‘Xavier—’
‘I love you.’
Her breath caught. ‘What?’
‘I love you, querida,’ he said. ‘And everything you said this morning, as difficult as it was to hear, was right. In that board meeting I was under attack—but I had people beside me who love me, who had my back and will always have my back. I could have done it without them, but I didn’t need to. Because they were there, without judgment, without criticism. And through most of that meeting all I could think about was getting back here. Those photos—’ His jaw clenched for a second. ‘I want to be the man who protects you, the man who has your back, the man who stands by your side and accepts that he’s human and imperfect.’
Tears clung to her lashes. ‘I love you, too,’ she whispered.
‘Marry me,’ he said.
She laughed. ‘Is that an order?’
‘Sí.’ He lifted her left hand and stroked her fingers. ‘I will buy you a magnificent ring.’
She started to say that she didn’t need a big diamond, just something small, given with love, but then she gasped. ‘Xavier! What happened to your knuckles?’
‘I punched Diego—defending your honour.’
Her eyes widened, then she grinned. ‘Did it feel good?’
‘Very.’ Xavier flexed his hand and grinned back. Then he tugged her towards the bed. ‘But I know something that will feel even better.’
* * *
At midnight, unable to sleep, Xavier gently disentangled himself from Jordan’s soft, sleep-heavy limbs, pulled on a pair of drawstring pants and went to his study.
He poured a brandy, sat at his desk and read the letter his birth mother had written to him in the weeks before she died.
When he got to the end he wiped his cheeks, put the letter away and raised his glass to Camila Walsh—the woman who had not only given him life, but given him the love of his life.
Jordan.
* * * * *
If you enjoyed A MISTRESS, A SCANDAL, A RING check out the first part of Angela Bissell’s RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE BROTHERS duet
A NIGHT, A CONSEQUENCE, A VOW
and Angela Bissell’s
IRRESISTIBLE MEDITERRANEAN TYCOONS duet
SURRENDERING TO THE VENGEFUL ITALIAN
DEFYING HER BILLIONAIRE PROTECTOR
All available now!
Keep reading for an excerpt from CROWNED FOR THE SHEIKH’S BABY by Sharon Kendrick.
Crowned for the Sheikh’s Baby
by Sharon Kendrick
PROLOGUE
We trust you will find everything to your satisfaction.