Bedded by the Italian Playboy (19 page)

“I’m
glad you think so. I worried. I have no experience of buying such things.”

Sebastian’s
voice floated through the doorway and Rachel turned to see Penny’s husband
leaning against the doorframe.

“I
adore it all.”

He
smiled and Rachel’s heart broke a little. Sebastian was so lovely. Kind, caring
considerate. He was exactly the man she wished Dominic had turned out to be.
Only he wasn’t Dominic. He wasn’t the man she loved. And love Dominic she did.
It was confirmed in her heart when she’d felt the first weird fluttering in her
belly.

She
loved
him.

Deeply.

Completely.

And
it was not going to go away or even heal anytime soon. It wrenched at her
constantly. Wrenched so hard, if not for the baby, she wasn’t sure what she
would do. Go looking for him maybe? Beg for another chance?

Don’t think like that.

Rachel
shook her head and grasped the thought. No, she would not even think along
those routes because she
did
have the
baby. There was an awful lot to look forward to and she was almost positive
that when the baby came she’d feel better. Her heart would mend and she’d get
the hell on with her life. Maybe even one day she’d meet a nice man and find a
sort of love again.

You wish.
And the painful
thing was she did. She wished so badly.

“You
okay?”

Sebastian’s
voice intruded on her maudlin thoughts and Rachel nodded. “I will be.”

“Of
course you will,” he agreed. “Penny and Lyra wouldn’t let you be anything
else.”

She
laughed. “You got that right. But look, Sebastian, thanks for all of this. It
means a lot to me. You letting me live here, looking after us, and now this,
the nursery. You have no need to but….”

“We’re
family.”

“Not
really—”

He
stepped into the room. “Yes, really. I married your sister. That makes you my
sister too and you know what they say about Greeks?”

“They
like olive oil?”

“They’re
very family orientated.”

Family.
Abruptly
Rachel’s small smile disappeared and the ache in her heart gave another nasty
squeeze. She felt tears well up and had to squeeze her eyes shut. Damn
hormones!

“Ah,
weeping,” Sebastian said, humor in his voice. “A symptom of early pregnancy,
right?”

“I
guess.”

“Come.”
Sebastian stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her, and in that moment
all his words of earlier felt true. It was the embrace of a brother. Her
brother. The man who’d taken on responsibility for them all. Penny, his wife.
She, his new sister and even the niece or nephew to come. Only Lyra resisted
his generosity, preferring instead to base herself at The Point, but she was a
frequent visitor and together they made up a kind of family, didn’t they? And
so really Rachel thought she should count her blessings. Count them and cherish
them.

“Thank
you,” she whispered.

“I—”

Only
Sebastian’s words were drowned out by another voice entirely and Rachel felt
her heart both scream and shriek as the sound of it washed over her. Because it
was not possible. How could it be? How? And yet she pulled away from Sebastian,
turned and looked into the eyes of the man she loved.

Dominic.
And he had come
for her at last.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Dominic
could not get his head around the scene laid out in front of him. There was
Rachel. Perfect, beautiful Rachel. Looking no different in fact from the moment
he’d left her in their hotel room. It could literally have been a few hours
ago. Only…not. Because she was being held by another man. A man who was as tall
and olive-skinned as him.
Dios.

Dominic
clenched his fists, opened his mouth, shut it and then growled, allowing his
temper completely free reign. “Take your hands off my fucking fiancée.”

The
man, who had to be the fucking Greek he’d heard so much about from the very
vocal Lyra, turned and with a raised eyebrow, slung his arm around Rachel’s
shoulders. His Rachel.
His pregnant
Rachel.
And pulled her close to him. Rachel allowed it. Her wide eyes and
gasp the only indication she gave to his presence.

“Rachel
is not engaged,” the Greek said.

The
truth of that was inescapable in so far as they’d been apart for quite some
time, but in Dominic’s mind it was neither here nor there.

She
was pregnant.

His
fault.

She
needed him.

His
fault again.

What
had gone before mattered not anymore. They would deal with things from here on
in. After all had not the Greek done exactly the same thing? He eyed the other
man, who looked far too relaxed considering the situation, and scowled. He knew
of him loosely through various business dealings, although they’d never
interacted directly.

 
“She was and she soon will be,” Dominic
growled. “Remove your hands from her now.”

The
Greek laughed. “I very much doubt that. Rachel’s home is here and she is my
sister. I will look after her.”

“I
don’t fucking think so.”

Dominic
made to step forward again—not exactly sure what he was going to do, something
at least!—but was given an unceremonious shove from behind by the black-haired
woman who’d opened the front door mere minutes ago. “That’s
my
husband, actually, and this is our
home, and you can watch your bloody mouth if you want to stay for longer than
five minutes.”

He
righted himself just in time to receive a nasty glare before the black-haired
woman—Penny, no doubt—who joined her husband and sister. She had only very
grudgingly let him in, and he suspected that she would have quite liked the
opportunity to slam the door in his face.

“I
apologize for turning up unannounced,” Dominic said, taking a deep breath and
trying to keep his temper in check.

“I
think you have a few more things to apologize for than that,” Penny hissed.

“That
is between myself and Rachel.”

Penny
rolled her eyes. “You’re just as stuck up as I expected. God knows what Rachel
saw in you.”

At
those words he locked eyes with the woman herself. She blushed but did not look
away. Their gazes held and Dominic felt his chest throb. “Rachel,” he whispered
and she bit down on her lip.

