A Forbidden Love (Eligible Billionaires Book 9)
Page 15
Alexi typed out a response on his phone and pressed send. “According to Mom, Devon had a long conversation with Dad.”
“That’s more than he’s done with me the past couple of weeks.”
“Are you surprised?” Alexi said and shifted in his seat. “It must have been a shock to see Sergey Rashnikov’s twin walk into the dining room. Like seeing a ghost.”
Ilana stiffened. Soon all that would remain of her father would be a handful of memories, the majority of them unpleasant, most from her childhood and now the one from this trip.
Alexi’s bright blue eyes fixed on Ilana. “Can I…will you listen to what I think?”
Ilana nodded.
“I don’t want to overstep, because we haven’t known each other long. But I have insights about my family that you should know.”
“Okay.”
“Here’s the thing”—Alexi raised one eyebrow, as though imparting the wisdom of the ages—“you can’t make your decision regarding Devon based on what my dad or your dad think about him, or what they have to say about him.” The flight attendant set the glass of wine in front of Ilana and a bourbon in front of Alexi. “You have to make your decision based on your feelings, not theirs.”
Ilana’s heart hurt. “I know…it’s just—”
Alexi leaned forward and interrupted Ilana. “You have us. Okay. You have four cousins. Your father’s fight isn’t our fight. We’ll be your family no matter what you decide. We’ll be a part of your life. We only know your father as the troubled uncle in New York.” He took a long sip of his bourbon and set the glass back on the table. “But we do know our father. Each of us has fought hard to gain our independence from him.” He frowned and shook his head. “That battle hasn’t been easy. We’ve turned down a lot of money and perks for our freedom.” Alexi’s eyes met hers. “What you’re seeing now? The four of us spending time with our parents? That came after a lot of anger and strife. We haven’t been close for a long while, at least not before our father reached out to you.”
Ilana’s eyes widened.
“The fact that you agreed to see us and meet us and possibly be a part of our family? That’s brought us all closer than we’ve been in nearly seven years.”
“I…I didn’t know,” Ilana said softly. “It seemed like…I mean, the few times I’ve been with all of you…you seem so…so close.”
“We were.” Alexi ran his finger around the base of his glass. His gray eyes flashed to hers. “Then some bad shit happened, as it does for all families, and we weren’t close any more. None of us. I guess the twins were close, they always are, but the rest of us?” He shook his head. “You haven’t seen the anger and the strain in our family yet, and I wanted you to know. You need to know that yes, we are a family, but our family isn’t perfect. You can’t make it perfect, but you won’t destroy it if you choose to follow your heart, either.” Alexi smiled. “Each of us has to follow our own happiness. You can’t let my dad control you and dictate what he wants for you, because he will, if you let him.” Alexi’s weighted gaze pressed hard into Ilana’s soul. “Does this make sense?”
Ilana nodded. “It does, but so does what my father said about Devon. That Devon had to know about my father’s business. Otherwise how could he have testified?”
“It’s bullshit,” Alexi said. “I think his words are the bitterness of an incarcerated dying man. I don’t care what Sergey believes Devon knew or didn’t know. Devon’s guilty of doing what a lot of people do, which is trying to believe the best of people. He made the mistake of giving Sergey the benefit of the doubt, and Sergey exploited that.” Alexi glanced out the window at the clouds and then snapped his gaze back to Ilana. “You know Devon. Do you think if Devon knew your father was trafficking women and pimping them out in his clubs he’d allow that to continue? To happen in the first place?”
Ilana paused. “No. But what if he should’ve known? What if he had suspicions, doubts, and he didn’t ask? What if the man I fell in love with in Venice is entirely different than the man Devon was in New York?” A tremor started in Ilana’s chest and a lump grew in her throat. “What if one day, after we’re living together or married, the other Devon, the one who overlooked that Daddy was trafficking women and was connected to the Russian mob, shows up? What if he turns out to be some angry, violent, crazed person who starts to hurt me and my children and”—Ilana’s voice cracked. She hugged both arms across her chest, tears streaming over her cheeks.
“Hey, hey, hey.” Alexi moved around the table and knelt in front of Ilana. “I get it. You’re afraid. You’re afraid that what you saw happen to your mom will happen to you.” Alexi wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into tight hug. “I wish I could guarantee that bad things won’t happen, but if the last three years have taught me anything, it’s that life doesn’t come with guarantees.” Alexi pulled back and looked into Ilana’s eyes. “Look into your heart. You know who he is and why you love him. What do you believe about him? Make your decision from there.”
Ilana nodded. Alexi was right. Her cousin was one hundred percent right. Fear careened through Ilana’s chest. Fear that she’d make the wrong decision, that she’d put her family and her future at risk, fear that the man she loved could turn into someone else, someone she didn’t know, someone like her father. Her father who’d said that Devon Travati was just like him. Would she allow fear from her past to cloud her future or would she move forward? Would Ilana choose to be brave and face her fears, but know that her love could push her past all that made her afraid?
