his hand up her back, pressing her against him as she placed her palm against his chest,