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For weeks now she had been telling herself that he was a monster, without a soul or a conscience, but now he was here in her mother’s kitchen, apologising, looking young and serious and contrite, and making her feel things, want things...
‘I have business in London.’ He shrugged. ‘A couple of new acquisitions.’
Of course he did, She swallowed, her skin tightening at her own stupidity. ‘Well, don’t let me stop you.’
He took a step closer. ‘But that’s the thing—youhavestopped me. I can’t do anything. I can’t sleep. I’m not eating. My staff think I’ve lost my mind... What I’m trying to say is that I made a mistake.’
The strain in his voice made her stomach clench painfully, so that she had to grip the edge of the table to stop herself doubling up.
‘We both made mistakes,’ she said.
‘I should never have left you in the hospital.’
It’s guilt, that’s all, she told herself. And that was a good thing. Because it meant that deep down he cared about things, and she was glad for him. Only it wasn’t fair that she should find that out now, when she was trying so hard not to care about him.
She shook her head. ‘You can’t do this, Gabriel. You can’t come here and say things like that to me. It’s not fair—’
He took another step closer, and the blue of his eyes was like the sea and the sky, so that looking into them was like drowning and flying both together.
‘It’s love,’ he said hoarsely. ‘And everything’s fair in love and war, Dove. Only I think we’ve done the war bit, don’t you?’
Her heart was beating in her throat, so that it was hard to swallow, to speak, and she couldn’t breathe past her hope and longing.
‘But you don’t love me.’
‘But I do.’
His face shifted, his expression suddenly so sweet and sure and steady that she couldn’t stop a sob from leaving her throat.
‘I love you, and I need you, and I know I made a mess of things, and that it’s probably too late, but I had to tell you. That’s why I came to London.’
He reached over and took her hands in his.
‘To tell you that you were right. Iamdifferent—because you changed me. I thought that punishing my mother, taking something from her, would make me feel whole, but it’s you who makes me feel whole.’
His fingers tightened slightly. ‘You remember when I told you I was angry? I was. All the time. Raging deep down. But I’m not angry anymore. And that’s because of you. Because you’re a good person. The way you see things makes them better. You’ve made me better.’
His expression, with all its need and hope, went straight into her, filling her like sunlight.
‘You’re a good person too,’ she said shakily.
Her hands were shaking too now, and Gabriel reached out and pulled her close, not kissing her, just holding her, slotting her body into his like a key in a lock.
‘I’m sorry... I’m sorry,’ he whispered into her soft clean hair. ‘For what I said...for what I did...’
‘I know.’
And now they kissed, soft and gentle at first, and then with heat and longing and love. So much love it seemed to fill the kitchen with sunlight.
‘How did you know I was here?’
‘I spoke to your mother.’ He grimaced. ‘She sounds like a debutante on the phone, but she was surprisingly fierce in person.’
‘You’ve met my mother?’ Dove’s mouth dropped open. ‘When?’
‘Yesterday.’
His arms tightened around her, his gaze reaching inside her, warming her, caressing her.
