Secret Crush Seduction, page 17
“Did you hurt him?” Natalie sounded quite vicious. Adelaide could almost imagine the wreck she must seem for her sweet sister-in-law to become so furious.
Her brother responded with an equally vicious smile, “Hell, yeah.”
Oh, God. Her overprotective brother had broken Michael’s nose or jaw or something. Adelaide shot to her feet, ready to run downstairs. But she caught herself. What the hell was she doing? He had broken her heart twice over, and made it abundantly clear that there was no “us” for them. Going to him now would only result in more heartache.
“Adelaide!” Michael shouted from the street.
What was he doing?
“Adelaide, please. Let me see you. I just want to see that you’re okay. Let me beg for your forgiveness and explain everything. If you still want to send me away, then I’ll leave. I’ll do everything you want me to do. Just let me see you.”
She curled herself into a ball on the sofa and scrunched her eyes shut. Don’t listen to him. He’ll hurt you.
“I love you, Adelaide. So much. Please.”
Adelaide’s eyes shot open, and the fury on Garrett and Natalie’s faces turned into shock.
“I think I fell in love with you that night at the club. You were so beautiful, and I wanted you to be mine.” His voice broke on the word “mine,” but he continued shouting, “And you could’ve been mine but I messed everything up so badly. I love you. Please just give me a chance to talk to you. Just this once. And if you still want me to leave, I will never bother you again.”
Oh, Michael. What are you doing to me?
* * *
“Oh, my God.” Adelaide gasped. “Are you bleeding?”
He might’ve been. He could taste iron in his mouth, and by the stinging in the corner of his lip, it was probably split and bleeding. But he didn’t give a damn. All Michael cared about was that the front door had opened to reveal the most beautiful vision he could’ve dreamed of. She looked pale and drawn, but it was his Adelaide standing in the doorway.
Her hand rose to his face, but she dropped it to her side before she touched him. Michael’s heart lurched painfully, but what had he expected? For her to welcome him with open arms? He would be even a bigger bastard if he expected to win her back so easily. He would beg and crawl, and fight for her forgiveness. He would give his everything to have her back.
Adelaide refusing him wasn’t an option. Despite what he’d shouted up at her, he couldn’t imagine giving up on her and walking out of her life. Ever. He would kneel outside Garrett’s home until he became a pillar of sand if that was what it took. He would win her back or die trying.
“It’s nothing, baby. I’m okay.” Gingerly he took a step toward her, and sighed in relief when she didn’t step back and slam the door.
“I’m not your baby. I’m not your anything anymore, Mike.”
He flinched at her words, but he deserved it. “Please don’t say that. At least not yet. I love you, Adelaide.”
“You love me? You should make up your freaking mind.” She paused and bit down on her lower lip, fighting the tears that welled up in her eyes. “Besides, your love means nothing without trust. You want me, but you won’t have me because I’m a burden to you.”
“No. God, no. You’re not a burden. You were never a burden.”
“Lies and more lies. You said you loved me, then pushed me away. You don’t love me. That’s why you can’t trust me.”
“I pushed you away because I thought it was the only way to protect you. When you told me you loved me, there was nothing I wanted more than to hold on to you. To keep you by my side forever. But I thought I was being selfish, because I’m broken and I don’t deserve you. I told myself I wanted you to be with someone better than me. But please never doubt that I love you. You’re my soul, my life. You deserve the world and more—only I can’t give you that.”
Confusion entered her eyes, but her expression remained cold and withdrawn. Michael raked shaking fingers through his hair. Cocking her head to the side, Adelaide studied him from head to toe, then sighed.
“You don’t look well. Come inside. I don’t want you to collapse on the doorstep.”
In a daze, he followed Adelaide into the town house. Garrett looked down at him from the staircase, poised to throw another punch. If Michael’s instincts hadn’t kicked in, making him swerve to the side at the last minute, Garrett might have broken his nose or worse. But he didn’t blame his friend. He deserved to have his ass kicked, and next time, he wouldn’t move out of the way of his punch.
“Garrett and I are going to put Sophie to bed. You and Michael can use the family room in private,” Natalie said quietly, dragging her reluctant husband away from the stairs.
Adelaide walked into the family room and perched on the ledge of the window. Then she waved her hand toward the sofa, reminding him to keep his distance. He obliged and took a seat at the far end of the couch.
“I don’t understand,” she said under her breath after a nerve-racking stretch of time. “What do you mean you’re broken?”
“I can’t give you children, Adelaide. I’m infertile.” When she gasped softly, Michael continued, “I found out when Kathy and I were trying to start a family. All I ever wanted was a big family of my own. That’s why I married someone I barely knew when she and I were both so young. When we found out I was infertile, Kathy was devastated. She grew increasingly resentful and distant until she finally left me.”
“Michael, I’m so sorry you can’t have children, and it’s heartbreaking and infuriating that your ex-wife left you because of it. I understand your wound runs deep.” She stood up from her perch. “But if you’re telling me you crushed my heart to ‘protect’ me from your infertility, then maybe you’re right. Maybe you don’t deserve me.”
