Falling for Her Billionaire Boss

by Donna Alward

  Mari pictured a younger Luca, vibrant with being in love and having that crushed. She squeezed his fingers. “So you focused on work.”

  “There was never a question of me working for Fiori. It is my heritage. A heritage built by my grandparents. I would feel I had let them down if I hadn’t stayed with the company. I would have felt as if I’d let myself down. I love Fiori. It is in my blood.”

  “I hear a ‘but’ in there.”

  He let out a little sigh. “But I spent many years focusing on my job alone, avoiding people. And I didn’t know how to have both.”

  She raised an eyebrow. She had the magazines to prove that his non-avoidance was well documented. Yet she knew he did have it within him. The way he’d held her as she cried proved it. Luca was capable of great feeling.

  “Oh,” he chuckled, a smile flirting at the corners of his mouth. “I did put on a good show. But I never got close to anyone after Ellie. Never wanted to. Gina got married and started a family and I kept traveling around the world, watching out for our interests. But putting on a face takes a lot of energy, Mariella. You, of all people know that.”

  She rested a hand on his arm. “Yes, I do. You always seemed so self-assured, Luca. I never would have guessed you were unhappy.”

  “And I wasn’t, not really. There was simply something missing.” He put his hand over hers. “I was missing roots. Which sounds foolish considering how I just told you how my family grounds me.”

  “There’s a big difference between coming from roots and finding your own place.” Mari gazed into his eyes. “I know I’ll never have the former. I never knew my real father and my childhood was a nightmare. But…but I think I’ve made a place for myself here.”

  “I know you have. I know it because I could see it from the beginning. You belong here. You fit. You fit in a way I never seemed to.” He looked around the cottage. “I can see you within these walls. You’ve made this into a home, one that is only yours.”

  “It doesn’t mean I’m not lonely.”

  “Are you? Lonely, Mari?”

  She bit her lower lip and nodded slightly. “Yes, yes I am. At least I was, and never knew it. You changed that for me.”

  “I never expected to find you, you see.” He grabbed her hand, lifting it and kissing her fingers. “And when I did, I still didn’t believe in it. I didn’t trust in it. I had feelings for you but I pushed them away, pretended they weren’t real. I told myself it was temporary and that I’d go back to Italy and I would be fine. And then you told me you loved me.”

  “I do love you.”

  He looked down then, for several seconds. When he lifted his head, he said simply, “How you humble me, Mari.”

  He leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers.

  “You, the one who should be afraid…you’re the one who has taught me. You’re my miracle, Mariella. And I’m terrified you’ll get up one day and realize I’m not good enough for you.”

  Tears clogged her throat. She couldn’t imagine being anyone’s miracle. Not after where she came from. After all she’d endured.

  “I fell in love with you, and I thought you only needed me because of your stepfather.”

  She swiped a finger beneath her lashes. “Oh Luca, how could you think that?”

  “I wanted to be the one to make you see, but then you did and I couldn’t bear the thought of you with anyone else. And I knew you deserved more than me and nothing made sense. Until you were gone yesterday, and it all became very, very, clear.”

  “It had nothing to do with Robert and everything to do with me,” she assured him. “You were the first person to see beyond what he’d done to me. The first person to make me forget and make me feel like it didn’t matter. The first person to make me feel like the real Mariella. You could never disappoint me Luca. Never.”

  “Which brings me to the next…The Cascade.” He rested his elbows on his knees, his hands on the outside of her thighs now. She smiled; when he’d arrived he’d had a penchant for touching that she couldn’t stand and now she couldn’t get enough.

  “I’ve grown weary of all the travel. I have a villa, but I’m rarely there. When I was younger it was exciting. I never wanted to settle down. I thought I had life by the tail. But things change. I changed. I started to hate having to drop things at a moment’s notice. I enjoyed building the business—being here with you and re-imagining The Cascade was wonderful. And then…then my father called the morning after you told me about Robert and said I was being sent to Paris right away.”

  A wistful smile fluttered on her lips. “That was why you acted the way you did?”

  “There was so much going on with me. I was suddenly involved with you on a much deeper level than I was prepared for, and it scared me. I wanted to show you that none of it mattered to me. And then on the other hand was my father telling me I had to leave and I resented the order. I’d put him off the day before and it didn’t go over well with him. And I wanted to make a change and didn’t know how, and it was all tied in with these feelings for my family and for you.”

  It all was starting to make sense.

  “I was certain that leaving was the best thing. I didn’t want to be in love. I didn’t want to put myself in the position of letting someone hurt me.”

  Mari couldn’t believe she’d ever have that kind of power. Yet here he was, clasping her hands, telling her how he felt and with every passing moment the crack he’d opened in her heart grew wider.

  “I’ve never been in love before either,” she admitted. “But it came down to knowing I’d regret it for the rest of my life. I had to tell you. And I had to ask you to love me back.”

  His tongue slid out to wet his lips and Mari’s pulse thudded.

  “I want to kiss you right now,” he murmured huskily, “but I need to tell you the rest first.”

  “Then hurry.”

  She breathed the response and again she felt the tug between them, the one she hadn’t imagined all those weeks ago.

