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He released his breath slowly. ‘Do you pity me enough to marry me and put me out of my misery? Would the kindness of your heart extend that far?’
There was a tight line around his sensual mouth that suggested all kinds of devastating reactions if she gave the wrong answer.
Her soft mouth prim, she regarded him levelly. She now knew that the role of blackmailer didn’t fit him easily, that he’d gritted his teeth and got on with it for the sake of his godfather.
And as for wanting to marry her for whatever she might inherit in the future, well, that didn’t seem likely, either. As he’d explained, that was the way Terrina’s mind worked, not his.
‘No,’ she answered, figuring honesty was the best policy. ‘No, I wouldn’t. I would only marry you if I knew you really loved me.’
She gulped round the lump in her throat.
Her heart trembled, then picked up speed as he reached for her hands and pressed ardent kisses in both small palms. ‘Love you? I adore you!’
‘Really?’
Ecstatic happiness stirred inside her and exploded into a starburst of joy as he crushed her in his arms, murmuring against her hair, ‘I swear on my life I will love you forever. I wanted you from the minute I saw you. Querida, I was slow on the uptake. I didn’t recognise love until I worked out my reasons for needing to keep you with me. We could have done that simple pregnancy test—I’d already decided I’d take my responsibilities seriously and marry you if you were carrying my child—there was no real reason for keeping you under my eye until nature took its course. The real reason, of course, was that I couldn’t bear to let you out of my sight, out of my life.’
That made the most glorious sense, she recognised. They’d both been fighting what they felt for each other for far too long.
I love you so much!’ She angled her head so that she could look up into his precious face and saw sudden radiance flare in his beautiful eyes.
‘And you will marry me.’
More a statement than a question, but she answered anyway.
‘Yes.’
The kiss that sealed their commitment left them both breathless. Sebastian slid his fingers through her hair, positioning his mouth above hers again, and stressed, ‘To clear up any lingering doubts, cara mia, when you dropped that bombshell about who you were, it pushed us in another direction. I’d been on the point of asking you to be my wife. Not as a future heiress, but as the cleaning lady with scarcely a rag to her back and barely a bean in her purse! I love you for what you are—utterly adorable, loving, open-hearted, sexy, the most radiantly beautiful—’
Rosie kissed him to stem the flow of compliments because they were making her ears burn. They couldn’t possibly be true, or only to him, and surely that was all that mattered. And just as surely she was going to make certain he thought that way for the rest of his life.
Two months later, on a balmy day in May, they were married from Troone Manor. As Rosie swept down the aisle on her proud father’s arm, wearing a dream of a dress in pale cream-coloured wild silk, she knew she was about to burst with happiness. The immaculately suited groom turned to watch her, and there was so much love in his silver eyes she just melted and had to hang on to her father’s arm for dear life to stop herself from swooning clean away. This morning’s test had proved positive! She would give Sebastian the good tidings while they drove back to the Manor for the lavish reception.
After she’d agreed to marry him there had been so many toings and froings her head had been permanently spinning. Back here to England, then back to Cadiz to Sebastian’s home—a beautiful place to have conceived his child—then back to Troone to plan the wedding, culminating in this special occasion, the joining of two loving souls.
Their eyes meshed as she took her place beside him. The glow of love in his made her heart swell in delight. She sought his hand, their fingers entwining.
‘I will never stop loving you,’ Sebastian whispered, and knew he’d never said a truer word.
