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Leila stared at him in shock. “You can’t be serious.”
“I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life,” he replied firmly. “I did everything that was expected of me, Leila. I married for duty, and they killed my wife. I fathered children, and they killed them too. I served in the army and returned scarred in body and soul. I became The Shadow and lost everything that mattered to me.”
His voice grew stronger, more determined with each word. “Now, for the first time in my life, I want to live for myself. If that means giving up a title that has brought me nothing but pain, then so be it.”
“But… but… your tenants, your servants,” she protested.
“I have already arranged for it. I have distributed my wealth among my servants. I have delegated the management of my entailed estates to my most trusted managers. The rest I have already sold. I am free of that burden. Free to follow my heart. To be with the woman I love.”
“You love me…” she whispered in wonder, more a statement than a question.
Gideon’s expression softened into something tender and amused. “Do you even question this? Of course I love you. I’ve loved you since the moment I saw you in that ballroom, pretending to be someone you weren’t while being more yourself than anyone else in the room.” He reached out to cup her face gently in his hands. “Now please, tell me you’ll accept me as I am—bare of titles and half my fortune, with nothing but my heart to offer you.”
Through her tears, Leila smiled widely. “Of course,” she said, her voice thick with emotion. “I could never refuse my Bozkurt. Because I love you too.”
Gideon’s answering smile was like rain after a long drought.
As he lifted her off her feet and spun her around on the dock, Leila caught sight of Emir watching them with a satisfied grin.
“I told you he loved you,” her brother called out cheerfully.
William and Victoria
Afew months after the events of this novel…
“Yes, and add more honey to that. William loves honey,” Victoria directed the cook as she supervised the preparation of breakfast sweets. She then turned to the other table and, singing an old Russian folk song, began to clean up the flour.
“No, Madame!” a young maid rushed to her side. “Please, let me.”
“Oh, I am almost done.” Victoria loved helping out in her kitchen; it had become her favorite room in the house. Well, after the library… No, after their bedroom, and then the library, and then the kitchen.
The door burst open, and William strode in, whistling as he did so. “There you are,” he said, cutting a path straight to her. “I missed you.”
She turned with a laugh. “I was away for five minutes!”
“Too long,” he said, closing the space between them before she could utter another word.
He kissed her, long and unhurried, his hands cradling her neck and his pelvis pressing against hers. Her fingers curled into his coat as his hands wrapped around her waist, pulling her flush against him. Then his mouth trailed lower, pressing soft, hot kisses to her throat.
She gasped, a quiet moan slipping from her lips. “William!”
“What?” he murmured against her skin.
“The servants are watching.”
He didn’t even glance away from her neck. “Let them watch.”
She let out a breathless chuckle, pushing at his chest. “You’re incorrigible.”
“Yes,” he answered between kisses. “But that’s exactly why you love me.”
He grinned and lifted her effortlessly onto the edge of the table, his hands sliding under her thighs as he stepped between them.
“Mmm…” he moaned against her lips. “I love seeing you on the table,” he said, his voice low and husky. “Perhaps because you’re my favorite meal.” His gaze dropped meaningfully between her thighs.
“William!” she hissed, swatting his shoulder.
He caught her wrist and kissed her palm.
