The Tycoon's Red Hot Marriage Merger, page 13
And in the days that followed, the only communication he had with Cassandra had been through emails from her office that updated the Barracuda’s final design trials. He told himself he didn’t care. So what if he didn’t have her in his bed at night? So what if he missed the way she curled into his arms and tucked her head under his shoulder at night? So what if he couldn’t stand waking up alone?
He’d get over losing Cassandra and deal with the loneliness because that’s what he had learned to do from the time he had discovered his mother’s lifeless body on her studio’s dance floor.
Now he’d put his energy where it belonged. Manning the Barracuda and winning another regatta trophy would have to fill the void. In a few short days Nelson Industries would launch the Barracuda in a ship naming ceremony. A seventeen-man team captained by Marco had been assembled to compete in the Platinum Cup in July. Early hype about the catamaran his genius wife had designed reinforced his belief that the Barracuda would win.
He had a world-class racer that could sail faster than the speed of wind. But the probability of winning no longer loomed sweet on the horizon. Because he had wanted to share this victory with Cassandra. But she had played him for an idiot by pretending to care for him when all she had wanted had been a way to become Nelson Industries’ Chief Operating Officer.
She had guaranteed that position in writing. And now Cassandra handled him the way she calculated algebraic equations. Logically. Unemotionally. And unequivocally unapologetic. So much so that he had tossed the official invitation to the Barracuda’s ship naming ceremony into the trash.
Dios. So much had changed in a week. The sun heated his skin. Sweat and sea plastered his shirt against his chest. The water glinted a thousand shades of blue, reminding him once again of the light in Cassandra’s indigo eyes when she had first approached him the night of the reception. Her face had glowed with happiness and joy so radiant that his heart had swelled with pride for his beautiful bride. But then her ex-fiancé had stabbed a knife into his ego with his accusations and had blinded Marco to reason.
The wind whipped up and seagulls squawked, nagging him and guilt banging inside his temples. The words Cassandra had spoken reverberated through his mind, and stabbed him behind his breastbone. She had cared so much about her brother that she would have carried the truth about that awful crash to the grave to protect him. Love had been her motivation, not greed. She had risked everything—even her future—to shield the people she loved from pain and more grief. And he had refused to understand.
Marco caught more wind in his sail, the pressure of holding his skip steady straining the muscles in his forearms and biceps. Emotion balled in his throat. He had messed up big time when he’d latched onto Peter’s accusations with the tenacity of a shark. That loser and poser might have been whom Cassandra had once wanted, but the bastard didn’t deserve a woman of Cassandra’s caliber. And neither did Marco.
Shame scraped and clawed its way into his heart. How could he even expect her to listen now when he had attacked her scruples without once considering her feelings? Cassandra had been innocent, believing she had a future with that jerk until she caught Peter screwing someone else. And when she realized the precarious position her breakup had put her family’s company in, she went straight to the source of their troubles and proposed.
She’d wanted to save her family’s company, and make up for all that had happened because she had trusted her brother to succeed. Because she had believed she could help Justin become the man their father had wanted him to be. And she had done all of this without any regard for what she needed and deserved.
He couldn’t blame her for leaving. But nothing could fill the void he’d created when he’d pushed Cassandra away with his misguided anger. God, that anger had driven him for years after love had vanished. And when it had returned, he didn’t recognize the gift.
Salt spray pricked against his skin, ripped pain behind Marco’s eyes. All Cassandra had ever wanted had mirrored Marco’s own secret desires. Home. Family. Love. Cassandra had given him her heart. And like a first class fool, Marco had torn hers to shreds.
Water tracked down his cheeks. He swiped it away with one hand and changed his course to head back to the marina. The aching emptiness he’d experienced from the moment he had first realized Cassandra had left him couldn’t be obliterated by battling the sea. Nor could he find himself again on the open waters. Not without Cassandra beside him.
