The Fall Of Jacob Del Garda (27 page)

Jacob was stunned by her words, but he had to admit she had made a valid point.

In his business appearances mattered. And as the son of one of the most respected Dukes in Spain, his appearance, how he conducted himself in public, mattered, too. Every hour of every day was accounted for. He was a workaholic and the habit had just got worse since she'd left him.

"I can change," he assured her.

"But why should you change who you are, when I love the man you are?"

"Not enough to stay in my life," he shot back, and then was immediately sorry for it when her face went white. "We were never friends, were we?"

"Friends?"

"
Si
, because it is obvious to me now, we were not good friends. If we had been, you would not have left me."

Grabbing the throw to cover her breasts, Gabriella moved to sit back against the sofa, to look right into his face.

"I didn't
want
to leave you, Jacob. Leaving you broke me. Don't you understand that? I love you so much. I want you to have it all. To have a life with a woman who could give you a family!"

But even as the words were pouring out of her mouth, it hit Gabriella that one year ago she'd made an appalling mistake.

His eyes went dark as they stared into hers with an intensity that made her belly tremble.

"Are you trying to tell me that if I had met someone else, married her and had children with her,
you
would be happy for me?"

She remembered the feeling of wanting to scratch Janine's eyes out of her head. She remembered how her heart broke in her chest when she'd seen Jacob hold little Daisy Boo, how they'd looked like the
perfect
family unit. There was that word again. Perfect. God, how stupid was she? Had she learned nothing?

And Jacob was watching her like a raptor. He deserved nothing but total honesty from her. And Gabriella accepted the hard truth that she'd been so terribly wrong to walk away from this man. Wrong.

"I'd
hate
it. I'd hate her." It was a good job she was sitting down, because the room spun as she faced facts. "And I'd hate myself for walking away, too."

Then she was in his arms and his mouth took hers.

There was nothing soft or gentle.

Not now.

And Gabriella surrendered, opening every single particle of herself to him, letting him take everything he needed.

He lifted his head and his eyes met hers.

She read the confusion, the guilt, and was sorry for it.

"We need to talk about this insane need you have to be perfect." He shook his head. "I do not understand it. When have ever I wanted you to be anything other than yourself?"

Her face went nuclear.

He hadn't.

Any issues she had were hers.

"You didn't," she admitted. And took a deep breath. "It was all on me. I wanted to be perfect for you. I realise now that the need to be perfect was something that had slid into my subconscious once I became a model. It was me, Jacob. Not you."

But he shook his head.

"I should have seen it. You are right. I was far too busy trying to make my father happy. When Lucas refused to join the family business, papa was devastated. The last person he thought to run The Ortiz Group was me, the second son. So I worked even harder to make-up for his disappointment."

Her jaw dropped.

This was the first time Jacob had truly exposed his fears to her and Gabriella couldn't believe what she was hearing.

Jacob's father was so terribly proud of him.

She stroked his glossy black hair back from his forehead.

Gabriella wanted to cry like a baby.

Now Jacob was doubting his father's love for him.

How the hell had it come to this?

"Oh Jacob, your father has never been disappointed in you. How could you think such a thing?"

"Like you, the idea crept up on me and I worked harder and harder to prove something to him, to myself, that I was good enough. You are right. We never had enough down time. We fitted our relationship into our lives, rather than fitting our lives into our relationship. And that was a mistake."

He held her close, nuzzled his mouth on the top of her head, inhaling her scent.

Then he moved back to look into her eyes.

"You are my life. No matter what happens when we see the doctor, we will deal with it together. After what happened to Bronte and seeing Nico so broken, I realise that life is too short to put off doing the important things that matter. So things are going to change. You will always come first. Please, give me a chance to make you happy."

"You always make me happy," she murmured before tipping back her head to offer her mouth to his. His kiss was a soft benediction of his love.

Then Jacob leaned across her to grab his discarded pyjama bottoms, his hand searching in the pocket. Then he held her engagement ring. The one she'd placed on the table on the day she'd left him.

"Your hand looks bare without this," he said as he slid it onto her finger.

Gabriella's eyes swam as the diamond set in white gold glittered in the sunlight.

It felt so right.

"You deserve someone who'll give you a happy ever after, Jacob," she whispered.

Taking her hand to his mouth, he kissed the ring.

"As long as that someone is you, I will take what I can get."

"You told me the marriage boat had sailed," she reminded him and couldn't control the wobble in her voice.

He placed a soft kiss on her trembling mouth.

