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Instead he yanked her into his arms, holding her so tightly, it was likely neither of them could breathe very well. Who cared? He’d never get enough of this, of her, soft and sweet in his arms.
“Jesus,” he breathed. “You don’t get it, do you? There isn’t going to be another woman, Angel. There won’t come a morning that I wake with you nestled against me or tied to me, so sweet and good and innocent, that I wonder what I was thinking. The only thing I’ll ever think when I wake up next to you is that I’ll never let you go.”
She went utterly still in his arms. So still he wasn’t sure she was breathing. He loosened his hold and she drew away, staring at him with features seemingly frozen in place. There was a dim light of hope in her eyes that cut him to the bone. Almost as if she were afraid to question him. Or confirm what he’d said.
She licked her lips and finally whispered in a thready breath, “Never?”
“Never,” he said firmly.
She sagged so that her behind came to rest on her heels and her shoulders drooped. Then her hands flew to cover her face, but he saw the evidence of her tears leak from underneath.
“Don’t cry, Angel,” he soothed, carefully pulling her into his arms again. “Never cry. I want you to be happy. Always.”
“Oh, Drake, don’t you know? You’ve just made me the happiest person in the entire world,” she sobbed. “I was so scared for you today. I’m still scared,” she amended. “What are you going to do?”
Fear replaced all other emotion in her vivid blue eyes. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead.
“Don’t worry, Angel. Can you do that for me? This is nothing new, I assure you. The cops are always poking around my affairs. Talking to people I work or associate with. They’ve never been able to get anything on me. They never will.”
She bit into her lip so hard that he gently thumbed it, rubbing soothingly over the abused flesh.
“Are you sure?” she asked nervously. “Maybe you should call your lawyer. Surely it can’t be legal for them to go around harassing people who know you and asking them to spy on you.”
He had to suppress his smile over her innocence. “Unfortunately, my angel, it’s very legal for them to question anyone they want. You did very well. I’m proud of the way you handled yourself. That couldn’t have been easy. I’m sorry it happened. You can be sure that in the future it won’t.”
“I don’t care about me,” she said impatiently. “I’m more worried about the fact that this cop seemed awfully determined to get something—anything—on you. Somehow I don’t think it would matter to him whether it was actually true.”
Her scathing tone did make him smile then.
“Who needs a lawyer when I have you to defend and protect me?” he asked in amusement. “Apparently you are all I need, my darling angel.”
“I hope that’s true,” she said, her expression growing serious. “Because you are all I will ever need, Drake.”
24
The weeks leading to Christmas were a magical time for Evangeline. Though Drake had always been loving and tender with her, there was a marked difference in his entire demeanor than there had been in the beginning. He was openly demonstrative with her and had no problem showering her with affection whether in private or public.
His men ribbed him about it, but he took it in stride and blithely told them when they found a woman like Evangeline to come back and they’d talk then. There hadn’t been much in response his men could say to that, so they quickly shut up.
Then he’d surprised her by flying them both down to visit her parents just before Christmas, though he’d insisted they return to the city so they could spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day together at the apartment.
They’d spent three wonderful days with her family, but it was Drake’s Christmas gift to them that had blown Evangeline—and her mother and father—completely away.
The day before he and Evangeline were to return to New York, Drake had taken Evangeline and her parents to a beautiful house in the same town they lived in and told them it was theirs.
It had been completely renovated to make it wheelchair accessible, and the kitchen had been gutted and a chef’s dream kitchen had been constructed with top-of-the-line appliances and countertops. Her mother had cried tears of joy. Even her father had been overwhelmed and emotional.
But Drake hadn’t stopped there. He’d done one better. The new house not only came with a housekeeper who came in three days a week to clean, but he also presented her mother with the keys to a brand-new van so her dad wasn’t housebound so much.
