AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Not a question of it,’ Antonio told her boldly and, springing fluidly upright, he drew her up with him. ‘I couldn’t let you go…ever. It’s amazing. I never knew I could feel like this. I am head over heels in love with you.’
Her eyes shone and her whole face lit up. ‘Seriously?’
Antonio tugged her to him with possessive hands. ‘Very seriously. Lydia gave me the excuse to be with you and I grabbed it. My ability to make rational decisions went haywire the minute I saw you again. I even enjoyed fighting with you. Isn’t that crazy? Nothing went according to plan—’
‘Our wedding day was awful—’
‘I wanted you to wear a long white dress,’ Antonio confessed with an apologetic grimace. ‘When you wore that flowery outfit, I thought you were making a joke of the occasion.’
‘Oh, no, I wish I’d known that. I thought you’d be furious if I went for the full bridal show!’ Sophie lamented.
‘It’s not your fault. I didn’t know what I wanted until it was too late.’ The regret in Antonio’s steady dark golden eyes touched her heart. ‘I didn’t do any of the stuff I should’ve done to make the day special for you.’
‘But you’re brilliant at wedding nights,’ Sophie hastened to tell him. ‘That was special.’
‘I didn’t even realise how I felt about you. When you made that crack about picking me as a stud, I was…I couldn’t see the joke. I was angry, offended…hurt,’ he finally admitted grittily.
Sophie wrapped her arms tightly round him in apology. ‘I was too busy worrying about how I could save face to see how you were feeling. When I don’t feel sure of myself, I tend to go on the offensive.’
‘I stayed away from you and I was incredibly miserable. I didn’t recognise what was wrong with me until I came back and saw you again,’ Antonio admitted, his fingers tilting up her chin so that he could scan her upturned face with appreciative eyes. ‘I realised that I had a lot of work to do to try to turn our relationship round and make you happy.’
‘You really succeeded at that…’ Her throat tightened on the words for powerful emotions were coursing through her. ‘You know, I have feelings for you too but I’ve been doing everything I could to hide the fact.’
‘Like threatening to take Lydia and leave me?’ Antonio gritted, but he was stroking gentle fingers across her cheekbone in a caress. ‘Don’t ever do that again. I messed up when it came to dealing with the DNA tests, but over the last twenty-four hours you almost ripped my heart out. I was so scared I was going to lose you and all over something that doesn’t matter a damn.’
‘You were shocked when you found out that Lydia wasn’t your niece— I’m not blaming you for thinking the worst of me as well. You didn’t think that way for long,’ she pointed out forgivingly. ‘But how can you say that Lydia’s parentage doesn’t matter?’
‘Being Pablo’s daughter would always have been something of a poisoned chalice for her. People have long memories and my brother had a bad name,’ Antonio remarked ruefully. ‘At least Lydia won’t suffer that stigma.’
Sophie was grateful that he was all for an open and honest approach to Lydia’s background. ‘You’ll have to tell Doña Ernesta. Will she be very upset?’
‘My grandmother will be disappointed, but she’ll cope. I think we should adopt Lydia.’
‘Oh, could we? I’d love to do that.’
‘I don’t think Belinda planned to lie about Lydia,’ Antonio said then. ‘After my brother’s death, I tried several times to persuade her to let me visit and she always put me off. She must’ve been pregnant then and at that point she evidently wasn’t thinking of passing off her baby as Pablo’s.’
‘That must’ve come later, probably because she wanted to forget that she’d gone a little wild.’
‘Lydia’s beautiful. Let’s be glad she’s ours,’ Antonio suggested.
Her smile was as bright as the sun. ‘That’s how I always feel about her.’
‘Would you now like to tell me about those feelings that you said you were determined to hide from me?’ Antonio prompted tautly.
Sophie went pink when she realised that she still hadn’t told him she loved him. ‘I love you…lots and lots and lots.’
Golden eyes ablaze with satisfaction, Antonio snatched her off her feet and kissed her with all the fire of his passionate temperament. One kiss led to another and matters became pretty heated very quickly. A long time afterwards, while they lay secure in each other’s arms, Antonio tried to get her to promise that she would rerun the ‘fancy lingerie and supper on the floor’ seduction routine for his benefit again. She said she’d have to think about that very carefully, while secretly planning to indulge him on his birthday.
Just over a year later, when Lydia’s adoption was finalised, Sophie and Antonio threw a massive party at the castillo to celebrate the occasion.
Sophie felt a little out of sorts that evening and over the next month she suffered several other minor but irritating symptoms. When she consulted Dr Teruel, she discovered that she was three months pregnant. Her joy and Antonio’s knew no bounds. They shared every tiny milestone of the pregnancy with intense interest and gratitude.
Their daughter, Carisa, was born without complications. Lydia was so excited about having a little sister that she brought all her toys to Carisa and was disappointed to learn that it would be some time before the baby could play with her. Doña Ernesta comforted Lydia with the suggestion that she would be able to teach Carisa all her favourite games and tell her stories.
Sophie’s grasp of Spanish was by then fluent and she began attending a part-time course on textile conservation. Lydia was almost five years old when Sophie conceived for a second time. Sophie gave birth a month early to two little boys, who quickly gained weight and made up for their premature arrival in the world. They called the twins Francisco and Jacobo. Their christening was celebrated at the Rocha home in Madrid. A very flattering set of photos and a brief interview would later appear in an up-market magazine in return for a sizeable charitable donation. Antonio had come to accept that his wife was something of a celebrity and her public liked to see her in print.
‘I have a surprise, enamorada,’ Antonio confided the night of the christening when all the children were finally tucked up and asleep and even the most long-staying guest had gone home. He made her close her eyes as he slid a ring on her finger, but it stuck on her knuckle and she had to push a little and peep.
‘Oh, my goodness!’ she gasped then, impressed to death by the starry sparkle of the huge diamond. ‘What’s this for?’
‘It’s your engagement ring…just a few years late,’ Antonio teased tenderly. ‘Would you still say yes if I asked you to marry me?’
Sophie gave him a huge smile, happiness bubbling through her. ‘Yes, I’m still crazy about you.’
Antonio closed her into his arms and met her warm green eyes. ‘I will never stop loving you,’ he promised her and she believed him, all her former insecurity long since cured by his love and care.