  “I spoke to my father. About Fiori, about my discontent, about you. And we talked about my mother.”

  “You did?”

  “A child’s wounds are long to heal, don’t you think? He forgave her long ago. But I never did. I always carried this bitterness with me. It made me jaded. But I need to move past it. If you can move past Robert, surely I can find a way to forgive my mother.”

  Tears burned on her lashes. “You’re not the only one, Luca. I’ve been thinking about my own mother a lot lately. How can I judge her for making decisions out of fear, when I did the same thing for years?” Their hands were joined, and she ran her thumbs along the base of his. “I’m going to try to find her again. I’m pretty sure the police officer that sent the letter will help me.”

  They say quietly for a moment, letting it all digest. All the changes in both of them, each brought on by the love from the other. Finally Luca spoke.

  “When all was said and done, by the end of the conversation I’d resigned my position and had taken a new one. As Vice President and in charge of Fiori’s North American resorts. I’ll be managing everything on this side of the Atlantic, from one main office.”

  “How wonderful for you, Luca. What a fabulous job!” She smiled yet wasn’t sure how to react or exactly what it meant. North America was a big continent.

  He sighed, pulling away and running a hand through his hair. “Dio, you’re tough.” He regarded her with sharp eyes before finally coming out with it. “Would you be happy anywhere else, Mari? Could you leave this place behind?”

  Could she do it for Luca? She looked around her little cottage, the home she’d built from nothing. Could she leave it behind her? If it meant being with him, she knew she could.

  “Yes.”

  “But you wouldn’t want to. You do love it here.”

  “Of course I do, but…I’m not sure what you’re asking of me. Or what exactly has happened.”

  “My priorities changed, that’s what happened. Do
n’t you see, Mariella? It all fits now. The Cascade, that we built together. The new job and you. I love you. You give me roots. I don’t want to be anywhere else. Just with you. You come first, cara, and everything else after that.”

  She had no words. Never in a million years had she expected such a thing. At her prolonged silence, he spoke again.

  “I love you, Mariella. I love you so much it scares the hell out of me.”

  “No one has ever put me first before.”

  “Then it’s about time, don’t you think?” His smile was tender-soft. “You are my center. Nothing else makes sense.”

  He gripped the arms of her chair. “Living without you frightens me more than risking my heart. The job is mine. Where I live as I’m doing it depends on your answer.”

  Tears glimmered on her lashes at his heartfelt words. “I could answer, if you asked me a question.”

  He let go of the chair and stood briefly, reaching into his pocket and then kneeling before her.

  “Marry me. Marry me in the ballroom we recreated together, beneath the antique chandelier we found in the attic. Share your life with me. Let us make a home together here. Please say yes.”

  He held out the ring. There was no doubt in her mind that it was an antique. She stared at the brilliant emerald in the platinum setting, the glitter of inset diamonds on either side.

  “When my grandparents married, my grandfather could only afford a plain band for her finger. But by the time my father was born, things had changed for them. And my Nonni bought her this ring. He said that the emerald was the symbol of the love and hope she gave him.”

  She was staggered to see the sheen of moisture in his eyes.

  “Don’t you see, Mari? That’s what you are to me. Love, and hope. Two things I never thought I’d ever have, certainly not together.”

  “Oh Luca,” she whispered. “I love you so much. And I never believed in happy endings. It certainly never happened for my mother. Perhaps that’s why I accepted you leaving as I did. I didn’t believe in it. But I have a chance now, to believe, to have faith. And I’d be a fool to let it go.”

  “Is that a yes?”

  “Yes. Yes, yes!”

  He gripped her fingers, pulled her to her feet and into his arms.

  He stamped a single possessive kiss on her lips before drawing back and sliding the ring over her knuckle.

  “Mariella. It is only right that she who carries her name wears her ring. Oh Mari, what a future we have ahead of us.”

  Mari touched his face. She was safe with him, body and soul.

  “Starting today.”

  “Starting today,” he confirmed, and bent to kiss her again.

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  Read the first chapter of THE COWBOY'S BRIDE

  Chapter One

  “Miss? Wake up. Can you hear me?”

  The deep voice came first, then Alex’s vision gradually started to clear.

  “Oh, thank God. Are you all right?”

  Alex’s eyes followed the sound of the voice as she looked up, dazed. Trying hard to focus, she found herself staring into the most beautiful set of brown eyes she’d ever seen. They were stunning, dark brown with golden flecks throughout, large and thickly lashed.

  Men shouldn’t have eyes that pretty, she thought irrationally, realizing with a jolt that she was captured in the arms of a stranger.

  “Oh, goodness!”

  The eyes crinkled at the corners at her exclamation, and she felt his hands on her arm and behind her back, helping her to rise.

  “Slowly now. You fainted.”

  Really? I hadn’t noticed. I was too busy being unconscious. She bit back the sarcastic retort when she saw the genuine concern in his eyes. He even made sure she was standing firmly on her feet before releasing her—and then stayed close, as if he didn’t quite trust her to remain steady.

  He would have fainted, too, in her condition and with this heat…and the lack of air conditioning in the convenience store hadn’t helped much either.

