Page 39 of The Billionaire's Last-Minute Marriage
‘Maybe I’ll draw this speech out a little longer, then,’ he mused.
Pandora fought the urge to playfully punch him like she wanted to, and took the final step, bringing them chest to chest so that she could look up into his eyes.
‘I want to hear you say it again a few more times,’ she said simply, fighting a smile so strong it made her cheeks ache with the sweetest pain. ‘Then maybe I’ll put you out of your misery.’
‘If you want to divorce me right now, Pandora, I’ll accept that, and I will throw every ounce of myself into wooing you for real. Because you are not just a name on a certificate to me, you’re my everything. You’re all that matters any more because I love you so much.’
She almost melted right then. Only she couldn’t help teasing him a little more... ‘You sure you don’t want to keep that prenup?’
He winced, as if the memory of that day, of the words he’d thrown at her, caused him actual physical pain. ‘I’d hoped to forget my behaviour.’
‘Well, I don’t.’ She shook her head, noting the remorseful look in his eyes. ‘You can’t get to a happy ever after without a few moments of conflict along the way.’
He raised an eyebrow. ‘Is that what we’re calling the time I demanded that you marry me or I would have you carted off to jail?’
Pandora laughed and, after a moment of fighting it, her stern, serious husband laughed too. Then he scooped her up against his chest and kissed the last bubbles of mirth from her lips until she was boneless and sighing.
Emotion was hot and pulsing in her throat as she met his gaze, one hand reaching up to cup his jaw as she spoke those three beautiful words, cementing their vows all over again.
‘I love you,’ she whispered. ‘I don’t want a divorce. I don’t care about any of the legal mumbo jumbo anyway. But I suppose we can’t really tell our kids the story of our awful first wedding, can we?’
‘Our kids?’ He choked a little. ‘You’re thinking about that already, are you?’
‘Oh, not for a while yet. I have a five-year business plan to execute first, of course.’ She smiled, a little laugh escaping her lips.
Xander laughed too, as if he too could hardly believe how things could feel this wonderful. It was fast, it was intense, and it was so completely, perfectly right.
‘I have one last thing I’d like to do,’ she whispered.
‘Anything,’ he breathed, holding her even tighter.
The first item on her list was to get her husband alone for a proper reunion, which turned out to be in the office of the grand house. Once the door had been locked, Xander proceeded to show her just how much he had missed her by spreading her out on top of the desk and promising to fulfil every fantasy about her sexy boss that she’d ever had. But in reality, neither of them had enough patience for that kind of lovemaking. Their union was simply frantic and raw, filled with whispers of love and the promise of a much slower exploration later.
Then, still naked and slightly sweaty from their efforts, she stepped away from him, taking his hand and sliding the platinum band off his finger and clutching it in her fist. She did the same to her own and placed it in the centre of his palm. Meeting his eyes, she cleared her throat, praying she could get through this without dissolving into a sobbing pile of tears.
‘Xander, I take you as my husband, I promise to love you and explore the world with you and remind you to relax when you’re becoming a little too highly strung. For ever and always.’ She placed the ring on his finger, surprised when she felt his hand shake a little.
He cleared his throat, taking a deep breath as he prepared to do the same. ‘Pandora, I promise to love you and worship you and devotedly organise the itinerary for whatever far-flung corner of the world you decide to drag me to.’
Pandora tried to laugh, but the tears had already begun and all she managed was a little strangled sigh. He slid the ring onto her finger slowly, his eyes not leaving hers.
‘Gia pánta kai pánta i agápi mou.’He repeated her words reverently in both of their languages. ‘For ever and always.’
EPILOGUE
Four years later
PANDORAFELTSWEATtrickle down the centre of her back as she focused very hard on lowering herself into a nearby chair in the busy banquet area. The tiny baby she was holding wriggled quite a bit more than she’d anticipated and her upper arms had begun to ache.
‘I’ll only be gone for ten minutes at the most,’ her sister-in-law Priya had said cheerfully as she brushed a lock of hair back on her daughter’s jet-black curls. That had been twenty minutes ago and there was still no sign of her return from picking up her husband at the nearby dock.
Nor had there been a sign of her own husband during that time. She frowned, averting her gaze up for a moment to scan the open-air terrace of the large Greek villa. Other guests at the charity event milled around, sipping afternoon tea and networking. Xander had probably struck up a conversation with one of the countless European monarchs or global tycoons in attendance, she thought with a smile. He’d return triumphant, probably after negotiating a handful of deals.
But when she finally spotted him, he was quite alone, seated at a nearby table and unmistakeably focused on the very spot where she sat. Frowning, she did a small queen’s wave, swaying her new niece gently in one arm. He nodded once and raised a glass of champagne in her direction, before rising and stalking purposefully towards her. His expression was strange, his eyes seeming to drink her in as he came closer before he stopped and reached out to touch his niece’s chubby cheek.
The baby let out an instant gurgle of appreciation, grabbing onto her uncle’s finger as if to stop him from leaving.
‘If you tell me that this suits me, be prepared for me to roll my eyes,’ Pandora said with a teasing smile.
