Bedded by the Italian Playboy (20 page)

And
again with the truth. “Penny came a lot faster than I expected. A weird
coincidence maybe, but she checked the email like a minute after I sent it, and
she was close by so….”

“She
came to rescue you from me?”

“Yes,
but, Dominic, I didn’t want to leave,” Rachel said. It was important to her
that he understood this because even if there was no future between
them—something she wasn’t even sure of anymore because here he was—she needed
Dominic to understand that even in all the lies and the deception there was
something more. That not everything had been a fake. Not everything had been
bullshit.

There
had always been more.

“Then
why did you?” he asked. “If you didn’t want to leave me, why do so?”

Rachel
pulled back, his arms slackened, and she had enough room to look up into his
smoky eyes. They were full of the heat she had long since come to associate
with him and she shivered. “I knew you were never going to forgive me. How
could you? But I couldn’t just leave without a single word and I didn’t know
what to say. Sorry for being a liar? For tricking you? None of that really worked.”

“You
could have told me the truth.”

“The
truth?”

He
nodded slowly and took a deep breath. “Your sister came to see me today. Lyra
that is, not Penny. Though I am not sure who I’d have preferred. To be honest,
they are equally as charming.”

“What?
Lyra? Huh?”

“She
told me about your missions.”

Rachel
felt her jaw drop. How many times had she wished…hell, fantasized, that Dominic
knew the truth? That he’d find out that she was essentially a good person and
then come chasing through the door, pull her into his arms, and beg her to take
him back? Too many. But for Lyra to know this and then to go and take care of
it? Her sister was more perceptive than she thought.

“She
told you everything?” Rachel whispered. “About The Point and why we are doing
it?”

“Yes,”
he said. “She had to. So that I would understand.”

“And
you—”

He
removed the hand cradling her head and tucked a finger under her chin so that
her head tilted back and their eyes met. There was no anger in his anymore and
Rachel felt her heart hitch.

“And
now I do,” he said. “You were stealing to help others, like some sort of Robin
Hood, no? Though a slightly odd plan, and lacking in quite a bit of planning,
and reality checking, I might add, I get it.”

“But
do you, though?” she asked. “Because right up until you proposed, I
was
going to steal from you. I picked
your pocket and was ready to.”

“I
know.”

“Then
I don’t understand. Why is this suddenly okay with you? You were so mad at me.
So vile. I know I deserved it. I completely did, but still.”

“I
wish I could take it back!” he groaned. “You don’t know how much I wish that.
But listen to me,
Fiore
, believing
you were some sort of shady criminal for personal gain is a completely
different situation to knowing that you were merely trying to stop other young
girls going through the sort of upbringing you had. And if you had to use
slightly underhand means to achieve that, then I applaud you. Am I glad I was
down as one of your dupes? Of course not, but on the other hand, were I not, we
would never have met, would we?”

“So
it’s….”

“It
is what it is, and if that was what it took for us to meet, then so be it.”

She
shook her head, hardly able to believe the words coming out of his mouth. “And
now? Why are you here now?”

“I
wanted to see you.”

“Dominic….”

“I
want us to pick up from where we left off,” he stated the words bluntly and
Rachel gaped at him. It was beyond anything she’d ever hoped for. Anything
she’d ever imagined.

“You’re
serious?”

“I
am. Exactly from where we left off.”

“The
proposal?” she whispered the words, her heart thudding.

The
finger tucked under her chin stroked along her jaw, back and forth and back and
forth. Rachel felt her skin tingle. “Last I knew we were engaged to be married,
so let us pick up from there. I will give you my support and finances in terms
of your charitable ventures and you will be my wife. I will take care of you.”

“I
can
take care of myself, you know,”
Rachel said slowly. “I have managed it for twenty-five years!”

He
smiled. “Yes, you have taken care of yourself for far too long, and of course
you can continue to do so, but surely it is preferable that I help too?”

“But—”

“And
then there is the other issue to think about, is there not?

“And
that is?”

“Our
baby.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Rachel
wrenched herself free, the color draining from her face. “Lyra told you? She
had no right!”

He
shrugged. “Perhaps not, but someone had to. I note that you did not.”

“I….”

“You
what?” he asked. “What?”

She
shook her head, her eyes wide, and Dominic sighed before pulling her back into
his arms. She would remain there from now on, that was just that, and it felt
right
. Her cradled against him. Her
curves and her dimples all just a touch away, it was perfect. As it should be.

“I
didn’t want to tell you yet,” she whispered. “I wouldn’t have been doing it for
the right reasons.”

“What
do you mean,
Fiore
?”

She
scrunched her eyes shut and oddly Dominic’s cock hardened. That made sense
insofar as the woman he desired intensely was directly pressed up against him.
Why wouldn’t he be hard? But it was those weird little gestures of hers that
did it for him. The blushes, the lip biting, the eye scrunching.

God,
she was beautiful. How he wanted her.

“I
don’t want to talk about this right now,” she said.