He missed her. He wanted to wake up with her nestled in his arms. He wanted to start every new day with her by his side. And he wanted to rediscover the light in her eyes every night when he held her in his arms, loving her.
He loved. He loved so much that his heart couldn’t be whole without Cassandra to complete him. And damn it all to hell and back, he might very well have thrown away his one chance for happiness.
No way. He had a marriage on paper, but he had to prove to Cassandra that they could have a marriage filled with love and happiness. Because he couldn’t lose her. She was the first woman he had ever loved. Now he had to convince her to give him another chance to show her how much.
###
After she left Marco standing alone, Cassandra did the one thing she knew that would bring her some measure of comfort. Rebuild her life. First she returned to her childhood home and packed a few of her own belongings. The clothes were no longer what she wanted to wear, but at least they were hers. Then she took a cab to the harbor and booked a modest hotel room using her private account.
The following Monday she had returned to the family’s corporate offices and resumed her position as Chief Operating Officer. After all, she’d bargained for this company role with her body and her future. She owed it to herself to put the Barracuda through the final required sea trials before Nelson Industries launched her.
She’d hoped that the work, the endless calculations, and design trials would fill the hole carving out her chest. Because she loved Marco. And today, on what should have been a mutual victory celebration, Cassandra rechecked her email in-box for an answer from Marco about the launching ceremony.
“Has he RSVP’d?” her father asked, poking his head into Cassandra’s office.
“No.” Cassandra pushed away from her desk and stood. “We’re launching the Barracuda with or without Marco Delgado.”
“He’s a stubborn fool, but you’re making the right decision.” Her father stretched out his hand. “Your mother is waiting in the car. We should go.”
Cassandra walked to him and linked her arm into his. “Thanks for understanding about Peter.”
“I’m the one who should be grateful.” He cleared his throat, patting her arm. “I’m sorry I manipulated you. I swear on your brother’s grave that I will never hurt you like that again.”
“I wish Justin was here.”
“So do I,” her father said gruffly, guiding her toward the foyer where her mother waited.
Within a half an hour, they arrived at the yacht club’s marina. After exiting their sleek black Mercedes Benz, Cassandra and her parents strolled across the pier.
Her coral dress’s hem flirted against her thighs when she stopped to greet one of the crew members. Disappointment slipped beneath her skin. She had half-hoped Marco would be standing on the pier. That he’d show his support, if not for her, at least for his new team.
“Looks like your helmsman decided to stay home today,” she said while they shook hands. “Mom, Dad. This guy is going to bring home the Platinum Cup in July.” And Marco would be a father soon afterward.
Their friends and colleagues, along with the rest of the crew, cheered.
Cassandra pressed her hand against her stomach, and cradled the small secret she had confirmed that morning with an early pregnancy test. Though she was just his wife on paper, Cassandra would have to go to Marco with this news.
But not today. This fine Wednesday afternoon would be about the Barracuda. Her personal issues would not overshadow her company’s greatest achievement in the catamaran design industry.
Still, she realized she should have told Marco about the cause of the crash weeks ago. But there were no do-overs. And she couldn’t spend the rest of her life swimming in a pool filled with regret. Not if she wanted to raise her child in a happy home; one full of possibilities and love.
One of her design engineers gave her a champagne bottle. “Time to launch this baby,” he said.
She welcomed the green bottle’s chill, brought on by ice and drops of condensation. “I can’t wait,” she said. Nor could she wait to hold her baby in her arms. The next generation of shipbuilders would be born in thirty-eight weeks. No matter what her child chose to do, Cassandra could be sure of one thing. She—or he—would never have to fight for approval.
“You’ve done an amazing job,” her father said.
“It was a team effort.”
Cassandra looked at the catamaran racer she had designed. Wind flapped the Barracuda’s one hundred and thirty one foot tall gold and white mainsail. Sun brightened the multi-colored flags and long rolls of ribbons flying behind the catamaran.