“Adelaide...” The last flicker of hope began to fade inside him.
“You didn’t even give me a chance to decide for myself. You just assumed I would be too weak to fight for us.” Her voice began rising. “How could you think that I would rather leave you than stay with you and find a solution? Did you think I was looking for a freaking stud horse rather than a lifelong companion and partner?”
“I told myself that it would be selfish to hold on to you. I convinced myself that letting you go was the only way for me to love you.” He was trembling from head to toe.
“You’re a far bigger idiot than I ever gave you credit for.”
“But that wasn’t the truth at all. You see, I’ve been lying to myself all along. More than anything, I was afraid you wouldn’t want me. I was so scared you would leave me that I held myself back.”
“Goddammit, Michael.” She covered her mouth as a sob escaped her. A flash of hope flared to life inside him. She’d called him “Michael.” Did that mean a part of her still thought of him as hers? “If I thought you wanted me—if there was even the slightest chance that you wanted me to stay—I would’ve chosen you above all else. But you broke my heart and convinced me you couldn’t trust me with yours.”
“I know, and I’m going to have to with live with the fact I caused you pain for the rest of my life. But I love you, and trust you with my heart and scarred soul.” It tore him apart that he’d hurt her, but it would be nothing compared to losing her forever. “I lost you because I let my shame and fear rule me, but never again. If you’ll have me, I’ll spend the rest of my life loving you with everything in me. Please tell me you’ll give me a chance to make it up to you. To make you happy.”
“What am I going to do with you?” She rushed to the sofa and gathered him in her arms. “I’ve always loved you and always will. I would never leave you if I had my way. If you truly love me and trust me, then I’m yours forever.”
“I love you and trust you with my life.”
“Then you’re mine now, Michael Reynolds.”
“And you’ll be mine?” Life burst through his veins again, and his love for her filled him with hope and strength.
“I’ve always been yours,” she said without hesitation.
“Adelaide.” And now there was only one thing he wanted—needed—with everything in him. Even if it was too soon. “Will you marry me?”
A blinding smile spread across her lovely face and tears filled her eyes. Eyes full of love. For him. Unable to hold back a second longer, Michael cradled her face between his hands and kissed her with all the love in his heart.
“Please make me the luckiest bastard on earth and marry me.”
“I’ll marry you, Michael,” she said, tears flowing down her cheeks. “And you’ll be mine forever.”
“I couldn’t exist any other way,” he whispered.
Adelaide kissed him again and again until Michael finally believed it was all real.
* * *
If you loved
Michael and Adelaide’s story,
don’t miss
Off Limits Attraction
by Jayci Lee,
the next story in
The Heirs of Hansol series.
Available December 2020
exclusively
from Harlequin Desire.
Keep reading for an excerpt from The Rebel’s Redemption by Kira Sinclair.
WE HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS BOOK FROM
Luxury, scandal, desire—welcome to the lives of the American elite.
Be transported to the worlds of oil barons, family dynasties, moguls and celebrities. Get ready for juicy plot twists, delicious sensuality and intriguing scandal.
6 NEW BOOKS AVAILABLE EVERY MONTH!
The Rebel’s Redemption
by Kira Sinclair
One
Ten years was a long time. But apparently not long enough to change a damn thing.
Nothing made that more evident than standing at the balustrade above his parents’ ballroom, staring down at the crush of people milling about.
All of them waiting for a glimpse of him.
The only one of them he cared to see was the woman he needed to stay far away from.
Laughter floated up as the gawkers danced, drinking expensive champagne out of cut crystal flutes. Celebrating his return like he’d been tucked away on some private island for a decade instead of being incarcerated.
The glitz and glitter couldn’t quite hide the maniacal flash of glee in their expressions. The bloodthirsty need for gossip.
As if he’d stand up here and orate some speech, spilling all the secrets he’d been protecting for years, simply because he was finally free.
Mocking amusement bubbled through his belly. Right. This whole evening was a farce, one with a terrible ending barreling straight toward him. Unfortunately, no amount of maneuvering could prevent what he knew was coming.
Anderson Stone, the prodigal son, was finally home, and everyone who was anyone in Charleston society had decked themselves out in their finest to scrutinize him and whisper politely behind his back.
At least in prison the enemy had been easy to identify. Here, everyone smiled to your face and then raked your reputation through the mud at the first opportunity.
“Darling, what are you doing up here? You should be down there. Your friends are anxious to welcome you home.”
Turning, Stone took in his mother, still gorgeous even well into her sixties. Her dark hair had turned more silver in the last ten years and there were a few more wrinkles crinkling the edges of her eyes, but nothing—not even watching her son being led out of a courtroom in handcuffs—could dim the light behind her bright blue eyes. Or diminish the serene confidence of her smile.
Slipping up beside him, she offered her cheek for a kiss, which Stone would never consider refusing. He’d put enough disappointment in her eyes. He’d do anything to avoid adding more.
