A Forbidden Love (Eligible Billionaires Book 9) (19 page)
Read A Forbidden Love (Eligible Billionaires Book 9) Online
Authors: Maggie Marr
Tags: #FIC044000 FICTION / Contemporary Women, #FIC027020 FICTION / Romance / Contemporary
Ilana nodded. Alexi was right. Her cousin was one hundred percent right. Fear careened through Ilana’s chest. Fear that she’d make the wrong decision, that she’d put her family and her future at risk, fear that the man she loved could turn into someone else, someone she didn’t know, someone like her father. Her father who’d said that Devon Travati was just like him. Would she allow fear from her past to cloud her future or would she move forward? Would Ilana choose to be brave and face her fears, but know that her love could push her past all that made her afraid?
*
A breeze flitted off the ocean and swept along the beach onto Devon’s back patio. The evening was cool enough that he’d lit the outdoor fireplace. Flames flickered and danced.
The back gate opened. He looked up.
A sliver of ocean was visible behind her. The fuchsia light of the sunset outlined her. Ilana. Her golden hair floated on the breeze and she pulled a piece behind her ear. Was that a blush on her cheeks?
Discomfort flooded Devon. Two weeks ago, he’d have pulled Ilana into his arms and kissed her, but with everything that had happened, everything that had been said, he hesitated before her. He looked into those ice blue eyes.
This woman meant the world to him…He touched her bare upper arms and looked into her eyes, deep into her eyes, trying to read her thoughts before she spoke. Never before had Devon felt so powerless. Here, now, in this moment, this woman held the power to turn his life into the perfect future he envisioned or an abyss of sadness.
“I’m glad you’re here. Thank you for coming,” he said.
Ilana nodded, her face solemn.
“I…” Devon took her hand and pulled her to the two seats beside the fire. He sat down beside her. “I’m sorry.” He clasped her hands and dropped his head forward. Searching for the right words, the words that would convey his feelings. “There’s no excuse for what I said.” He looked up and met her gaze. “I was in shock, but I know you, and I know that you would never do anything deceptive.”
Ilana nodded again. Her eyes held an intense focus. What was she thinking? What were the words she was determined to say? He squeezed her fingers.
“I saw him. I saw my father,” she whispered.
“I heard.”
“From my uncle?”
“From Wedge, actually,” Devon said.
They both smiled. Small smiles, but shared smiles, smiles about Wedge.
“How was that?” Devon asked. His heart hurt. A part of him wished he could’ve been the one to take Ilana to meet her father. That wouldn’t have worked, that would have been a nightmare, but still, the idea that she had faced such a pivotal moment in her life without him beside her made him feel as though he’d failed her.
“It was…” Ilana sighed. Sadness filled her eyes. “It was different than what I’d hoped for, but almost exactly what I expected.”
He pressed his lips into a thin line. Devon knew Sergey Rashnikov, and the words Ilana spoke told him everything he needed to know about their meeting.
“Are you okay?”
Ilana looked out toward the ocean, where the sun slid below the waves. “It’s what I needed for me.” Her gaze left the horizon and locked onto his eyes. “I’ve been thinking a lot about what I need to do for me. More about what makes me feel right and whole, and not so much about what I should do for other people.”
Devon nodded, but didn’t respond. There were more words on her lips. He could feel her need to speak, to tell him what she’d decided.
“I’ve made decisions about us. About what I need.”
The clutch in his chest was tight, his breathing shallow. Was this Ilana’s moment to say good-bye? He wouldn’t let her. He couldn’t go on without her any longer. He’d spend the rest of his life proving to her that their match was meant to be, no matter what she thought now.
“Ilana—”
She held up her hand and shook her head. “Please, I have to say this and I have to say it just this way, or I’ll never get it out.”
Devon stopped. Pulled both her hands onto his lap.
“I love you.” Ilana’s eyes glistened with unshed tears. “I know that I will always love you. I can feel it deep in my core. The last two weeks”—she glanced away, toward the fire—“I’ve fought the urge to call you a million times a day.” She bit her bottom lip and looked at their interwoven hands. “I can’t fight that urge any longer. I…I want to be with you. I want us to find a way to make this work. I want us to be the family we dreamed of, and see if we can make it work for the rest of them. And if we can’t?” Ilana shrugged. “Well, if we can’t, then it’ll be the two of us and what we build together in this world.” She looked up and her eyes locked to Devon’s. “What do you think?”
Devon’s heart flooded with relief and love. Joy coursed through him, and a wide smile burst across his face. “I think you just made me the happiest man on the planet.” He pulled her close and pressed his lips to hers. This woman was his present and his future and the life he wanted to live for the rest of his days.