Her heart squeezed. Tears pricked behind her eyes—regret and sorrow mingling with pride and hope. When she had proposed her crazy plan to Marco, she had never factored falling in love with him. Now she didn’t know how she could live without him.
“Are you okay?” her mother asked, cupping Cassandra’s cheek. “Because you look like you’re about to cry.”
A huge lump formed in her throat. That her mother could read the conflict warring in her heart gave her the courage to move forward. “I’m fine. So let’s do this,” Cassandra said, then moved across the wooden pier and climbed the steps to the top of the platform that the upscale marina had erected for the launching ceremony. This should have been her and Marco’s moment. Instead, she stood alone.
Holding the bottle, she fought the desire to search for Marco in the crowd of well-wishers. Though she couldn’t escape him. Not when he was everywhere. He was in the sunshine reflecting off the Barracuda’s mainsail. He was in the sounds of jetties cutting across the water. He was in the wind sweeping salt and spray and sand through her unbound hair.
He was everywhere and everything inside her heart.
But none of that mattered if Marco couldn’t let her inside his. Resolved, Cassandra raised the champagne and prepared to smash it against the Barracuda only to see a lone figure walking toward her.
Chapter Fourteen
“Wait,” Cassandra said, lowering the bottle and giving it to the person standing next to her.
Her parents shot her a questioning glance and Cassandra pointed over their heads to Marco while he closed the distance between them. Everyone standing on the dock seemed to take a collective breath and they craned their necks to see what had caused the hold up. The sound of the Barracuda’s sails slapping in the wind, and the gulls calling evaporated until only the thundering of her heart echoed in Cassandra’s ears.
Marco continued moving across the pier, his light suit jacket hugging his broad shoulders to perfection and his cream-colored slacks accenting every inch of his muscular, long legs. Sunlight painted gold in his hair and the silver chain at the base of his bronzed neck flickered tiny points of light.
And when his eyes, those piercing and mesmerizing emerald eyes, locked onto hers, Cassandra wobbled. How could he have become even more gorgeous and breathtakingly handsome during the days they had been apart? Cassandra clasped her hands, looking for a way to anchor her rioting pulse.
Never taking his gaze off of hers, Marco weaved through the crowd until he climbed the stairs. “I hope I’m not too late,” he said when he reached her side.
“No,” Cassandra said. “We’re just getting started.”
He brushed her hair from her cheek and tucked the strands behind her ear. “I’m not talking about the launching ceremony,” Marco said quietly. “I’m talking about us. Our marriage.”
The simple gesture, so tender, made her throat ache. Emotions she had suppressed for days bubbled to the surface. Swallowing hard, Cassandra struggled to speak. “There’s a piece of paper holding us together,” she said. “One I’m hoping you’ll annul now that you’ve got what you wanted.”
He held her gaze, unflinching, and took her free hand in his. “After the way I treated you, you have every reason to nullify our agreement, Tesoro. I behaved like a first class jerk. But I can’t let you go.”
“Why not?” Cassandra injected steel into her voice, refusing to let the warmth of his touch and his charming Latin love phrases sway her judgment. “You own Nelson Industries. The Barracuda is yours. What more could you possibly want?” And she had already given him her heart only to have him break it.
“I want you,” he said.
“You want my body.”
“No.” He knelt on one knee and looked up. “When you proposed to me I thought I wanted revenge, and the chance to prove to the world that I am a world class regatta racer. But I was wrong. You’re all that I want. I love you. I think I was half in love with you after our first dance. But now I am crazy in love with you. And if I lose you, then I’ll lose the one thing that’s important to me.”
Something sweet bloomed deep in Cassandra’s heart. She had longed to hear Marco say those words for so long. Oh, how she wanted to forgive him now, but he had been cruel when she had needed his understanding and compassion.
