‘I want it very personal, Rahim. As personal as you showed me it could be on our wedding night. I want that every day and every night.’ Her eyes filled with tears until they spilled from her glorious lashes onto his face. Laughing, she brushed them away, then lowered her mouth to his. ‘Promise me that, and you’ll have my love forever.’
Rahim’s heart raced, his soul baring itself to the fierce love shining from her eyes. ‘I promise. You honour me with your love.’
‘And my body and soul.’
‘And I honour you with mine, my Allegra. Forever.’
They kissed, reverently, then hungrily, before she pulled away. Slowly she opened her hand. ‘I think we should use this now.’
‘Is there somewhere special you’d like me to take you?’
‘Yes, please. I’d like to finish our wedding night in the tent. Then I’d like to go to Long Island. There’s a grandfather there who needs to know he’s about to become a great-grandfather in a few short months.’
Rahim took the key from her and caught her hand in his. ‘Your wish, my dear heart, is my command.’
* * *
Nabil Giovanni Al-Hadi was born two weeks shy of his due date. His premature entry into the world sent his parents, uncles and aunts around the world into a tailspin. But his great-grandfather, in whose presence he was born, took it all in his stride.
The day her grandfather held his first great-grandson, Allegra Al-Hadi burst into happy tears. How could she ever have doubted how powerful love could be? How giving and life-affirming in every way?
Rahim had agreed for them to try for another baby and she couldn’t wait.
Nothing held a more special, sacred duty for her than to fill the Dar-Aman Palace with its future princes and princesses, hone them into fine citizens who would treasure their kingdom as much as she and Rahim did.
‘You’re crying and smiling at the same time, ya habibi. Should I be worried?’ Rahim asked as he entered her childhood room in the Di Sione mansion on Long Island. They’d agreed to divide their family time between Long Island and Dar-Aman because they didn’t know how much time Giovanni had. With the kingdom thriving once more, it had been an easy decision to make.
‘I was thinking about the future and the endless possibilities for our children.’
Rahim shrugged out of his robe and approached where she lay in bed. His naked, honed body sent hers into fever pitch, and his loving but arrogant expression told her he knew it. ‘If you want Nabil to have six siblings too, then we need to get started on the next one.’
Allegra laughed as she went into her husband’s arms. ‘Yes, my sheikh.’
And he proceeded to show her just how earth-shattering their love could be.
* * * * *
Rachael Thomas
“When you’ve finished making offers for the bracelet, I have a proposition for you.”
Billionaire Liev Dragunov has spent a lifetime plotting revenge against those responsible for his family’s ruin. Finally he has the way: Bianca Di Sione.
She’s denied their obvious attraction and coolly rebuffs every request to work for him—until he finds her weakness: a diamond bracelet she desperately needs!
Bianca must become his fake fiancée if she wants her trinket! But the taste of revenge isn’t as sweet as desire, and Liev discovers that she is innocent in more ways than one...
Book 3 of The Billionaire’s Legacy
This is dedicated to fellow members of
The Write Romantics: Jo Bartlett, Sharon Booth,
Jackie Ladbury, Lynne Pardoe, Deirdre Palmer, Helen Phifer, Jessica Redland, Helen J Rolfe
and Alys West. Thanks, ladies, for your
friendship and support.
BIANCA DI SIONE SCANNED the busy conference room from her vantage point at the back, looking for her sister Allegra. The buzz of voices became louder as the room filled but she was too preoccupied to notice. She couldn’t quite shake off the sensation that things weren’t right with her sister. Not that she’d mentioned anything to her. That would be so unlike Allegra.
As the conference got under way, Bianca saw Allegra walking onto the stage and knew something was wrong. She was pale beneath the polished exterior she always showed to the world and Bianca felt guilty. She was about to add to that worry. The weight of their terminally ill grandfather’s request would only exacerbate whatever worried Allegra, but she had to talk to her. She needed to confide in someone and Allegra had always been that person. She’d stepped into the role of mother after the tragic loss of their parents when they were young and had always been there for her.
The final speaker was introduced but Bianca couldn’t concentrate; her mind kept replaying what her grandfather had asked of her last week. He’d been so frail, so weak, she hadn’t wanted to press him for more information, but now wished she had. All she had to go on was the tale of his Lost Mistresses, which she and her brothers and sisters had grown up on. Even more intriguing, she wasn’t the only grandchild to be sent on a mission to retrieve one of these Lost Mistresses, but she did understand how important they were to him. She recalled the many times he’d told them that these precious pieces were how he’d managed to set up Di Sione Shipping when he arrived in America. He’d always referred to them as their legacy.
‘Ms Di Sione. This is an unexpected pleasure.’
That voice, that accent which hadn’t quite had the roughened edges smoothed from it, startled her from her reverie. She turned and looked up into the hard but undeniably handsome face of Liev Dragunov.
He looked immaculate, his dark suit emphasising the hardness which sparked from his ice-grey eyes, his brown hair short and as severe as his expression. He looked formidable. Just as he had the first day she’d met him, when he’d approached her company to represent his. The firm line of his mouth hinted that a smile lingered just beneath the surface. Inwardly her heart plummeted. She didn’t need this, not today. Couldn’t the man take no for an answer?
‘Mr Dragunov. I trust you are here for legitimate reasons.’ The same unease she’d felt the very first time he’d stood in her office last week shivered down her spine. She even began to wonder if she was losing her ability to read a person. Allegra was being unusually evasive, probably due to all the travelling she’d done recently. But this man, with his commanding presence and dominating aura, unsettled her far too much.
‘Everything I do has a legitimate reason.’ Was that an undertone of threat in his accented voice?
She lifted a brow in speculation as she looked at him, not totally immune to his bad-boy looks. Her gaze slid discreetly over him as he surveyed the room. He pulled at the cuffs of his white shirt, visible beneath his dark suit, as if he was preparing himself for some kind of battle or confrontation. In response she found herself compelled to stand just a little taller, as if hoping to match his height.
‘That may be so, but what possible reason could you have to be here, Mr Dragunov? Geneva is a long way from New York.’ He turned his attention back to her and she looked directly into his eyes, resisting the urge to shiver at the coldness in them. Instead she kept her chin lifted and her face