But he didn’t make any move toward the stairs that would lead him down into the pool of circling sharks. Instead, he gripped the sweating glass of Scotch tighter in his fist and leaned farther out over the railing.
“Sweetie,” she murmured beside him, the heavy, comforting weight of her hand settling against his back. Who knew that at thirty, with all he’d seen and experienced, he could still need her touch to settle him like a toddler scared by a nightmare?
A scoffing sound scraped against his throat. He better than most was fully aware monsters didn’t just live in dreams. And no comforting hand could soothe away reality, not even his mother’s.
“I know you’re struggling right now.”
She had no idea, and he wasn’t about to clue her in.
“But these people are here to support you.”
Yeah, right. Stone couldn’t help letting his gaze sweep across the crowd below. He had a hard time believing that, although he was reluctant to crush his mom’s rose-colored view of the world by voicing his skepticism.
He’d been convicted of manslaughter, killing another member of their “set.” It didn’t matter that the bastard had deserved to die. Because only one other person knew that truth and he’d do absolutely anything to keep it that way.
Hell, he’d pleaded guilty and served time to keep the secret.
“Standing up here half the night isn’t going to make it any easier.”
God, on that, his mother was right. Pulling in a deep breath, Stone knocked back the rest of the Scotch in his glass, relishing the smooth taste of it across his tongue and the burn as it hit his gut. Good liquor was something he’d definitely missed.
Pushing away from the railing, he sent a forced smile in his mother’s direction and hoped she wouldn’t call him on the bullshit.
He was halfway to the staircase when her soft voice stopped him. “Anderson.”
She was the only person in his life who’d ever called him by his given name. That sound in her lilting drawl had a twist of emotions storming through him—regret chief among them. Pausing, Stone turned back to look at her.
“I’m proud of you, son.”
He had no idea how she could be, but she’d raised him right and he wasn’t about to argue with her. Not now.
“There’s plenty of time for you to figure out what you want to do next. I know your father offered you a position within the company, and we’d both be overjoyed if you accepted. But neither of us expect you to make that decision immediately. Take your time. Enjoy your freedom.”
Stone nodded, not having the heart to tell her he really had no interest in joining Anderson Steel, named after his mother’s grandfather. In a generation that rarely saw women in power positions in the business world, his parents had been jointly running the company as CEO and vice president since long before he’d been born.
His parents had met in the boardroom, going toe to toe when his own grandfather had brought in Nick Stone as a business consultant. Her Ivy League education newly minted, his mom hadn’t taken kindly to being forced to accept an interloper’s opinion. Or so the story went.
Sparks flew, but somewhere during compromising in the boardroom they’d ended up in the bedroom. And the rest was history.
Stone had always marveled at his parents’ ability to work together all day and still manage to be so overtly in love with one another. Although in his preteen years he’d definitely gone through a phase of thinking their displays of affection were embarrassing as hell.
Anderson Steel was his parents’ life, but he’d never felt as connected to it. He’d never wanted to join the company, although ten years ago it hadn’t really occurred to him that he could choose a different path. Now...there was something about losing your freedom for ten years that made you rethink every simple decision in your life.
He was no longer willing to go along with what had been expected, especially since he knew Anderson Steel wasn’t where he wanted to be. The problem was, he didn’t have another path. Yet.
But he’d cross that bridge later.
One issue at a time.
His feet hadn’t even hit the bottom step before the tasteful music drifting through the ballroom came to an abrupt stop. Every pair of eyes in the room turned, raking across him from head to toe.
Stone had no idea what they saw or thought. And, frankly, he didn’t care.
No, that wasn’t entirely true. One person there tonight mattered, even if she shouldn’t.
He’d felt her the minute she entered the room. But he was going to do his best to ignore her presence, just as he was going to ignore the stares and whispers.
* * *
Piper Blackburn stood in the shadows. Her heart thumped painfully inside her chest and despite the glass of Merlot she’d just downed, her throat felt dry and scratchy.
She couldn’t tear her eyes from him. Or stop her hands from shaking. Piper quickly deposited the empty glass on a nearby table before it slipped through her untrustworthy fingers.
The last thing she needed was to make a scene and draw his attention. Or, rather, she didn’t want his attention yet. She needed to get a grip before she confronted him.
Before she unleashed ten years of pent-up frustration, hurt and guilt.
Her entire body quivered. Her skin felt flushed, but an icy cold seeped into her veins. How was that possible?
Closing her eyes, Piper took several deep breaths, employing some of the calming techniques she taught her patients. Feeling a little more centered, she opened her eyes again. And immediately lost any sense of being centered when Stone was still in her line of sight.
Tall, strong and handsome as hell. He stood there, a dare to the room clearly filling those golden eyes.
He was different, but then she’d expected that. Ten years in prison would change anyone, right?
He was bigger. Not taller since even at twenty he’d been several inches over six feet, but broader. More muscular. Harder, not just in body, but in demeanor. The boy she’d known before had moved with easy grace. Oh, the grace was still there, but now it was like the silky outer shell covered up a core of pure steel.