A warm soft breeze whispered over Ilana’s bare shoulders, carrying the scents of sea and salt. Mama was here today. Ilana saw her spirit in the riot of purple and orange and fuchsia that blazed across the horizon as the sun slowly exited the day. She squeezed her bouquet tighter and pressed her toes deeper into the sand.
Behind Ilana and Devon sat their families. Travatis and Rashnikovs. Occupying an unfamiliar and not yet easy peace, grudgingly agreed to for the two people each family loved. Ilana smiled as she held her bouquet against her still-flat belly. Soon there would be a third in their new family, a melding of both gene pools, that would unite them all.
“What God has put together let no man put asunder.” A brilliant smile cascaded across Regina’s face, and for an instant her eyes shifted to Amelia, who stood by Ilana’s side as her one and only bridesmaid. “Devon Travati,” Regina continued, “you may now kiss your bride.”
His lips were on her lips. She would forever remember this kiss. Her heart swelled with love, a warmth and capacity she’d not, until this very moment, experienced. His lips, firm against hers, conveyed a promise, a commitment, a knowledge that this would be their life together. Built on a foundation of their love. She would have this kiss, this wedding kiss, for the rest of her days. The memory would linger, forever theirs to share in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer, and in good times and in bad. This kiss, representative of their love, sealing their covenant, would be the true moment their union began.
Slowly they pulled apart. Gone were the families, gone was the sand, the ocean, the breeze, the scents of Venice. Before her was only Devon, the man she loved, her husband.
“I love you,” he said and pressed his forehead to hers, in this utterly private moment in front of all their family and friends.
“I love you too,” she said.
And she did. And she would love him for all the rest of her life.
The End
Thanks for reading
A Forbidden Love
, the fourth book in the Travati Brothers Eligible Billionaires Series. I hope you enjoyed it! Reviews help other readers find books and I appreciate all reviews, whether positive or negative. Please take a moment and write a review for
A Forbidden Love.
The Eligible Billionaire Series:
Eligible Billionaires Books 1-3
The Travati Brothers Series:
A Forbidden Love
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The Hollywood Girls Club Series
Secrets of the Hollywood Girls Club
Hollywood Girls Club the Series
The Eligible Billionaires Series
Eligible Billionaires Books 1-3
The Travati Brothers Series
A Forbidden Love
The Powder Springs Series
Candy Cane Lane (novella)
The Christmas Promise
(coming soon)
The Glamour Series
Maggie Marr is an attorney, author, and producer. She began her career in the entertainment industry pushing the mail cart but rose to the position of motion picture literary agent. She has written for TV, film, and celebrities. Maggie has been featured on KCRW's
The Business
and reviewed by
Publishers Weekly
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Kirkus
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Romantic Times
. She lives in LA with her family.
Maggie is eternally grateful for the graciousness and support of her readers.
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First and always, thank you to my readers. I have the best job in the world because of YOU! Thank you to my agent Kristin Nelson, who is always working on my behalf. Thank you to Lori Bennett and Angie Hodapp and the entire team at Nelson Literary Agency. I am blessed to work with such a talented group of professionals. Thank you to Maria Walsh Connor Green for all your help and assistance; you are the absolute best! Kelley Hawthorne Jefferson, thank you for your wisdom and your guidance and thank you to Caitlyn O’Leary for introducing us. Sarah Hansen of Okay Designs, thank you for the cover and the amazing branding. Thank you to my editor, Jennifer Brown. Sarah Altman, thank you for making my newsletters look awesome! Cami Brite and Brite Designs thank you for keeping my website looking stellar.
Thank you to the organizations that support me and my writing; LARA, OCC-RWA, RWA, WFWA, and Let it Rain. You provide me with friendships, wisdom, and the opportunity to serve a community that I love. Thank you to The Lady Jane Salon and The Ripped Bodice for supporting Romance.
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Thank you to my family and friends, especially Margaret L. Marr, Lauren Harrison, Gavin White, Nealie White, Linda and Bill Henderson, Lindsy and Mark Henderson, Dixie Marr, Gayle Leftwich, Joyce and Tom Leahy, Paula and David Glasscock, Garrett L. Marr, Amy and Brent Zacky, Victoria and Karl Makinen, Peggy Cafferty, Maria Seager, Cami Brite, Debbie Decker, Jane Porter, Violet Duke, Allie Adams, Beth Yarnall, Cassie Hayes, Jenn LeBlanc, Theodora Taylor, Tameri Etherton, Sylvie Fox, Debra Holland, Chandra Years, Claire Davon, and Bob.
To my husband and the kidlets, thank you for laughing when I dance and smiling when I sing. Love you.
A FORBIDDEN LOVE
Maggie Marr
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