Vengeful in Love (18 page)

“Natalie, I was wrong. I know you weren’t spying on us. It was Danielle. She was the one who gave the numbers to Charlie Rodale,” Alex said quietly.

Natalie’s lips parted. She hadn’t suspected her mousy assistant even knew Charlie.

“Why?” she said before she could stop herself.

Alex shrugged. “Apparently, she’s in love with him.”

“What?” Charlie could be very charming when he wanted to be. Still, how could he have used Danielle like that? And for her to betray Natalie’s trust…

Suddenly, all emotion drained from Natalie. Why should she care about them? She was going to leave all this behind soon.

“I’m sorry,” Alex said.

The simple apology surprised her, but it was too little too late. “Well.” She tugged until he let go of her wrist. “It doesn’t matter. Thanks for letting me know. If that’s all, I think you should go.”

She walked to her condo, and he followed. She turned to him at the door.

“I’m not going to invite you in.”

He nodded silently but kept looking at her steadily with those beautiful, unreadable eyes. Was there more to his visit than an apology?

She straightened her spine. She didn’t know what it was about him that made her do it, but she found herself saying, “I’m moving. Someplace far from here.”

“You can’t go.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I
can’t
? Just watch me. I don’t have a job or a family. The people I thought were my friends here are only out to use me. The man I thought I was in love with”—she stiffened as he inhaled sharply—“doesn’t trust me.”

Something was tearing inside her, but the pain drove her relentlessly to end it on her terms. She wouldn’t break down in front of him like last time and humiliate herself all over again. This time she would at least keep her dignity. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that I have nothing to hold me here.” She shrugged. “I want to start over. It’s as simple as that.” She turned her back to him and inserted the key into the lock.

“Natalie, I’m in love with you.”

That stole all the air out of her lungs. She gripped her key hard.

“Don’t,” she whispered.

Life kept chopping at her, and she was tired of standing on her own. She leaned slightly toward the door until her forehead rested against its cool wooden surface, but that wasn’t enough to stop her from trembling. Her heart hammered against her ribcage. “Just…don’t.”

He embraced her from behind. Despite all her resolve, she melted against him.

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart. Let me make it up to you. Please.”

“I can’t start over with you,” she cried out and put a hand over her mouth. God, it hurt so much. If Alex hadn’t been holding her, she would’ve doubled over. “I can’t start over with you.” Tears pooled into the curves of her dark lenses.

She wrenched herself out of his embrace, pushed the door open, and stumbled inside, trying to get away. From him or from the weakness that threatened to make her beg him to stay with her, she didn’t know. She almost tripped over a box half-full of her things. Her sunglasses fell off, the tears that were in them making small dark spots on the carpet.

Alex followed her in and held her close, his arms going around her waist to steady her. She turned around and tried to push him away, but this time he was ready.

“Natalie…Natalie,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry. If I could undo it all, I would. Let me make it up to you.”

The kiss he gave her then was all she needed to release the pent-up emotions of the past ten days. She buried her face in his chest so he couldn’t see her tears and beat his shoulder with a tightly clenched fist. All the mixed-up feelings she’d had—the things she hadn’t been able to articulate, not even to herself—gushed out.

Alex didn’t try to defend himself. He held her tighter and let her pound on him until she went limp.

Then he carried her into the bedroom and worshipped her, showed her how much he loved her, and the hurt seemed to recede. His name was a sob on her lips as she climaxed, and she couldn’t stop the tears that flowed from her eyes.

“Don’t cry,” he said, his voice ragged.

“If you ever doubt me again…” She sniffled and wiped her face.

“Never.”

“All right.” She lay quiet for a moment, then tried to pull away as a thought occurred. Alex tensed, holding her to him. “It’s okay, I’ll be right back,” she said, running a fingertip over his cheek.

He let her go, somewhat reluctantly, and she hopped off the bed and went to the living room. The matching jade set of dragon and
fènhuáng
sat on the floor. She took them in her hands, their solid weight reassuring, and returned to the bedroom.