Despite
the fact he wanted to push her, Dominic stopped himself, though not without
some difficulty. The last four months had taught him quite a bit, and the
information of the last few hours even more. Rachel might be soft and giving,
but she also had a core of steel and she would
not
be the biddable wife he had first thought. How could she?
Hell, the woman had tried to rob him blind!

Innocent,
yes.

Shy,
yes.

Biddable,
no.

He
was okay with that, though, he thought as she opened her eyes wide all over
again. Oddly he was, because it wasn’t about finding the perfect woman anymore.
He knew that. He’d found her. She wasn’t what he expected but she was perfect
because
of it.

“You
will tell me in time, then,” he said. “We have much of it.”

But
she shook her head and pulled away all over again. “This is why you’re here,”
she whispered. “Because of the baby. It’s not for me at all. You want the baby
and you think you can sweet talk me into getting it.”

“The
baby is....” He paused, unsure how to best phrase his thoughts, only to decide
that honesty was probably the best policy. Had there not already been too many
lies between them? “A bonus, I think,” he continued. “Had I the choice, you
would not be pregnant for many years. I would have liked you to myself. But the
choice has been taken from me by my own carelessness and so a baby we shall
have.”

“I
don’t understand,” Rachel breathed. “Are you saying you didn’t come for the
baby?”

“I
came for you.”

“But
it has been four months.”

“I
had no way of finding you before. When Lyra showed up, all I could think was
‘yes, I have a way to find her. I know where to go.’”

“Oh,
Dominic….”

“I
was always going to come here for you. Always,
Fiore
. You are mine.”

And
this time, when he pulled her into his arms, she came without any kind of
resistance at all. Slowly, because he wanted to savor every single moment,
Dominic lowered his head to hers. The kiss when their lips met was as explosive
as he had always known it would be. They moved together, lips, tongues,
everything, and it fired his blood, hardened his cock to the point of agony. “I
want you,” he whispered. “Can we….”

“Yes.”

“The
baby?”

“Is
fine. Kiss me some more.”

He
lifted her without so much as a pause and wrapped her legs around his waist.
Rachel’s hands threaded through his hair and he groaned. “I missed you,
Fiore
.”

“I
love you, Dominic.”

He
lowered his head so that their foreheads touched and closed his eyes. He’d
never thought to hear those words, at least not said like this. In the softest
of voices with just the right amount of breathlessness, the exact amount of
tenderness.

“I
do not know what to say to that. You humble me.”

Rachel
pushed her head up so that their noses nuzzled against one another and then
dropped a tantalizing kiss on the side of his lip before moving across to
mirror it on the other side. “You just have to say it back, Dominic. That’s
all.”

A
deep breath and so he did. “I love you.”

And
that was all she needed. It was all she’d ever needed.

The End

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Read Lyra’s story next!

Claimed
by the Sicilian Tycoon (Criminal Seduction, 3)

Coming
soon from Evernight Publishing

Chapter
One

The
drink set in front of her could have been many things. A vodka and tonic, a gin
and soda, even a white rum with a dash of something fruity. Lyra wasn’t sure
which but suspected vodka purely because of the glass. It was a wide-bottomed
tumbler with a frosted ring of ice, and when she’d worked bar in a similar
up-market club, she’d always put vodka in a tumbler with that exact same frost.
It looked good and kept the drink chilled to perfection. Plus, if anyone had
bothered to look at the glass she was currently drinking from—an identical
tumbler—they would have thought vodka and ordered accordingly. They weren’t to
know that she as drinking icy water. That no alcohol would be passing her lips
tonight.

“From
the gentleman over there,” the bartender, a damn good looking guy in his very
early twenties, said.

Lyra
raised an eyebrow and gave the bartender her most sultry smile. “Which one?”

He
pointed across the room to one of the tables grouped around a number of leather
chairs. Old leather. And old money, Lyra thought as she eyed the man who’d sent
her the drink. He was dressed in a suit that screamed six month’s rent, his
shoes were polished to a shine and he had the FT laid out in front of him. He
was also blond, blue-eyed and almost as good looking as the bartender. For a
moment, Lyra considered the situation but almost immediately shook her head.
She wasn’t here for Mr. Rich-and-Blond. He wasn’t her mark.

“Tell
him thanks but no thanks.”

The
bartender, who Lyra noted was called Mitch, grinned and shook his head. “The
guy’s a regular here. Hardly ever orders a woman a drink.”

“And?”

“He’s
a member of the House of Lords.”

“Is
this supposed to impress me?”

 
Mitch’s smile widened. “Just filling you in on
all the facts.”

“I’m
not interested. So tell him no.”

Mitch
shrugged, removed the glass and wandered over to the man in question. House of
Lords? Lyra smirked as she took a swig of her own water. He’d likely be pissed
at her rejection. Moneyed men always expected people to jump the moment they
said so. It pleased her in a small way to leave him hanging.

 
“I don’t think he was too happy.”

Lyra
smiled at Mitch and nodded to her glass. “Just fill that up with more water.”

He
did as she asked before placing the glass back down in front of her and giving
her a long, considering look. “He’s the third guy to offer you a drink. One
after the other, you tell them no, and that’s just the ones who have dared
approach.”

“What’s
your point?”

“You’re
not married.”