“You love me?” Cassandra traced the faint scar cutting across his cheek “Are you sure? Because love means listening to each other and being there even when things look bad. Love does not mean jumping to conclusions about what people have to say about us. You never even gave me a chance to explain why I didn’t betray my brother’s trust. I want to believe you, Marco. But simply saying the words isn’t enough.”
Marco claimed she owned his heart, but until he trusted her 100 percent they couldn’t have a future. More than anything, Cassandra had to stay strong and demand what she deserved, because now there was a second heart beating inside her womb that would depend on Marco’s unconditional love. She would expect nothing less from her husband.
###
A sharp pain jabbed behind Marco’s breastbone. What if he had waited too long? Had he lost his last chance? “I know you’ve got no reason to take me back, but I’ll do anything to convince you that I won’t let you down again.”
She looked down that imperial nose of hers; her azure eyes glimmering with unshed tears. “Anything?” Cassandra asked. “If you no longer want revenge, then will you give my father back his company?”
“Si. You proposed to save Nelson Industries and give me a chance to regain what I had lost.” He wanted to weep for the pain he had caused Cassandra. “Then you gave me a precious gift and trusted me with your heart. I’m so sorry I let my idiotic pride stand in the way of hearing your side. I should never have listened to Peter.”
She blinked and a single tear traveled down her cheek. “I only wanted to do what was best for everyone. I had to find a way to make things right without dragging Justin’s name through the dirt. But I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you about what happened that day, Marco.”
“You were right to keep your secret.” Shame coursed through him. “I reacted like an imbecile when Peter told me. I should have known that you would never do anything deliberately to hurt me. Every decision you’ve made, even the one to let Justin man the racer’s onboard computer, was made out of love.”
“I didn’t think it would happen, but I fell in love with you almost from the start,” Cassandra said.
Her voice cracked, but Marco heard the truth. She’d loved him even when he hadn’t promised her his heart. He stood, then swept another stray tear from her cheek. “I hate that I made you cry. I want to make you happy. I don’t need the company or the Barracuda. I need you. Please, Cassandra. Take me back, and let me love you forever.”
“You don’t want the Barracuda?” she asked, sniffing.
He tucked one hand into his pocket and withdrew a white box. “No, Ti Amo, I only want you.”
Cassandra’s lower lip trembled. “But what about the Platinum Cup?”
He could hear the sound of waves lapping the dock’s pilings and the rustle of the wind flapping through the catamaran’s tall mainsail. A small murmuring of voices speaking in hushed tones permeated his senses. Marco inhaled the scent of sea and surf and sun, remembering all the glorious days he’d spent with Cassandra on the Atlantic Ocean.
“I don’t need a trophy,” Marco said. “I need you. You’re more than a lover; you’re my heart. You are my breath.”
“Marco,” she said, holding him. “I want you to race in July. And I need you by my side at Nelson Industries. You don’t have to give that up to be with me.”
He rained kisses across her cheeks and feathered his lips across her mouth. “You are my heart and the center of my world. Without you I am an empty shell, but with you I am whole. Please marry me again, and I’ll give you a lifetime of happiness in return.”
“Leaving you was the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” Cassandra said. “But I had to be sure that you could love me because I need you to love our child, too.”
His pulse raced and his ears thundered with a rush of blood. “We made a baby? I’m going to be a father?” Hope, something greater than himself, radiated throughout his entire body. Marco looked down at Cassandra’s flat stomach and back again. “But isn’t it too soon?”
“Oh, Marco, you should know by now that when it comes to calculations, I’m usually right.” She took his hand and placed it on her belly. “You think you have enough room in your heart for both of us?”
Emotion lodged in his throat. Marco had fought his entire life to be part of a family that hadn’t wanted him, but this beautiful and courageous woman had given him everything he’d ever dreamed of having. “Si.” He withdrew his touch long enough to take out the ring box and open it. “Now please put me out of my misery and tell me you’ll be mine forever.” He heard laugher, the soft sound of clapping, and the pop of a cork.
