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‘Because!’
She glared at him, discomfort turning to anger. Anger to resentment. He would do this to her? Make her pour out her wretched feelings? Confess her love in person to satisfy his ego? She should never have never written those words. Never.
‘Because it hurts!’ she cried, thumping the heel of her hand against his chest. ‘It hurts to love someone and know they don’t lov
e you back.’ She thumped again, her palm bouncing off a wall of immovable muscle. ‘It hurts to know you’ve lost any chance with that person. It hurts, Leo—’ She hiccupped on a stifled sob and whacked his chest a third time. ‘Because I do, damn it. I love you!’
The silence that fell in the wake of her outburst threatened to suffocate her. As did her surge of outrage when she glimpsed the satisfaction on Leo’s face. With a shriek of fury she shoved at his chest and tried to rise, but he seized her wrists, his grip strong. Unyielding. Instead of standing she fell on his lap, straddling his thighs, trapped against the chair with her dress hiked around her hips.
Her chest heaved, another mortifying sob rattling through her. She couldn’t fight him any more than she could fight the hot stab of need in her belly. Being this close to his big, powerful body was agony. She writhed, helpless, conscious of her sprawled legs, her exposed panties.
‘Tesoro mio...’
She stilled, but she had no time to wonder at the rawness in Leo’s voice. He released her wrists, folded his arms around her and buried his face in her neck. His scent engulfed her. His body, so warm and strong, sent her pulse into overdrive. She couldn’t move, could barely breathe he held her so tight.
‘Leo...?’
Finally he pulled back. His hands cupped her face. ‘I love you, cara,’ he said, and Helena didn’t know if it was the intensity in his dark eyes or his words that stole her breath. ‘I loved you seven years ago and I love you now. And, like a fool, I let you get away from me—not once, or even twice, but three times. Believe me when I tell you—’ his voice roughened ‘—it will not happen again.’
Shock. Disbelief. Hope. Too many emotions to process at once rushed through her. Her body shook. Her brain, too—or at least that was how it felt. As if her mind couldn’t contain the enormity of what he’d just said.
She studied his face, unwilling to let hope take hold too soon. ‘What makes you so sure you love me?’
Leo stared at the strong, stubborn, beautiful woman who had ignored every one of his calls these last eight days and driven him to the brink of despair. The smile he gave was tortured.
‘Aside from spending every waking hour wanting to know where you are, who you’re with, what you’re doing...and whether or not you are thinking of me?’ He brushed away the lone tear that rolled down her cheek. ‘I’ve been a fool and a coward, cara. Paralysed by fear.’
‘Fear?’
He touched his forehead to hers. ‘Fear that I couldn’t be the man you deserve. The kind of man you can depend on.’ He lifted his head. ‘I failed you, cara.’
Her brow pleated. ‘How?’
‘Seven years ago I sent you away because I was angry and hurt, my pride wounded. I refused to give you a second chance, and because of that I wasn’t there when you needed me.’
‘Oh, Leo...’ She laid her palm along his jaw. ‘That’s not on you. I should have found you and told you I was pregnant but I wasn’t brave enough—and that was my bad, not yours. You deserved to know and I denied you that.’ Her mouth trembled, her eyes searching his. ‘Can you ever forgive me?’
He shook his head. ‘There is nothing to forgive. We have both made mistakes.’ He offered up another smile, this one crooked. Rueful. ‘I believe it is called being human.’
Two more tears slipped down her cheeks. He brushed each one away.
‘We can’t change our history,’ she said. ‘Undo our mistakes. What if you can’t trust—?’
He laid his finger over her lips, then took her hand and pressed her palm to his chest. ‘Il mio cuore ? solo tuo.’ When she blinked, he translated. ‘My heart is yours.’ He punctuated the statement with a gentle kiss. ‘There is nothing more valuable I can entrust to you. And I promise you this, tesoro. You will never have to fight for my love.’
The way she’d had to fight for her father’s.
‘It is yours. Unconditionally. Tell me it is enough,’ he demanded. ‘Tell me—’
His command went unfinished. Because Helena cut him off with a kiss. A sudden, fierce, full-on-the-mouth kiss that smashed the breath from his lungs and caused an explosion of heat in his blood. He groaned. She tasted of heaven. Warm, sweet—a taste he wouldn’t tire of for as long as he lived.
When she finally pulled back they were both panting for breath. Her eyes were moist, her smile shaky but wide. ‘It’s enough, my darling,’ she said. ‘It’s enough.’
She pressed her face into his throat and they stayed like that for long, contented minutes. Then he eased her back and let his gaze rove her face, her body. Hell. He loved the yellow dress. Bright. Bold. A little bit cheeky. It was the girl he remembered. The one he hoped was back for good. The one whose blue eyes sparkled now with a hint of mischief.
Her smile was coy. Sexy. ‘I think my mother will be gone for at least an hour.’
Leo responded with a wolfish grin, sealed their future with a scorching kiss, and then set about demonstrating one of the many ways in which he planned to love his woman.