“Oh,
pu-lease.” This from Penny. “Give it up already, Rimeria.”

“I
would like to speak with Rachel,” he said slowly, not rising to her bait. It
pained him a little to be so polite but he couldn’t see any way around it. They
were protecting her. Hell, he could barely get a step closer and yet there she
was. Rachel.
Fiore.

“Rachel
can speak for herself.”

Her
voice was just as he remembered it. Soft, honeyed, and Dominic had to hold back
a groan of both pleasure and pain. “Then speak to me.”

“I
don’t—”

 
“See? She does not want to speak to you,”
Penny jumped in, interrupting her sister. “So leave now because, believe me,
I’d like nothing better than to see my husband remove you bodily from our
home.”

Demetrious
laughed softly and planted a kiss on his wife’s upturned lips. “I may be
tempted to let you,
Kleftisa
. I
remember your roundhouse kick very well.”

She
tilted her head and kissed him back. “Um, but testosterone flowing and all
that.”

“For
you anything.”

“This
is not a moment for levity,” Dominic grated. “You did not let Rachel finish,
and, may I add, I would like to see the Greek try.”

The
other man’s eyes darkened and he stepped forward, pushing the two women behind
him. “Do not test me in my own home, Rimeria. You will not like the results.”

“You—”

“Stop.”
Rachel’s whispered word was the only thing that could have made Dominic halt
his
words. “Don’t start getting all
macho. It’s ridiculous and I’m not even close to being in the mood for it.”

“Plus
there’s no oil.”

Dominic
gaped at Rachel’s sister. Was she even for real?

“I
will talk to you. Of course I will.” Rachel added, turning and waving to the
door. “Pen, Seb, can you guys give us a moment?”

“You’re
sure?” Penny asked, her scowl making it quite clear that she was not.

“Def.
Go. I’ll call you if I need you.”

“But—”

Rachel
took her sister’s hands and gave them a squeeze. “I did this for you, remember?
Straight back into the freezing cold. So do the same for me.”

A
nod and then, “Of course.”

Penny
shot him as nasty a look as Lyra had when she left the room. The Greek simply
laughed and Dominic was sure he heard a muttered, “Good luck.” And then they
were alone and Dominic felt adrenaline flood him. The moment had come at last.
Four long months. So many days and now finally….

“What
are you doing here, Dominic?” Rachel asked.

Her
words were soft, weary even, and he opened his mouth to speak. But everything
Dominic thought he might say halted deep in his throat as he drank her in. She
was so fucking pretty and she was carrying his child. That thought still blew
his mind and he’d had a couple of hours to get used to it, but why did that
make her even more desirable?

“How
did you even find me?” she added.

“I
wanted to see you,” he said carefully, fully aware that he was not answering
her questions. “I’ve wanted to for months.”

She
shook her head, her eyes sparkled with unshed tears, her lips quivered and
Dominic could wait no more. He didn’t even stop to think it through. He simply
stepped forward and pulled Rachel into his arms.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Dominic
had his arms wrapped round her and Rachel couldn’t breathe. Her mind was
racing, her stomach fluttering all over the place, and she felt ever so
slightly weak at the knees—a cliché, yes, but horribly true.

He
held her tightly to him, enveloping her in a cloud of the unique scent that she
remembered so vividly even after all these months. Musky and yet fresh, it reminded
her of him. Of heat. Passion. Sex. It reminded her of those two long weeks
where everything had been frantic and odd and in the end…well, just before, in
fact, so amazing.

“Dominic,”
she whispered and he responded by holding her even tighter and dropping a kiss
on her head.

“I’m
sorry,” he was saying. “I did not know.”

Know? Know what?
Rachel tried to pull back but one large hand came up to cradle her head. Gently
he pressed her head against his muscular chest and held it there. She could
hear his heartbeat through the layers of fabric and sighed.

“Let
me speak,” he said. “Just let me hold you and speak.”

His
other hand wrapped around her waist and began rubbing up and down and Rachel
didn’t know what to do. To pull away or to let him talk? Part of her, the part
that remembered how angry he had been when he’d found out the truth, wanted to
push him back and search his features to see if any of that remained, but the
other part, the part that remembered all the times before, that couldn’t quite
believe he was here, wanted to just hold still and let him have his say.

Which part to listen to?

“Please,
Fiore
,” he whispered, his accent
thickening, and so it was decided. Rachel relaxed against him and closed her
eyes, letting his voice wash over her, breathing everything in. Putting off all
the questions she needed to ask.

“I
did not think you would leave,” he began. “After the argument, I simply assumed
you would remain where you were. Of course, I assumed that based on the fact
you were locked in the suite.”

“Penny
let me out,” Rachel whispered. “She’s, erm…a cat burglar.”

She
felt him laugh silently, his chest moving under her cheek. “I assumed something
of the sort when I saw the door.”

“She
wasn’t quite as…careful as she would usually be.”

“You
contacted her?”

“Yes,”
Rachel admitted because what good was staying silent now? She’d lied to this
man one too many times. “I emailed her and she came. I was worried about how
angry you were.”

“I
was
very
angry.”

“Uh-huh.”

He
sighed. “But angry or no, I did not expect you to leave. I was…unduly surprised
when you did. When the receptionist gave me your note.” He paused. “It was very
difficult. Just a handful of words and you were gone.”