*
A breeze flitted off the ocean and swept along the beach onto Devon’s back patio. The evening was cool enough that he’d lit the outdoor fireplace. Flames flickered and danced.
The back gate opened. He looked up.
A sliver of ocean was visible behind her. The fuchsia light of the sunset outlined her. Ilana. Her golden hair floated on the breeze and she pulled a piece behind her ear. Was that a blush on her cheeks?
Discomfort flooded Devon. Two weeks ago, he’d have pulled Ilana into his arms and kissed her, but with everything that had happened, everything that had been said, he hesitated before her. He looked into those ice blue eyes.
This woman meant the world to him…He touched her bare upper arms and looked into her eyes, deep into her eyes, trying to read her thoughts before she spoke. Never before had Devon felt so powerless. Here, now, in this moment, this woman held the power to turn his life into the perfect future he envisioned or an abyss of sadness.
“I’m glad you’re here. Thank you for coming,” he said.
Ilana nodded, her face solemn.
“I…” Devon took her hand and pulled her to the two seats beside the fire. He sat down beside her. “I’m sorry.” He clasped her hands and dropped his head forward. Searching for the right words, the words that would convey his feelings. “There’s no excuse for what I said.” He looked up and met her gaze. “I was in shock, but I know you, and I know that you would never do anything deceptive.”
Ilana nodded again. Her eyes held an intense focus. What was she thinking? What were the words she was determined to say? He squeezed her fingers.
“I saw him. I saw my father,” she whispered.
“I heard.”
“From my uncle?”
“From Wedge, actually,” Devon said.
They both smiled. Small smiles, but shared smiles, smiles about Wedge.
“How was that?” Devon asked. His heart hurt. A part of him wished he could’ve been the one to take Ilana to meet her father. That wouldn’t have worked, that would have been a nightmare, but still, the idea that she had faced such a pivotal moment in her life without him beside her made him feel as though he’d failed her.
“It was…” Ilana sighed. Sadness filled her eyes. “It was different than what I’d hoped for, but almost exactly what I expected.”
He pressed his lips into a thin line. Devon knew Sergey Rashnikov, and the words Ilana spoke told him everything he
needed to know about their meeting.
“Are you okay?”
Ilana looked out toward the ocean, where the sun slid below the waves. “It’s what I needed for me.” Her gaze left the horizon and locked onto his eyes. “I’ve been thinking a lot about what I need to do for me. More about what makes me feel right and whole, and not so much about what I should do for other people.”
Devon nodded, but didn’t respond. There were more words on her lips. He could feel her need to speak, to tell him what she’d decided.
“I’ve made decisions about us. About what I need.”
The clutch in his chest was tight, his breathing shallow. Was this Ilana’s moment to say good-bye? He wouldn’t let her. He couldn’t go on without her any longer. He’d spend the rest of his life proving to her that their match was meant to be, no matter what she thought now.
“Ilana—”
She held up her hand and shook her head. “Please, I have to say this and I have to say it just this way, or I’ll never get it out.”
Devon stopped. Pulled both her hands onto his lap.
“I love you.” Ilana’s eyes glistened with unshed tears. “I know that I will always love you. I can feel it deep in my core. The last two weeks”—she glanced away, toward the fire—“I’ve fought the urge to call you a million times a day.” She bit her bottom lip and looked at their interwoven hands. “I can’t fight that urge any longer. I…I want to be with you. I want us to find a way to make this work. I want us to be the family we dreamed of, and see if we can make it work for the rest of them. And if we can’t?” Ilana shrugged. “Well, if we can’t, then it’ll be the two of us and what we build together in this world.” She looked up and her eyes locked to Devon’s. “What do you think?”
Devon’s heart flooded with relief and love. Joy coursed through him, and a wide smile burst across his face. “I think you just made me the happiest man on the planet.” He pulled her close and pressed his lips to hers. This woman was his present and his future and the life he wanted to live for the rest of his days.
Chapter 21
A warm soft breeze whispered over Ilana’s bare shoulders, carrying the scents of sea and salt. Mama was here today. Ilana saw her spirit in the riot of purple and orange and fuchsia that blazed across the horizon as the sun slowly exited the day. She squeezed her bouquet tighter and pressed her toes deeper into the sand.
Behind Ilana and Devon sat their families. Travatis and Rashnikovs. Occupying an unfamiliar and not yet easy peace, grudgingly agreed to for the two people each family loved. Ilana smiled as she held her bouquet against her still-flat belly. Soon there would be a third in their new family, a melding of both gene pools, that would unite them all.
“What God has put together let no man put asunder.” A brilliant smile cascaded across Regina’s face, and for an instant her eyes shifted to Amelia, who stood by Ilana’s side as her one and only bridesmaid. “Devon Travati,” Regina continued, “you may now kiss your bride.”