Alex sat up as she walked in. He looked at the figurines, then her. “I thought you’d packed everything.”

“Not these.” She sat next to him and rested the cool ceramic on her bare thigh. “I was going to leave them behind.”

His hand almost reached to touch the dragon then stopped. “That’s not good. Don’t they mean a lot to you?”

“They do. But it seemed ridiculous to keep them. I’ve never had a really harmonious relationship with a man, and I figured it was time I stopped acting silly and went for something more attainable. Like a great job or money, like my friend always tells me.”

“I”—his voice cracked—“Natalie, I’m sorry. I hurt you so much.”

Pain had etched deep lines on his face, and the pale purple bags under his eyes made Alex look drained. She hadn’t noticed the signs of his suffering earlier because she’d been too busy dealing with her own.

She brushed her thumb over the dragon’s ears and handed it to him. “Here.”

“Natalie.”

“It feels right. I want to give us another chance.”

His throat worked. “So…do you forgive me?”

She sighed. “I don’t seem to have a choice. I’m in love with you.”

Something hot and fierce came back into his eyes, but his voice remained gentle. “Come here.”

They made love, slowly, tenderly, drawing out their pleasure and climaxing together at the end. Afterward, Alex brushed her hair back from her face.

“You okay?”

“Of course.”

“Then why the pensive look?”

“Well…because you’re still going to want to ruin the Rodales, and I can’t decide how I feel about that. I know they tried to use me and all, but still… Emily had her reasons. So did Charlie.”

Alex compressed his lips. “Natalie, I never told you why I want to—”

“You don’t have to. Emily told me.” She briefly debated with herself, then told him everything, including how Charlie was his half-brother.

When she was finished, Alex merely stared at her. “I don’t believe it!” He quickly amended that to, “I mean, how can I trust what she says?”

“If you want, I suppose you can do a paternity test. That is, assuming Charlie wants to know as well.” Natalie sighed. “I don’t even know if the Rodales want to talk to me anymore, but it’s a little sad to think that my own godmother was more intent on having her revenge than anything else.”

Alex was quiet. Finally he said, “You want me to give up the takeover, don’t you?”

“Do you want to give it up?”

His face remained unreadable, but finally he said, “If that’s what you want. If that’s what I need to do to make you happy, then yes. I’ll…act civilized toward them.”

Something loosened inside her, and she laughed. “Oh, Alex. We’re going to be great.”

NATALIE WANTED MORE TIME, but Alex wasn’t in the mood to wait. She managed to get three months to prepare for the wedding after a week of intense negotiation, but it still didn’t leave enough time to do everything.

First, Alex and Emily talked. Natalie didn’t attend their meeting, but it seemed to have resulted in a grudging truce. At least they were civil toward each other. That was all she wanted for now. Charlie got to keep the company, although he hinted he might be open to the idea of a merger with DDE. Maybe he’d get to be a painter after all.

Ethan tried several more times to resign, but Alex wouldn’t let him. Natalie understood that Ethan had been the one behind the NSA bid trap and who had pointed the finger at her, but she didn’t bear him much in the way of hard feelings. He’d been doing his job and trying to protect his friend. She might have done the same if the situation had been reversed. Besides, it made no sense to deprive Alex of his best friend and best man.

Danielle vanished, seemingly into thin air. Natalie asked Charlie about it twice, but he refused to discuss the matter. Finally, she dropped it.

As for the Halls, Brian announced that he would retire rather abruptly. The official reason given was so that he could spend time with his family. Belle decided to travel, although she promised to be back for the wedding. Louise said she would do her duty at the ceremony. After all, she was nothing if not responsible. Natalie couldn’t decide if she should try to shut her adoptive mother out of her life or not, but she supposed Louise really was doing her best. Probably she was hoping Brian would change his mind and run for president…and wanted Alex’s support.

“Hey,” Alex said, embracing her as she walked into their penthouse in Arlington. She’d rented out her place and moved in with him as soon as possible after their reconciliation. “I miss my fiancée.”

