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Fortunately, Annabelle and Stefano had left it all behind, spending the past few weeks in Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia. Had it already been a month since she became Mrs. Cortez? Annabelle’s new name still sounded like music to her. But Annabelle shook her head at the flight attendant’s question, refusing the champagne.
“Sí, gracias,” her husband said beside her, and took a sip from the flute before leaning back in his chair with a satisfied sigh. Her husband. Looking at him still made Annabelle flutter inside—as did the memory of the lavish four days they’d spent at a luxury hotel in Buenos Aires for a belated honeymoon.
Annabelle shivered. They would have to go back to Buenos Aires sometime and actually remember to leave their hotel suite. All she’d seen of the city had been from their veranda at midnight, when she’d gone out to see the twinkling lights and feel the cool breezes of the Rio de la Plata against her skin. But even then, she’d been swiftly distracted when her new husband followed her on the veranda wearing only a robe. He’d kissed her passionately in the darkness and, well, one thing had led to another….
She blushed. Stefano was an amazing lover. And even more—an amazing partner. He’d worked well as her assistant as she’d photographed the Pampas, and seeing his innocent wonderment over the beautiful landscape had given her such pleasure. Though hardly an equal recompense to the pleasure he gave her at night.
Annabelle’s smile spread to a grin. She would accept fewer photography jobs from now on, taking only the truly fascinating assignments. She craved time nesting at Santo Castillo. She was even, at this moment, feeling the strange urge to learn how to sew and bake.
Her old assistant, Marie Thompson, had sent flowers to the Buenos Aires hotel yesterday when she’d heard of their marriage. Annabelle had immediately telephoned her in Cornwall for a nice chat. Just six weeks ago, she’d envied Marie for being loved by an adoring husband. Now she knew what that felt like.
And she would soon know something else Marie had experienced, as well …
Annabelle’s legs bounced with nervous energy as she glanced out the airplane window. She looked down at the scattered, wispy clouds over the green continent of South America beneath them. She tried to gather her thoughts, but her heart was soaring higher than the plane.
Stefano stopped the bounce of her legs by putting his hand on her knee. “Are you really so nervous?” he murmured, smiling. “Just by the thought of going back to Wolfe Manor?”
“I am excited to see my brothers again,” she admitted. “We haven’t all been home together for almost twenty years. I can’t wait to see how Jacob has fixed up Wolfe Manor. And tell them all the news.”
Stefano’s smile spread into a grin. Putting his arm around her, he kissed her on the temple. “You mean the news that you’re my wife?”
“Yes.” She looked at him with a sudden smile. “And there’s more.”
“More?” he said lazily, stroking her knee. “You mean that I can’t keep my hands off you? They’ll see that for themselves.”
“More than that.” She took a deep breath. “We’re going to have a baby.”
Stefano’s jaw dropped as he stared at her.
Then his joyful shout reverberated across the first-class cabin as he gathered her in his arms.
“Oh, querida … Are you sure?”
She nodded, smiling through tears of happiness. “It must have been our very first time … after.”
“A baby.” He looked awestruck, then adorably anxious as he demanded, “But how are you feeling? Can I get you anything? Should you be resting?”
She wiped tears from her eyes. “I’m wonderful.”
“You’re crying,” he said accusingly.
She shook her head, laughing. “I’m pregnant.” Reaching up, she stroked his cheek and looked up into his ruggedly handsome face. “But I’ve never been so happy.”
Pulling her into his lap, Stefano kissed her, so long and hard and passionately that it made the people around them in first class smile. When the kiss ended, Annabelle closed her eyes as he held her in his arms, tenderly against his heart.
She’d once been warned about Stefano Cortez.
Be careful, Miss Wolfe, they’d said. You won’t be able to resist him. No woman can.
All the warnings had been true. He’d taken her body. Her heart. Her soul.
“I love you, Annabelle,” Stefano whispered. Lowering his mouth over hers, he breathed, “I will love you forever.”
As he kissed her tenderly, his hands resting protectively over her flat belly, she had never felt so cherished, so adored. The plane flew them back to England, back to Wolfe Manor. And it was somewhere over Brazil that Annabelle knew for certain that she would be safe, and loved, for the rest of her life.
2010: Jacob faces his past …
Curious after his meeting with his brother Rafael, Jacob begins to wonder about his siblings he left behind … what are they doing with their lives? Intrigued, Jacob begins to following their adventures in the newspapers and on the internet. At first Jacob was content to observe them all from a distance, and certainly wasn’t ready to walk back into their lives. How could he after abandoning them all so terribly so many years ago?
