Rumours: The Secret Billionaires. Дженнифер Хейворд

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СКАЧАТЬ sufficient. Thank goodness he hadn’t pushed the boundaries of separate rooms in the two weeks since they’d arrived in Rome and she hoped that exchanging vows today wouldn’t change that.

      ‘I like Antonio.’ Leo once again centred her thoughts.

      ‘That’s good, darling.’ She was on the verge of telling him she and Antonio were to be married and that he’d be his father when Leo cut forcefully across her words.

      ‘I want Antonio to be my daddy.’

      Sadie blinked in shock and looked down at her son, his dark eyes, so very like Antonio’s, looking up at her, the happiness in them almost breaking her heart. If only Antonio wanted that as much as her little boy did.

      ‘Do you?’

      ‘Yes, and he said I can call him padre.’ The excitement and happiness in Leo’s voice constricted her heart. She’d denied her son his father for three years, but Antonio had no right to force her hand on how or when she explained things to her son.

      A dart of fury for the man she was about to marry surged through her. Why had he said that and, more to the point, when? What else had he told Leo?

      ‘Would that make you happy, Leo?’ she asked tentatively, wondering if the circumstances meant that now was the time to tell him exactly who Antonio really was. That the man he wanted to be his father was just that.

      ‘Yes. And he has a surprise for you—to make you happy.’ Leo’s voice bounced with excitement and she could see he was bursting with it, but she guessed that, whatever this surprise was, even her son didn’t know yet.

      The car stopped and Sadie looked around her. So this was it, the moment she married the man who had stolen her heart four years ago and made it impossible to love any other man. The father of her son. This was the moment she would say I do to Antonio Di Marcello.

      Nerves skittered down her spine and beside her Leo became restless, itching to get out of the car. She looked down at him—was she doing the right thing? For Leo, yes, but what about her? After taking a deep breath she stepped out of the car and took Leo’s hand as he stood with her outside the tall and imposing building that was the town hall.

      ‘Antonio!’ Before she could focus her mind, Leo pulled free from her hand and ran to Antonio as he came out of the large wooden door which must have witnessed many such marriages. She watched as Leo ran to Antonio and without a moment of hesitation Antonio scooped him up. Antonio laughed as he settled his son into his arms and looked at her.

      His dark grey suit hugged his body and long legs, making him look as if he’d stepped from her dreams. The expression on his face as his gaze met hers left her in no doubt that the simmering tension which had leapt to life between them last week was still very much alive, despite his contrived distance over the last week.

      She walked towards him, her heels making each step feel precarious, like those of a newborn fawn. Her heart was thumping hard as she reached him and looked up into his handsome face, mesmerised by the dark depths of his eyes.

      ‘You look beautiful, mia bella.’

      * * *

      Antonio watched the hint of a blush caress Sadie’s cheeks and he wanted to reach out to her and kiss her as he had last week. The white dress with navy embroidery clung to her slender frame, highlighting her tiny waist as the skirt flared out. It was just a dress, which he never really took note of on a woman, but on Sadie it was more than that.

      She looked stunning and, as she took Leo’s hand, he knew he was doing the right thing. She was the mother of his son and the one and only woman who had captivated him so instantly. On top of that there was a mutual attraction, a passion which burned between them—even if she was still denying it. The kiss on the terrace had left him in no doubt of that.

      But how much longer could she push him away? How much longer could he resist her?

      ‘Padre.’ His son smiled shyly and stepped back a little behind Sadie as he used the Italian form of ‘father’ to him for the first time.

      He crouched down to Leo’s level and smiled at him. ‘Your mummy is going to marry me today and that means I will always be your father now. That is good, no?’

      He knew there was a connection between him and Leo, but the reaction he got was so unexpected it took him aback. Leo threw his arms around his neck, burying his little body deep into his embrace as he held him close. Stunned to the point of silence, he looked up at Sadie and knew then that whatever it was that had brought them together no longer mattered. The only thing that did was making his son happy.

      ‘I think his reaction speaks for itself, so please remember this moment and never let him down.’ Sadie’s cool voice filtered through the veil of emotions he’d never thought possible. He deserved that warning, but why did she always make him feel as if he had to prove something?

      ‘In that case, shall we go inside and get married?’ It wasn’t intended as a question, but he wanted to give her one last chance to say no, to turn away.

      ‘What about witnesses?’ The tremor of doubt in her voice intensified his emotions as he stood with Leo in his arms and looked down at her.

      ‘All dealt with. My good friend Sebastien and his wife, Monika, have flown in from England to be our witnesses.’

      Her brows raised a little, but she didn’t say anything and after a moment she walked inside. As he followed her he couldn’t quite believe that in just a short time he would be a husband and father.

      Was this what Sebastien had envisaged when he’d sent him on the challenge? He shook his head and smiled at Leo. He already knew those two weeks hadn’t been about proving he could survive on a paltry two hundred euros, but had they been about challenging him to the role of fatherhood? Had Sebastien known about Leo or had his plan been to throw him and Sadie back together, hoping they would discover the kind of love he and Monika had?

      * * *

      Words of Italian and English seemed to rush through Sadie’s mind as she stood with Antonio. Behind them stood the couple who were witnessing it all, and holding Antonio’s hand, as if he feared he’d never see him again, was Leo. She should have been happy. A family and father for Leo was all she’d ever wanted, but at what cost? How long would it be before Antonio moved back to his playboy lifestyle, lived so voraciously in the fast lane of life? It was that question which held her back, prevented her from giving in to the ever-growing attraction.

      ‘You are now husband and wife.’

      She blinked at the words which united her with this man, making her and Leo his family. Then she made the mistake of looking at Antonio. The dark spark of desire in his eyes didn’t fool her. He obviously wanted his friends to think they were so madly in love that they’d rushed off to get married after finding each other again.

      ‘And now I will kiss the bride.’ Antonio pre-empted the next line and took one step towards her and brushed his lips over hers in a lingering kiss filled with the promise of so much more, if she was brave enough. She wanted to be brave, wanted to find what they’d shared once before.

      ‘Bravo.’ The friend of Antonio’s who’d witnessed the marriage clapped and she took the opportunity to move back, away from the temptation of something that could hurt her all over again.

      She СКАЧАТЬ