Page 63 of Forgotten Mistress, Secret Love-Child
His eyes glowed emerald fire that melted the last of her defences.
‘Two years ago I was wrapped up in saving the company, fixing the mess my father had left behind. I know that much, at least. Plus I’d decided all women were treacherous. I was probably waiting for you to slip up and prove me right.’ He shook his head in obvious self-disgust.
Carys remembered the speed with which he’d put two and two together and made five, assuming infidelity where there was none. It had seemed as if he’d been all too ready to believe the worst.
She felt as if she’d whirled into an alternate universe, where nothing made sense. For a crazy instant, as he’d dragged her palm down his chest, she’d thought he was going to say it was his heart dictating this change in him. That he loved her.
Now she battled a queasy sensation of burgeoning hope and fear roiling together inside her.
‘I don’t understand.’
Alessandro was silent so long her nerves screamed with tension. Eventually he shrugged, a tense movement that only reinforced her awareness of his pain.
‘Let’s just say I’ve spent too many years as a target for women interested in acquiring wealth and prestige.’
Carys stared. Was it possible Alessandro thought women threw themselves at him for material things they could get from him? Didn’t he understand the pull of a devastatingly sexy, macho man? She’d been a sucker for him the moment she saw him, and she’d known nothing of his wealth or position.
‘And earlier…’ He paused a moment before continuing. She watched his nostrils flare as if he stole a sustaining breath. ‘My mother left when I was five. Dumped my father and went off to become the partner of a man whose fortune and prestige was even greater than his. I never saw her again.’
‘Your father kept you apart?’ Despite the rift between man and wife, to deprive a son of his mother was—
Alessandro snorted. ‘My dear mama wasn’t interested in me. She’d palmed me off to nannies from the first. In some ways it wasn’t such a blow when she left.’
Despite his tight smile, Carys read the lie in his words. Her heart turned inside out, recognising the ancient scars he hid: the knowledge that his mother hadn’t wanted him. How devastating that must have been.
Fellow feeling stirred. She felt his hurt deep in her psyche.
‘After that it was a succession of nannies, most of them more interested in snaring a man with a title than looking after his son.’ Alessandro didn’t hide his bitterness for all that his words were clipped. ‘I learned not to trust anyone.’
Carys wanted to soothe away the years of built up pain and distrust. To cradle him in her arms as if he were still that little boy distressed at losing his mother.
‘But that’s no excuse for my behaviour.’
Alessandro lifted her hand and pressed a kiss on her wrist. Another on her palm. Heat juddered through her and suddenly her need to comfort turned into something else. The familiar electrical current flowed from him to her and back again.
His smouldering eyes held her fast.
‘Carys. I can’t remember what happened between us. I probably never will. But I understand now that I jumped to conclusions and acted rashly.’
Her pulse leapt at the admission.
‘Living with you these past couple of months, I realise I misjudged you. I should never have ended it the way I did.’
Her heart swelled as if it would burst as she read the warmth in his gaze.
‘Sandro!’ It was what she used to call him. The name she’d kept locked away in her heart for so long. Now it slipped out easily. ‘Sandro, I—’
He pressed his index finger to her mouth. The male musk scent of his skin teased her. ‘Let me say this first, Carys.’
He drew a deep breath and, stunned, she read hesitancy in his expression. Instinct told her this was serious. Her muscles tightened and she almost stopped breathing.
Was it possible her secret hopes were coming true?
‘I never expected to feel like this about any woman. You’re honest, direct, caring.’ He smiled and the impact scrambled her brain. ‘And we’re good together. Aren’t we?’
He looked so serious as he watched for her reaction, almost vulnerable, despite his innate strength.
Carys nodded carefully, trying to remain calm as a highoctane mix of excitement, love and desire ignited inside.
She tugged his hand from her mouth and squeezed it, willing him to say the words she’d waited so long to hear. The words she wanted to share with him.
I love you.
His face was sober as he pulled her close.
‘I…trust you, Carys.’
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
‘DID you hear me, Carys?’ Carlotta tilted her head to one side, looking like an inquisitive little bird.
