AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She looked into his eyes and her heart broke. ‘I can’t be with you, Damion.’
He finally, finally seemed to accept that she meant it. His face hardened, his body growing rigid until he seemed carved from stone.
‘Tell me why.’
‘Because you’re the last Fortier. You need to court a suitable baroness, marry her and produce a clutch of dark-haired Fortiers.’ Her heart cracked wide open, a shudder threatening to bring her to her knees. ‘And I … I can’t have children, Damion.’
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
REIKO THREW HERSELF into work as she never had before. Once Yoshi knew of her availability, he tossed dozens of commissions in her lap. She traipsed through dense jungles in Vietnam to retrieve a rare artefact, rode a camel for three days to deliver a painting to a Moroccan sheikh and braved the icy remnants of winter in Kazakhstan to broker a six-piece sculpture deal.
And through it all, no matter how exhausted she got, her last thought at night and first recollection in the morning was of Damion’s face after she’d dropped her bombshell.
‘You can’t have children?’
The blood had leached from his face, his whole body frozen in disbelief.
Numb, she’d shaken her head. ‘The doctors told me when I woke from the operation. One ovary had to be removed. The other is damaged beyond repair. My reproductive abilities are less than nil.’
He’d released a shocked breath. Then his lips had parted but no words had emerged. Despite her pain, her heart had gone out to him.
‘You do want children, don’t you?’
He’d grown paler before giving one grave nod.
Although she’d known the answer, Reiko had felt as if a knife had been plunged into her heart. ‘I did try to warn you not to hitch your wagon to this battered post.’
He still hadn’t moved. In fact he’d seemed to be reeling from her bombshell. Part of her had wanted to linger, to drink him in one last time. But a major part of her, the part that had been broken and bleeding, had wanted to retreat—fast.
Her fingers had cramped with the need to reach out and touch him one last time. Even in his shocked state, Damion had been so very attuned to her. He’d made a sound in his throat, then his fingers had clamped into a fist.
‘Goodbye, Damion.’
She’d hurried down the stairs before she lost her nerve. Her battered suitcase had survived the tumble. Snatching it up, she’d rushed through the door. The taxi she’d called from her room as she’d packed was waiting for her.
Her last hysterical thought as she’d been driven away was that she would never get to dance the Argentine tango with Damion …
Reiko let herself into her Kyoto flat and dumped her handbag on the nearest surface. The triple beep of her phone signalled a text. The strong desire to ignore it melted under the thought of what would happen if she gave herself too much free time.
She would end up thinking of Damion, reliving his every smile, his every word, his every touch. And the tears would start again. She, who’d claimed fierce ninja status, had taken to crying herself to sleep most nights.
Typical how your inner ninja deserts you just when you need it most …
Another message beeped. With a sigh, she checked her phone. Yoshi’s message was short and to the point.
V.V.VIP client. Commission of a lifetime.
She rolled her eyes and answered. Yoshi’s latest client, Tom Radcliffe, had taken a shine to her. Reiko knew she was the reason Radcliffe was sending so much work their way, but deep inside relief bloomed. When she was occupied with other things, she didn’t have time to think of Damion.
She hadn’t expected him to come after her—the no-children thing would always be a deal-breaker to a man of his pedigree. The Fortier lineage couldn’t end just because he lusted after her.
Pain lanced through her all the same, the force of it making her gasp out loud. She reached up and released her hair. She’d taken to wearing it up, uncaring of who saw her scars.
She was much stronger now. Because of Damion …
Another tide of misery washed over her. Taking a deep breath, she plunged her fing
ers through her hair and immediately remembered Damion doing the same beside his pool, his purr of male satisfaction as he’d run his fingers through the heavy mass.