"I said a lot of stupid things," he admitted.

Then he was on his knees, naked, vulnerable, his eyes on hers.

"No matter what the future holds for us, I am yours, now and always. None of us know how long we have on this earth. Your act of bravery during Bronte's accident brought that fact home to me. However long we have I want to spend every second, every minute, every hour of it with you. I love you. Gabriella, will you marry me?"

Heart overflowing, she rose to her knees, too.

Her arms slid around his waist as she tipped her face up to his.

"
Si, Señor
," she whispered.

Jacob took both her hands in his, brought them to his mouth and placed a kiss on each.

"I do not want to wait, Ella."

Mr. Bossy was back.

Her smile was tremulous. "I don't want to wait, either."

"Since the guys are in such a rush, maybe we should have a double wedding," Sophie suggested.

Ella was putting the finishing touches to her hair, and grinned at her twin in the mirror. She'd never seen Sophie look so happy, so content.

"Tobin is absolutely right for you."

Sophie's eyes went wide while her smile went wicked. "He's always been the one." Then her eyes clouded.

Always quick to pick up on her moods, Ella spun round to look at her.

"What is it?"

Sophie sank to the edge of the bed. "Come and sit beside me," she said and patted the bed.

Ella did as she was told, took her sister's hand in hers. The tremble made her frown as she stared at her.

Sophie took a deep breath. "The reason I walked in on Tobin with Gina, instead of being in class, was because I had news I wanted to share with him. Good news." Her voice wobbled.

"What news?"

Sophie turned her head, and the look of utter devastation in her eyes floored Ella.

"I was pregnant."

What?

Silence.

Stunned, Ella could only stare at her. "But... what happened to...?"

"I lost it at three months."

Silence.

She couldn't be angry with her, but Ella did feel hurt, very hurt, that Sophie hadn't told her. And then she realised what her sister had gone through in London, alone, and in secret.

Now her sister's fury with Tobin made perfect sense.

Why
hadn't she dug deeper, Ella berated herself?

Why had she left the two people she loved most in the world, apart from Jacob, to stumble through heartbreak and loss?

"But, why didn't you tell me?" Ella whispered.

"You'd just got your big break and you love Tobin. He's been key to your success. I knew if you knew how much I was hurting and that I was pregnant, you would have walked away from the agency. I owed you so much, Ella. I couldn't do it."

Ella leapt to her feet and spun to stare at Sophie.

"You
owe
me nothing. Since when did we keep a check and balance of what we do for each other? And you would have had to tell me sometime. How were you going to hide a child from me?"

Sophie's face went white. "I wouldn't have hidden a child from you, don't be ridiculous. I was going to tell you, when I was ready to tell you."

Ella sat hard on the bed and really looked at her sister.

She recognised the pain of loss in her eyes. And if anyone understood what it was like to want to take time to come terms with a life changing event, it was her.

"Why are you telling me now?"

"Because it's time. I'm supposed to be bright. But I've made so many mistakes with the people that matter in my life, I seriously wonder if I'm TSTL." She couldn't help but smile at Ella's blank look. "Too stupid to live."

"You are not responsible for Gina Gregory's behaviour."

"I know that. But I am responsible for running away and not dealing with her at the time, because it would have been clear to me that Tobin was helpless. I'd have called the police and she would probably be serving time." Then her eyes filled. "I'll never forgive myself for leaving him like that, powerless and alone, with her. God knows what else she did to him. And I might have kept my baby."

Emotion stung Ella's eyes, made her throat ache, as she took Sophie in her arms and held her tight.

"Actually, it's probably just as well you didn't confront her. Knowing you, you'd have killed the bitch and I'd be visiting you in prison."

Sophie leaned back to swipe a tear from her cheek.

She sniffed. "I've been dreaming of strangling her with my bare hands. When we get back to New York, Tobin's going to report it to the authorities."

"Good. It's the right thing to do."

Sophie took her hand, and squeezed. "How about you? I know you're nervous about today, but we're all here for you."

"Strangely enough, with all the drama over the last forty-eight hours, I haven't been dwelling on my test results." Ella checked her watch. "We'd better get going."

Dr. Amadis Samaranch leaned back comfortably in his chair and brought his fingertips together. Jacob recognised the cut of a grey suit the colour of pewter, Savile Row. The man was the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome. He was also very happily married, as the cluster of family photographs on the side table against the wall revealed. Clever eyes the colour of dark chocolate surveyed the four people sitting before him.

