Enemies at the Altar (16 page)

His eyes narrowed in anger. ‘You think I don’t love you?’ he said, shouting above the howling wind. ‘I’ve just spent the last fortnight without proper sleep or food. God knows what’s happened to my business because I haven’t put a foot inside my office or my workshop. And don’t get me started on that contract I just forfeited. I’ve been too busy trying to track you down to do a thing about it. How dare you stand there accusing me of not loving you?’

Sienna swept her tongue over her wind-chapped lips as her heart went pitter-pat. ‘You love me?’ she said. ‘You’re not just saying it to save face and get me to come back?’

‘I’m saying it because it’s true, damn it!’ he said. ‘I love your madcap sense of humour. I love your mess. I love the way you tamed a flea-bitten mongrel dog that no one else wanted. I love your smile. I love your laugh. I love your cheekiness. I love the way you nearly always have a spark of mischief in your eyes. I love the way you feel in my arms. I love the way you say one thing and mean the total opposite.’ He drew in a breath and released it in a whoosh before he added, ‘Have I left anything out?’

Sienna gave him a sheepish smile. ‘I think you’ve just about covered it,’ she said.

He let out a laugh and grabbed her, hugging her close to his chest, breathing in the salty sea air that had clung to her hair. ‘You little minx,’ he said. ‘I love you so much it hurts.’

She eased back to look up at him. ‘Where does it hurt?’

‘Here,’ he said, placing one of her hands over his heart.

Sienna blinked back tears. ‘I’ve been so lonely and sad since Gisele and Emilio’s wedding. I couldn’t live the lie any more. I didn’t think it was right. Your father was wrong to set things up the way he did. It was cruel and manipulative.’

‘I know,
ma petite
,’ he said, gently cupping her face so he could stroke her cheeks with his thumbs. ‘I felt like that too. Seeing the love Emilio has for your sister unnerved me. All of my life I have avoided emotional commitment. I’ve always set the agenda in my relationships. But with you it was different. I couldn’t control what I felt. I refused to confront it. I don’t think I really understood how much I loved you until I saw the way Scraps behaved after you left.’

‘Is he OK?’ Sienna asked. ‘I cried like a baby when I left him. My eyes were red and swollen for days.’

Andreas smiled at her. ‘He’s decided that the barn is no longer suitable accommodation,’ he said. ‘He’s taken up residence in the villa. He has a particular penchant for lying on the sofa watching mind-numbing reality TV shows.’

Sienna smiled back as she looped her arms around his neck. ‘That’s my boy,’ she said. ‘I always knew he could be tamed. I just had to be patient.’

Andreas held her close against him. ‘I want us to have a proper wedding. I want you to wear one of those fairy tale dresses with a big floating veil, and even glass slippers on your feet if you want. Whatever you want, just tell me and you shall have it.’

Sienna let out a sigh of contentment as she gazed into his hazel eyes. ‘What more could I want than you?’ she said.

‘What about babies?’ he said, his expression sobering for a moment. ‘You said you didn’t want children.’

‘Now that you mention it, maybe a baby or two would be nice,’ she said.

He kissed the end of her nose. ‘I quite fancy the idea of you being pregnant,’ he said. ‘I think we should get working on that right away. What do you say?’

‘Sounds like a plan.’

He held her aloft for a moment. ‘Do you realise you haven’t actually told me you love me?’ he said. ‘Here I am shouting it from one end of the beach to the other but you haven’t said it back.’

‘I love you,’ Sienna said, smiling up at him radiantly. ‘I love you with all my heart. I think I’ve always loved you, even when I hated you. Does that make sense?’

He gave her an indulgent smile. ‘From you, my adorable little scatterbrain, it makes absolutely perfect sense,’ he said and covered her mouth with his.

All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.

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First published in Great Britain 2012
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited,
Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR

© Melanie Milburne 2012

ISBN: 978-1-408-97412-4