EPILOGUE
AYEARLATER, to the day, Alexei entered their Parisian home. Not the cramped place Mina had rented, but a spacious, high-ceilinged house with space for a studio. He smiled. That was where she’d be, working, even though there was barely time for him to shower and change before they headed to tonight’s exhibition.
He ripped off the tie he’d worn for a press conference and tossed it over the back of a settee. His pulse quickened as he headed for the studio. Thinking of Mina filled him with a heady excitement he didn’t think would ever fade.
But for once his sweetheart wasn’t up to her elbows in clay or working with metal. The place was empty, save for the usual clutter. A half-finished piece stood near the window. Sketches were pinned to one wall near a scuffed workbench.
Alexei’s eyes went to a small, familiar piece in bronze on a nearby table. A man’s hands,hishands, cupped and holding the slim fingers of a woman.Mina’s.Though he appeared to support her hands, their fingers were intertwined as if sharing strength. Sharing a bond.
Whenever he saw the piece, Alexei felt a thump in the region of his heart. An awareness of how lucky he was to have Mina. This year had been everything he could have hoped and it made him more determined to keep what he had.
Smiling, he put his hand to his pocket and turned towards the door, only to pull up short.
The woman he adored stood there, wearing a curiously unreadable expression and a stunning dress of flame red. Alexei’s lungs expanded on an appreciative breath as he took in the tiny shoulder straps and flirty skirt that were an invitation to explore.
‘Mina! You look stunning.’ He imagined his hands skimming her taut thighs beneath the fabric. Heat circled his chest and drove straight to his groin.
‘You don’t look so bad yourself.’ She crossed the room and kissed him. Alexei gathered her up, relishing the fire that ignited between them and the sweet sensation of coming home. Coming to Mina.
When he ended the kiss, he kept his arms around her. Her exotic spice and cinnamon scent was warm in his nostrils and he savoured how right this was.
‘I heard from Carissa today.’
‘Hmm?’ He looked down into velvety eyes. She was smiling.
‘She and Pierre are visiting Ralph in Jeirut. He’s thriving and even picking up some of the language.’
Belatedly Alexei caught the thread of the conversation. Ralph Carter. In Jeirut.
Mina walked her fingers up Alexei’s chest, making him wish she’d found him naked in the shower.
‘It was a stroke of genius, getting him involved in your programme there.’
Alexei shook his head. ‘It was as much your idea as mine. You suggested Jeirut.’ Because the opportunities for gambling there were limited, so Ralph would have less temptation.
Alexei had revised his view of Ralph when he learned of his gambling addiction, a coping mechanism to deal with overwhelming grief at his wife’s death.
After hearing of the older man’s shame and desperate plan to pay back the money by gambling more, and his near suicidal despair when that failed, Alexei hadn’t pressed charges. Prison wouldn’t get his money back. Instead he’d co-opted Ralph into the initiative he and Sheikh Huseyn had begun to give unemployed youth the skills and confidence to start up innovative businesses.
After a rocky start, Ralph, with his financial expertise, pernickety attention to detail and genuine interest in his budding entrepreneurs, was a surprise hit. It helped them and gave him back a sense of purpose and self-respect.
‘But you were the one who suggested including him.’ Mina’s fingers reached his chin and traced his jaw, teasing. ‘You gave him a second chance. Not many people would do that.’ The way she looked at him stirred Alexei’s soul. His chest swelled.
‘Everyone deserves a second chance, sweetheart.’
She smiled and Alexei felt the radiance of it all the way to the centre of his being. ‘Which shows how right I was about you, Alexei Katsaros. You might be savvy and übersuccessful, but there’s more to you than business.’
‘Oh, much more.’ He slid his hands down Mina’s back, over that pertly rounded rump, and pulled her against him. That was better. Much better.
Mina wriggled and Alexei was tempted to forget their plans to attend a new exhibition. Except he had other plans too. A romantic dinner for two in one of the city’s best restaurants as a prelude to something much more significant.
But looking into Mina’s smiling face, Alexei knew it wasn’t a picture-perfect setting that mattered. It was her. And how she felt. Suddenly he couldn’t wait.
‘Mina.’ He swallowed, trying to eradicate the betraying husky edge to his voice. ‘I have something for you.’
She blinked. ‘That’s a coincidence. I have something for you too. Over there—’
‘Sweetheart.’ Alexei turned her head back towards him and reached into his pocket. ‘I’ve waited a whole year to give you time to be sure of me and what you feel. I’m in love with you, Mina. I want to spend my life with you.’