"Congratulations on your engagement, Gabriella. I hope you both will be very happy."

"
Gracias
," Jacob growled as he took Ella's hand. And as he felt the tremble, he squeezed it tight to show his support. "I wish to thank you for everything you have done for her."

The man nodded. Then his eyes turned to Gabriella and he smiled.

A smile was a good sign, Jacob decided.

"I have good news and I have not so good news," the doctor said.

"I'll take the good news first," Ella said and hung on tight to Jacob's hand.

"You do not have cancer. Our tests reveal no sign of the disease anywhere in your body."

Sophie burst into tears. "I'm so sorry for interrupting, but I can't help it."

The doctor's eyes went kind. "It is the release of anxiety." He pushed a box of tissues towards her, watched Tobin plucked out a couple, hand them to his fiancée. Then the doctor turned to Ella.

"You do carry BRCA1/2 gene mutations. So we will talk about the next step in managing your cancer risk. But first we need to deal with why you are unwell. Blood tests reveal that you have glandular fever, or as it is called in America, infectious mononucleosis. And the key to recovery is complete rest and no stress. Your spleen has been compromised by the infection, hence the nose bleeds. However, your spleen will recover. Your iron levels are low and you are underweight." His eyes slid to Jacob. "I recommend plenty of rest and plenty of good food. Perhaps a long break in the sun if you can manage it."

Jacob was still battling with the overwhelming relief that Ella was free of cancer. Compared to that, mono was a walk in the park. He nodded his agreement about complete rest and a break in the sun. And he knew exactly where to take her.

The doctor turned to Sophie. "I understand you are willing to undergo genetic testing?"

"Definitely."

"Good. Knowledge, as they say, is power."

The doctor pressed a button on his desk and a nurse entered.

"Please take Ms. Dolman to the phlebotomist for a blood sample."

Sophie and Tobin stood, thanked the doctor, and followed the nurse out of the door.

When the door closed, the doctor sat upright and leaned his elbows on the table.

"Mononucleosis can be tricky and the strain you have is particularly virulent. We have seen it attack the liver as well as the spleen, so it is important that you take very good care of yourself, Ella. Listen to your body. If it wants to rest, then rest, but take plenty of light exercise, too." He opened the fat file of her case notes and flicked through the pages until he found what he was looking for. "Your risk of your breast cancer returning is minimal. However, we will continue to monitor you. Now let us talk about your ovaries. Your risk of ovarian cancer is fifty per cent."

She took a breath, and nodded. "I've already come to terms with the fact that I will never have children..."

The doctor's raised hand stopped her in her tracks.

His eyes were sharp as they stared into hers.

"Why do you believe you can never have children?"

She blinked. "Well, I..."

"There is no sign of ovarian cancer, either in the pelvic scans or in the blood test results. Of course, we will continue to monitor the CA125-ll test levels. Most young women who carry the BRCA1/2 gene mutations go on to have one or two children without a problem. They tend to wait until they are in their early thirties to decide on a complete hysterectomy."

The hand that gripped Jacob's squeezed so hard he bit down on his bottom lip.

"Do you mean that I can try to have a child?"

Dr. Samaranch gave her a smile. "I see no reason why you cannot have a child. However, I suggest you recover from mono before you try."

He stood.

And that was the signal that the meeting was over.

Once they were outside, Jacob held her tight.

Ella's heart was so full, she found it hard to breathe.

Was it possible that she was going to be able to have it all after all?

She leaned back to look up into Jacob's wonderful face to find tears in his eyes and a huge smile splitting his features.

"I can give you babies," she whispered.

"
Si, querida
. But first you marry me."

"Sophie said Vegas is the place to go for a quickie."

His laugh shook his big body. "You want Elvis to marry us?"

"I don't care as long as we're together. Oh, Jacob, I feel as if I've been given a second chance."

Again he held her tight, too tight, but she didn't care.

Neither noticed the smiles of passers-by or the noise of the traffic on the busy London street.

"I know just the place for you to recuperate."

She kissed him on the mouth, sent him a beaming smile. "Where?"

"Home. In our new house in Bimini."

Stunned, her heart beat too hard against her ribs as she could only stare at him. "You built our house on the beach?"

"
Si
. And you are going to love it."

With a whoop she threw her arms around his neck and he spun her around.

Breathless with laughter, Ella's hands cupped his face, and she stared into his laughing eyes. "I love you so much, my darling. Take me home."

Dark grey eyes filled with love stared into hers. "I will, as soon as we are married."

"What are we waiting for?"