His lips were on her lips. She would forever remember this kiss. Her heart swelled with love, a warmth and capacity she’d not, until this very moment, experienced. His lips, firm against hers, conveyed a promise, a commitment, a knowledge that this would be their life together. Built on a foundation of their love. She would have this kiss, this wedding kiss, for the rest of her days. The memory would linger, forever theirs to share in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer, and in good times and in bad. This kiss, representative of their love, sealing their covenant, would be the true moment their union began.
Slowly they pulled apart. Gone were the families, gone was the sand, the ocean, the breeze, the scents of Venice. Before her was only Devon, the man she loved, her husband.
“I love you,” he said and pressed his forehead to hers, in this utterly private moment in front of all their family and friends.
“I love you too,” she said.
And she did. And she would love him for all the rest of her life.
The End
About this Series
Thanks for reading A Forbidden Love, the fourth book in the Travati Brothers Eligible Billionaires Series. I hope you enjoyed it! Reviews help other readers find books and I appreciate all reviews, whether positive or negative. Please take a moment and write a review for A Forbidden Love.
The Eligible Billionaire Series:
Can’t Buy Me Love
One Night for Love
A Christmas Billionaire
Last Call for Love
Running from Love
Eligible Billionaires Books 1-3
The Travati Brothers Series:
A Forever Love
A Billionaire for Christmas
A Convenient Arrangement
A Forbidden Love
Would you like to know when my next book is available? You can sign up for my new release e-mail list at http://www.maggiemarr.net/about/newsletter.
Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/maggiemarr, or like my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Maggie-Marr-Books/168071873226783?ref=ts.
Visit my Website at http://www.maggiemarr.net.
Also by Maggie Marr
The Hollywood Girls Club Series
Hollywood Girls Club
Secrets of the Hollywood Girls Club
Hollywood Hit
Hollywood Girls Club the Series
The Eligible Billionaires Series
Can’t Buy Me Love
One Night for Love
A Christmas Billionaire
Last Call for Love
Running from Love
Eligible Billionaires Books 1-3
The Travati Brothers Series
A Forever Love
A Billionaire for Christmas
A Convenient Arrangement
A Forbidden Love
The Powder Springs Series
Courting Trouble
The Christmas Wish
Candy Cane Lane (novella)
The Christmas Promise (coming soon)
The Glamour Series
Hard Glamour
Broken Glamour
Fast Glamour
Easy Glamour
Luxe Glamour
Impossible Glamour
The Glamour Series Books 1-3
About the Author
Maggie Marr is an attorney, author, and producer. She began her career in the entertainment industry pushing the mail cart but rose to the position of motion picture literary agent. She has written for TV, film, and celebrities. Maggie has been featured on KCRW's The Business and reviewed by Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and Romantic Times. She lives in LA with her family.
Maggie is eternally grateful for the graciousness and support of her readers.
Please visit her Website at: http://www.maggiemarr.net.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/maggiemarr
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Maggie-Marr-Books/168071873226783?ref=ts
Acknowledgements
First and always, thank you to my readers. I have the best job in the world because of YOU! Thank you to my agent Kristin Nelson, who is always working on my behalf. Thank you to Lori Bennett and Angie Hodapp and the entire team at Nelson Literary Agency. I am blessed to work with such a talented group of professionals. Thank you to Maria Walsh Connor Green for all your help and assistance; you are the absolute best! Kelley Hawthorne Jefferson, thank you for your wisdom and your guidance and thank you to Caitlyn O’Leary for introducing us. Sarah Hansen of Okay Designs, thank you for the cover and the amazing branding. Thank you to my editor, Jennifer Brown. Sarah Altman, thank you for making my newsletters look awesome! Cami Brite and Brite Designs thank you for keeping my website looking stellar.
Thank you to the organizations that support me and my writing; LARA, OCC-RWA, RWA, WFWA, and Let it Rain. You provide me with friendships, wisdom, and the opportunity to serve a community that I love. Thank you to The Lady Jane Salon and The Ripped Bodice for supporting Romance.
Thank you to the MAGGIE MARR SUPERSTARS!! Oh my goodness—an AMAZING group of women who help me in a million different ways! I’m so blessed to have all of you in my life!!
Thank you to my family and friends, especially Margaret L. Marr, Lauren Harrison, Gavin White, Nealie White, Linda and Bill Henderson, Lindsy and Mark Henderson, Dixie Marr, Gayle Leftwich, Joyce and Tom Leahy, Paula and David Glasscock, Garrett L. Marr, Amy and Brent Zacky, Victoria and Karl Makinen, Peggy Cafferty, Maria Seager, Cami Brite, Debbie Decker, Jane Porter, Violet Duke, Allie Adams, Beth Yarnall, Cassie Hayes, Jenn LeBlanc, Theodora Taylor, Tameri Etherton, Sylvie Fox, Debra Holland, Chandra Years, Claire Davon, and Bob.
To my husband and the kidlets, thank you for laughing when I dance and smiling when I sing. Love you.
A FORBIDDEN LOVE
Maggie Marr
Copyright © 2016
All Rights Reserved.
978-1-62051-244-9
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