But it was exactly how he’d always imagined her. Bright, feminine, sensual and powerful.
‘How much did you hear?’ he asked, walking towards her, hoping that she wasn’t a figment of his fevered imagination.
‘Everything,’ she said, allowing him to guide her away from the office.
He couldn’t take his eyes from her—couldn’t bring himself to say another word until they were free from the office, the deal, his father. He wanted to leave it all behind him.
Well, not all. He had meant what he’d said to Bartlett. Once the deal was made—whether Bartlett chose him or not—Antonio wanted to speak to the man about his daughter. He either knew and wasn’t sure how to proceed, or he didn’t know and would need help and support to get through to her. But Antonio wouldn’t allow the situation with Mandy Bartlett to go unchecked.
They emerged from the office onto the sidewalk and, still without a word, he took her hand and led her as quickly as her heels would allow across the road, towards the lower entrance of Central Park. He wanted life, greenery and peace to be the background of their next conversation. Not the high-rise hustle and bustle of Manhattan.
Walking away from the summer crowds of tourists gathering around the ice-cream sellers and busking musicians, Antonio drew them towards the quieter pathways, dappled with leafy shade and cool breeze. But when he got where he’d wanted to be he suddenly found himself unsure. What if she didn’t want him? What if his decision hadn’t made any difference to her feelings?
In the end it seemed that Emma found her courage before he did. She stopped, gently pulling on his arm, turning her towards him.
‘Antonio, I’m so sorry that I left you,’ she said. ‘I never—’
‘Don’t be sorry,’ he interrupted, hating it that she felt an ounce of sadness or regret about the actions that had forced him to confront his feelings in a way that nothing else had. ‘I needed to see the true depths of the darkness I was about to fall into before I could reach for you, before I could reach for the light.’
He paused, hoping that she understood his words, took them into her as deeply as he meant them.
‘I want to be worthy of you, Emma. I want to be better than him. I am now and will continue to be. Whether you’ll do me the honour of becoming my wife or not. I know you will—’
‘Wait,’ she said, throwing up a hand between them. ‘What?’ she asked.
He cursed, realising that he’d blundered over the most important thing he’d ever asked in his life. The first time they had done this it had been for the deal. This time he wanted it to be a moment that she cherished, that she remembered, might even tell their children about one day.
‘Emma, I love you. So very much,’ he said, digging into his pocket for the small box he’d arranged to have sent over from the shop in Buenos Aires. ‘I know you heard what I said in the room with Bartlett and my father—but I want you to hear it now. Here, without them present, not for show or for a deal, but for you. For years I’ve shied away from love, from meaningful relationships, because I thought that love was a destructive, harmful thing. Something my father used against my mother—something that left my sister destroyed when it was withdrawn from her. And something that left me with my own scars. But that wasn’t true. You showed me, that last night in Argentina and in so many ways preceding it, that love is a healing, powerful, amazing thing. I know now that what my father did wasn’t borne of love. And no matter what happens—whether you say yes or not—I want you to know that I love you, and I will love you every single day for the rest of my life if you will let me.’
He got down on one knee, drawing the curious gazes of some of the few people passing by. And it was then that Emma truly knew the power of their love as it washed over them both from his words, his eyes, his heart.
‘Emma Guilham,’ he said, taking her hand in his, ‘would you do me the incredible honour of being my wife?’ he asked, sending her heart soaring higher than she had ever felt.
She couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her lips, but she too had words she wanted to share. Things she wanted him to understand so that they could move ahead with all the love and security she knew they would both feel.
She gently tugged at him, attempting to pull him up from where he knelt. And she laughed again when he shook his head and refused, drawing even more attention from the people passing.
‘If you won’t stand then I shall have to come down to you,’ she taunted.
‘So be it. I will not move until I’ve had your answer,’ he said, a stubborn determination filling his words in a blissful promise that she wouldn’t have thought him capable of when she’d first met him.
So she did as she had said and took to her knees, facing him, holding her gaze with his and, just like Antonio, not caring of the attention they were drawing.
‘For so long I thought myself strong, capable—no,’ she said as he tried to interrupt her, knowing that he would contradict her words, but knowing too that she needed to say them. ‘I was, am and will continue to be a survivor. But for all the promise and hope put into that list I made as a seventeen-year-old, I never had the courage to ask for the things that I truly wanted. Self-acceptance, self-love and ultimately true love itself. Antonio, you showed me that my scars are beautiful, you taught me to reach for the things I was too scared and too unwilling to admit to myself that I wanted, and you proved to me that doing so, whether successful or not, was the real gift. You showed me that it was okay—more than that, vital for me to put my whole self out into the world. And I love you for it, and I will love you for it until my last breath. So, yes, Antonio Arcuri, I will marry you.’
The moment the words had left her mouth Antonio pulled Emma to him in a kiss that she would never forget. It was full of the taste of love, passion and everything in between. It was full of light, laughter and finally, the knowledge that they would live happily ever after.
EPILOGUE
One year later...
ARCURI WELCOMES THE
BIRTH OF HIS SON!
BY ROANNA KING
International tycoon announces the