by Maya Blake
‘There is no stalking involved when the subject is just as crazy about the stalker,’ he rasped in a raw undertone.
Her heart flipped into her belly and her whole body trembled. ‘You can’t be. Theo, I’ll ruin your life.’
‘I thought my life was ruined before I met you. I was consumed by rage and a thirst for revenge. I let the need for revenge swallow me whole, blinding me to what was important. Family. Love. I thought there was nothing else worth fighting for. But I was wrong. There was you. My life will be ruined. But only if you’re not in it.’
The tears she’d tried to hold back brimmed and fell down her cheeks. Theo cursed and looked around. ‘What’s through there?’ he asked.
‘It’s a room, for private parties.’
‘Is there a party tonight?’
Before she’d finished shaking her head he was standing and tugging her after him. He kicked the door shut and turned to her.
‘Listen to me. You told me I would never see you as anything but the child of a monster. But you forget you’re also the child of a loving mother who celebrated every day the special person you are. How do you think she would feel to see you buried here, punishing yourself for what your father did?’
She shut her eyes but the tears squeezed through anyway.
‘Open your eyes, Inez.’
She sniffed and complied, staring up at him with blurred vision. ‘Now, truly open your eyes and see the wonderful person you are. See the person I see. The brave, talented person who drew those pictures.’
‘Oh, Theo,’ she cried.
‘You have a dream. A dream I want to be a part of.’ His hands shook as they traced her face.
‘I want that dream to become reality so badly.’
‘Then please forgive me for blackmailing you and give us that chance.’
She pulled back. ‘Forgive you? There is nothing to forgive. If anything, I should be thanking you for shaking me out of my bleak existence. Even before I truly knew you, you empowered me to fight for what I wanted.’
‘So will you fight for us? Will you give me the chance to prove to you that I’m worthy of your love and let me show you how much you mean to me?’
She touched his face and inhaled shakily when he turned to kiss her palm. ‘Meu querido, I fell in love with you so ridiculously soon after meeting you, I swear I’ll never confess to you when it happened.’
His stunned laugh brought a wide smile to her face. ‘Anjo…’ When her smile dimmed, he shook his head. ‘Don’t bother to argue with me. I love you with every breath I take. You’re my angel and I’ll keep repeating it until you believe it.’
‘We’re not going to have a very smooth-sailing future, are we?’
‘No,’ he concurred with a laugh then kissed her until her head swam with delirious pleasure. ‘But that will be part of our story. And, speaking of smooth sailing…’
‘Sim?’
‘I sent a couple of your sketches to our design guys in Greece. They’re interested in talking to you about them. If you’re up for it?’
Her mouth dropped open. She waited until he’d kissed it shut before she tried again. ‘Really?’
‘Really. And I should bring you good news more often. That happy wriggle does incredible things to my—’
She clamped her hand over his mouth and glanced, alarmed, over his shoulder, just as two text messages beeped in quick succession. He groaned and was about to activate them when a knock sounded on the door.
‘Hell, I knew I should’ve found a quieter place for this.’
The door opened and Pietro entered with a bottle of champagne and two glasses.
Theo’s expression grew serious as he watched him approach.
Pietro set the bottle and glasses down and stared back at Theo. ‘You took care of my sister when I was too much of a burro to do so. I’ll be for ever in your debt.’ He held out his hand.
After several seconds, Theo shook it. ‘Don’t mention it. Any man who’s not afraid to call himself an ass is all right in my book.’
With a self-conscious laugh, Pietro turned to leave.
‘Thanks for the drinks,’ Theo said. ‘But how did you know?’
Inez suppressed a giggle. Pietro rolled his eyes and nodded to the far wall. ‘There’s a partition to the kitchen. Camila’s been spying on you since you came in.’
Theo glanced behind him as the partition widened and Camila beamed at them. Her gaze rested on Inez. ‘Your feijoadas are good enough, but I always believed your destiny lies elsewhere.’ She blew a kiss and shut the partition.
Pietro left and Theo stared down at her. ‘Are you ready to start our adventure, agape mou?’
‘What does that mean?’
‘It means my love.’ His smile dimmed. ‘I learnt to speak Portuguese for the wrong reasons. I will teach you Greek for the right ones.’
Her grip tightened on his shirt. ‘Were you really planning to leave Rio?’
