She pulled her jacket tighter about her body, as if it would deflect the hurt. For a moment his gaze lowered, caught by the movement. He took a step closer to her, his eyes meeting hers once more. She stepped back instinctively, needing space to be able to think.
‘So why did you come, mi esposa? Tell me. Why?’
His accent became heavy and to her dismay he moved closer still, rendering thought almost impossible.
She whirled round and grabbed the papers from his desk, knocking her briefcase to the floor in the process. ‘To sign these.’ She waved the papers at him furiously. ‘To put an end to something that should never have been started.’
‘You could have sent them via your solicitor.’ His calm voice irritated her further.
‘And I wish I had. But I was taking a chance—a gamble.’ She watched as he frowned, his dark eyes narrowing. ‘I had to know.’
He said nothing, as if he was trying to take in what she said, so she dropped the papers on the desk purposefully, picked up a pen and signed, tossing the pen back onto the polished surface next to the papers.
‘And now I do.’
* * *
Santos watched her sign the papers, listened as the pen crashed to the table. Each breath was hard to take, as if he was being suffocated. He hurt. Pain raced through him.
Even as she walked across the office he couldn’t say a word, couldn’t move, as if he’d been frozen in time. What the hell was the matter with him?
Something snapped, as if chains had broken. He inhaled deeply. The noise caught her attention and she turned to look at him. Her face was pale.
‘I know I was a fool.’ She threw the words at him as if he was nothing more than dirt at the edge of the road. ‘I gambled and I lost.’
He tried to make sense of her words. What was she trying to tell him?
Not the way I love you.
His mind replayed what she’d said moments before. Purposefully he moved towards her, and when she turned again panic tore through him. If she left now he’d never see her again. He couldn’t let her go. Not yet. He loved her; he’d just refused to admit it.
‘I gambled too.’
The words hurried out and he clenched his hands, trying to keep himself from reaching for her, from preventing her from leaving.
She spun round and faced him again, her eyes sparkling with molten gold. ‘Not with emotions, you didn’t.’
She moved towards the door so suddenly he was taken off guard.
‘You gambled with your brother’s happiness, your greed. You won, Santos, and I hope you’re happy.’
Happy? He was the furthest thing from happy. He hadn’t felt like this since the day his mother had calmly left, saying goodbye as if she was just going shopping.
‘Georgina.’
He tried to form the words, tried to tell her he hadn’t gambled with Carlo’s happiness—at least not intentionally. He wanted to tell her he’d gambled his own—and hers. Something he hadn’t even realised until just a few seconds ago.
‘Don’t, Santos. I don’t want to hear how you’re driven by power and the need to control everything.’
‘That may have been true once.’ The words rushed out and for the first time in his adult life he knew he was losing.
‘And it still is.’ Her words were softer now, as if she’d given up fighting.
Mutely he watched as she opened the office door and paused in the doorway.
‘Goodbye, Santos.’
His reaction was so swift he didn’t have time to think. All he wanted to do was stop her from leaving, from walking out of his life for good. A life that wouldn’t be the same once she’d gone.
He reached out and took hold of her arm, propelling her back into the room, and kicked the door shut on the enquiring glances of passing staff. She looked up at him, her brown eyes wide, darkening rapidly, her breathing hard and fast. But it was the current of pure electricity between them that told him he was doing the right thing.
He didn’t want her to go. It wasn’t possession. It wasn’t power. It was more than that.
It was love.
He loved her.
This passionate woman had unlocked his heart, healed his wounds and shown him how love could be. He’d just been too stubborn to realise.
* * *
Georgina stepped back as he let her go, watching the show of emotions cross his handsome face. His pain and confusion were palpable, and she wanted to reach out to him—but to do so would be her undoing. Again she stepped back, but he moved closer until she had nowhere to go, the wall against her back.
‘This is what you do to me.’ His voice was hoarse with emotion. ‘I can’t think around you. I can’t sleep without you by my side. I can’t let you go.’
Her heart fluttered wildly and she dragged in a ragged breath. ‘Santos...?’ His name was barely a whisper from her lips.
He placed his palm on the wall above her shoulder, his face coming closer to hers, bringing him irresistibly close. Too close.
‘I want you, Georgina,’ he said huskily as he lowered his head to kiss her.
She moved sideways, away from temptation, but instantly he placed his other hand above her shoulder. Trapping her.
‘I want you with a passion so raw it almost hurts. In fact it does.’
She looked up into his dark eyes, so close now she could see how enlarged his pupils were, see the desire swirling there.
Say it, her mind urged him, but she refused to utter the words aloud. The blood rushed in her ears as her heart thumped and she bit her bottom lip hard. She would never beg anyone to say it. If he loved her he had to tell her.
‘I’ve never known this before, Georgina.’
‘What?’ she asked in a timid whisper, hardly daring to hear the answer.
‘Love.’
Her heart sang as he rubbed the pad of his thumb over her lips, easing the pain where she’d bitten into them hard.
‘I’ve never met a woman like you. From the moment you walked in here my fate was sealed. I just didn’t know it then. I couldn’t admit it—not even to myself.’
‘Can you now?’ she said in a cracked whisper.
He took her in his arms, pulled her close against him. ‘I love you, Georgina. My heart belongs to you and I never want it back.’
Her knees weakened and his arms tightened around her as he brushed his lips over hers. She pushed against his chest so she could look into his eyes. ‘I love you, Santos.’
With that he claimed her lips in a kiss so passionate it took all her breath away, leaving her light-headed.
‘Can we start again? Begin our marriage now, with honesty and love?’
As she looked up into the handsome face of the man she loved sunbeams lit up the office, casting a glow all around them. Once again the storm was over—and this time it was for good.
‘Only if it means we get another wedding night,’ she teased.
He laughed gently. ‘Now, that I can promise you, mi esposa.’