“I wish we could just elope.” Natalie fell onto the couch with him. “But I think Emily and Louise would kill me.”

“Emily would kill
me.
She said if you’re unhappy in the slightest, she’d see to it that I regret it.” He got a slightly worried expression, but his eyes were twinkling. “Permanently.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

* * *

Alex hadn’t told her all the details of his exchange with Emily, but she wanted to make sure her goddaughter got the best. As long as he did right by Natalie, Emily said she would learn to forgive the Damon men.

“After all, you are trying very hard…for a Damon,” she’d said.

He’d just shrugged. “Being with Natalie makes it easy.”

Emily had stared at him for a time. “You really love her.”

“Of course I love her. Why else would I marry her?”

“Oh… People marry for many reasons.”

“No doubt. So, do I pass?” Not that he’d really given a damn, but the old woman was important to Natalie.

“Did her cat urinate on you?”

What the…?
“No. He likes me, and the feeling’s mutual.”

Emily had given him a slight nod. “Then I suppose you’ll do.”

Tomorrow was the wedding day. And then Natalie would officially be his. Lounging on the couch with the love of his life, Alex counted his blessings, pledging to love and cherish her forever.

Thank you for reading
Vengeful in Love
. I hope you enjoyed it!

Would you like to know when my next book is available? You can sign up for my mailing list at
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You’ve just read the first book in the
Hearts on the Line
series. The other books in the series are
Reunited in Love
(Kerri Wilson & Ethan Lloyd; available now),
Redemption in Love
(Amandine & Gavin Lloyd; available now),
Sweet in Love
(Brooke de Lorenzo & Pete Monroe; out early 2014) and
Forever in Love
(Catherine Fairchild & Blaine Davis; out 2014).

I love to hear from readers. Feel free to write me at
[email protected]
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@nadialee
, or like my Facebook page at
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. Say hello and let me know which one of my characters is your favorite or what you want to see next or anything else you want to talk about! I personally read all my emails, Tweets and Facebook comments.

Coming up next in the Hearts on the Line series is Kerri Wilson and Ethan Lloyd.

Reunited in Love

A temporary reunion…

Newly jobless and adrift, former investment banker Kerri Wilson travels to Virginia to see her best friend and regroup, only to run into billionaire playboy Ethan Lloyd. It’s been years since she’s snuck out of his bed after the most amazing sex of her life, and he’s so not her type—she likes them tall, dark and
manageable
. But he’s too hot to resist, and she succumbs to another sizzling, no-strings-attached (or so she thinks) night.

Unwilling to let her go this time, Ethan makes a simple proposition: a job, a place to stay, and an exclusive affair that will end when either of them finds someone else. But with her dark, painful past catching up to her, Kerri may have to bolt again—even though her heart is telling her to stay. And Ethan’s not giving her up without fighting to make their “temporary” arrangement something far more permanent…

KERRI WILSON MADE her way out of the international terminal at Dulles International Airport after going through immigration and customs. The final leg of her flight was taking off in an hour, and she couldn’t spot the two irritating men who had been tailing her since Hong Kong. She smiled to herself, the tightness around her shoulders easing. She’d never had any intention of getting on that Texas-bound plane.

She wasn’t going home.

She touched the black wig lightly, making sure it was still on straight. Its short and blunt Cleopatra hairstyle changed her appearance completely. Certainly it looked nothing like her usual shoulder-length copper waves. That, combined with a change into atypically casual clothes and shoes that added a few inches to her height, made her look too different for anyone to recognize her at a glance.

She briefly regretted having to abandon her rolling carry-on in the ladies’ room, but it was a small sacrifice to pay for anonymous independence. And now she was free again to do as she wished.

A big crowd was gathered on the other side of the black security line. A brunette in her early thirties rushed past Kerri to a group of three—one man and two little boys. The latter wrapped their plump arms around her, while the man took her bag and kissed her in greeting.