‘Yes. After I persuaded Benedicto to sign over the company into your and Pietro’s names, I was done with that soulless vendetta. The thought that I’d lost you in the process nearly killed me.’
‘I…what? You got him to sign over the company to us? Theo, we don’t want it!’
‘It was your grandfather’s, then your mother’s. It’s right that it should be yours and Pietro’s. If you don’t really want it, I’m sure you’ll find a beneficial way to dispose of it.’
She nodded. ‘It would go a long way to help the inner city centre and the favela kids.’
‘Great, we’ll make it happen.’
Her heart contracted as she stared into his warm eyes. ‘I love you, Theo. Thank you for coming back for me.’
‘I couldn’t not return, anjo, because without you I’m lost.’
She lifted her face to his and he slanted his mouth over hers in a deep, poignant kiss that brought fresh tears to her eyes.
‘We need to talk about these tears,’ he said drily, then huffed in irritation as his phone beeped again.
‘Your brothers?’ she guessed.
‘And their wives. Ari wants to know if I’m still alive. Sakis wants to know if he can hire you to design his next oil tanker.’
She laughed. And their wives?
He glanced down at the screen and back at her. ‘They want to know if they can start planning our wedding.’
She took the phone, flicked the off switch and slipped it into his back pocket. Gripping his waist, she raised herself on tiptoe and leaned close to his ear.
‘We will reply to each one of them in the morning. Right now, I want you to take me back to the boat and make love to me, make me yours again. Is that okay?’
‘It’s more than okay, my angel. It’s what I plan to do for the rest of our lives.’
The look of love and adoration in his eyes as he took her hand and walked her out of the room was forever branded on her heart.
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from CHRISTMAS IN DA CONTI'S BED by Sharon Kendrick.
Ten years ago one devastating night changed everything for Austin, Hunter and Alex. Now they must each play their part in the revenge against the one man who ruined it all.
Austin Treffen has the plan… Hunter has the money… Alex has the power!
Read each of their stories in the captivating Fifth Avenue trilogy,
only from Harlequin Presents:
Avenge Me by Maisey Yates (June 2014)
Scandalize Me by Caitlin Crews (July 2014)
Expose Me by Kate Hewitt (August 2014)
And don’t miss the Fifth Avenue prequel that started it all, Take Me, by Maisey Yates!
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SPECIAL EXCERPT FROM
Sharon Kendrick brings you another spectacular book, full of passion, excitement and secrets!
Read on for an extract from CHRISTMAS IN DA CONTI’S BED…
* * *
ONE DANCE and it will all be over.
Alannah tried to relax as they began to move in time with the music and for a while they said nothing. But it wasn’t easy to pretend that it meant nothing to be wrapped in Niccolò’s arms again. Actually, it was close to impossible. His body was so hard and his arms were so strong. His unique scent of sandalwood and raw masculinity seemed to call out to something deep inside her—to touch her on a subliminal level, which no one else had even come close to. She could hear the thunder of her heart as he lowered his head to her ear, and even his voice seemed to flood over her like velvety-dark chocolate.
“Enjoying yourself?” he said.
“Not with…” Her words trailed off, because now he had moved his hands upward and his fingers were spanning her back. She could feel their imprint burning through the delicate material of her dress and her throat constricted.
“With what?”
“You’re holding me too tightly,” she croaked.
“I’m barely holding you at all.”
“You are a master of misinterpretation.”
“I am a master of many things,” came the silken boast, “but misinterpretation wouldn’t have been top of my list.”
She looked up from where she had been staring resolutely at his black tie and forced herself to meet the mocking light in his eyes.
“I don’t understand what it is you want,” she said. “Why you’re dancing with me. Taunting me. Trying to get underneath my skin. Especially when you don’t even like me—and the feeling is mutual.”
He pulled her closer. “But not liking doesn’t stop us wanting, does it, Alannah? Desire doesn’t require affection in order to flourish. On the contrary, sometimes it works better without it. Don’t you find that, mia tentatrice?” He stroked a reflective finger along her waist. “That sex can be so much more exciting when there is a frisson of animosity between a man and a woman?”
* * *
Find out what happens next in CHRISTMAS IN DA CONTI’S BED December 2014
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Copyright © 2014 by Harlequin Books, S.A.
ISBN-13: 9781460343548
What The Greek Wants Most
Copyright © 2014 by Maya Blake
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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