  “I’m so sorry,” she blustered, brushing off her pants and avoiding his eyes. It had only taken a moment, but she could even now see him completely in her mind. Not just the eyes, but thick, luscious black hair, just long enough to sink your fingers into and slightly ragged at the edges. Crisply etched lips and a large frame in a grey suit.

  Someone who looked like him was so far departed from her world it was laughable, and she avoided his eyes from simple embarrassment. She stared instead at his shoes…shiny, brown leather ones without a smudge of dirt or a blemish. A businessman’s shoes.

  “No need to be sorry. Are you sure you’re all right?”

  She bent to retrieve her bag and purse. The first time she’d bent to pick up her dropped crackers, everything had spun and then turned black. This time she gripped the bench for support, just in case. To her dismay she realized that she’d spilled her apple juice and it was running down a crack in the sidewalk. She folded the top over on the paper bag, picked up the juice bottle and looked around for a recycle receptacle.

  “I’m fine,” she said, finally looking him in the face. Her heart skipped a beat at the worry she saw there. It had been a long time since anyone had been concerned over her, and he was a complete stranger, yet his worry was clear in the wrinkle between his brows. Gratitude washed over her for his gallantry. “I haven’t even thanked you for catching me.”

  “You turned white as a sheet.”

  She chanced a quick look around. Any passersby that had seen her little episode were gone, and now people went about their business, not paying any attention to them whatsoever. Another face in the crowd, that was all she was. Yet this man had seen her distress and had come to her assistance.

  “I’m fine. Thanks for your help. I’m just going to sit a moment.” She coolly dismissed him.

  Solicitously he stepped back to let her by, and once she sat, surprised her by seating himself, as well. “Do you need a doctor?”

  Alex laughed. Oh, she did, but a doctor couldn’t cure what was wrong with her. “No.”

  The answer was definitive. By the way his shoulders straightened she knew he got the message loud and clear. Briefly she felt guilty for being blunt, so she offered a paltry, “But thanks again, Mr….”

  “Madsen. Connor Madsen.” He held out his hand, undeterred, inviting her to introduce herself.

  She took his hand in hers. It was warm and solid and a little rough. Not a banker’s hands, as she’d thought. Working hands. Solid hands.

  “Alex.”

  “Just Alex?”

  His eyes were boring into her and she stared straight ahead at the office building across the street.

  “Yes. Just Alex.”

  It wouldn’t do to encourage him. In the early June heat, her t-shirt clung to her, the hem on the sleeves heavy on her arms and the fabric pulling uncomfortably across her breasts. And what had possessed her to wear jeans today, of all things? Apparently, it wasn’t that uncommon for such a heat wave this early in summer, but for her, the temperature did nothing but compound the light-headedness and nausea.

  Necessity had forced her wardrobe choice, plain and simple. Her shorts weren’t comfortable anymore and at least in her jeans she could breathe. As silence fell, thick and awkward between them, the world threatened to tilt again. The feeling slowly passed as she took slow, deep breaths. “For the love of Mike,” she mumbled.

  He laughed, a full-throated masculine sound that sent queer waves through her stomach. “So, just Alex. Intriguing name. Short for something?”

  She couldn’t believe he was still here. After all, beyond the first fuzzy moment that she’d succumbed to his arms, she hadn’t encouraged him at all. His attempt at polite conversation had done nothing but awaken an all too familiar sadness, the heavy weight of regret every time she thought of her parents. “My full name is Alexis MacKenzie Grayson.”

  “That’s quit
e a name for a small thing like you.” His eyes were warm on her and he twisted, angling himself towards her and bending a knee.

  “Alex for Graham Bell and MacKenzie for the Prime Minister, you know? You planning on using it for the paramedics later? In case I faint again?”

  He chuckled and shook his head. “You look much better, thank goodness. But you spilled your juice. Can I get you something else cool to drink?” His eyes wandered to the convenience store behind them. “Perhaps a Slurpee.”

  Her stomach rolled at the thought of the sugary sweet, slushy drinks. Every teenager in a ten-block radius had been buying Slurpees today, and the very thought of them had Alex’s tummy performing a slow, sickening lurch. She pressed her lips together.

  “Or are you hungry? There’s a hotdog cart down the street.”

  She stood, desperately trying to get some fresh air while exorcising the thought of greasy hotdogs from her mind. But she rose too quickly, her blood pressure dipped, and she saw grey and black shapes behind her eyes once again.

  His arms were there to steady her, and she dropped her paper bag to the ground, the contents falling out as they hit the concrete.

  His fingers were firm on her wrist as he helped her sit back down. “Put your head between your legs,” he demanded quietly, and for some reason she obeyed.

  Alex avoided his eyes as she sat back up moments later. “Sorry about that,” she mumbled, completely mortified at the awkward silence that fell between them like a ton weight. This had to be an all-time low. Blacking out not once, but twice, in front of her own personal Knight in Shining Armor. And wasn’t he annoying, this Mr. Perfect Chivalry, sitting there calm as you please.

  She expected him to mumble his apologies and hurry away. Instead he knelt and began picking up what she’d dumped on the ground in her haste.