I Want To Be Yours (19 page)

“I can explain.”

“Wait, are you all right?” Nico asked and anxiously started checking her body for injuries. “Where were you? They told me you were dead. Dead, Mari, do you have any fucking idea what I’ve been through today?” Nico walked away from her and started pacing back and forth.

“I just wanted some time to myself to get my life back on track,” Mari said tiredly.

He stopped abruptly in front of her, his eyes pinning her in place. He was ready to do battle.

“What do you mean get your life back? You’re not leaving me, do you hear?” He glared at her fiercely. “You are my life. I love you.”

“Wait, what?”

“You heard me, I love you. You’re not leaving me.” He angled his head and captured her lips in a tender kiss without touching her anywhere else. The kiss was meant to convey all of his pent-up emotions. His love!

Mari wound her arms around his neck and held on tight as desire flared swiftly through her body. She was filled with such joy, such astonishment at his declaration, she could not gather her thoughts. She poured all of her love and hope into that kiss, telling more eloquently than with words how much she loved him.

“I love you too, so much. I have waited so long to hear you say that,” Mari whispered against his lips.

He lifted her in his arms and sat in a chair with her on his lap. “I know. This may sound stupid but at first I never recognized what I felt for you as love.”

He fell silent for a moment, trying to find the words to explain to her what she meant to him. “Lust, possessiveness, respect, admiration, and need, I understood. I felt that!” He swallowed painfully. “But love? Love annihilates you, make you surrender shit you never intended. It’s fucking painful, but so fucking liberating! At our wedding I thought I knew then that I loved you. But today, today was so fucking bad!” Tears made his eyes shine like sapphire under intense spotlight. “I learned that life without you means nothing. I will never again go through what I just went through.”

He looked at her fiercely. “You’re not bloody leaving me! I will double your security detail. They are obviously not keeping you safe enough and not keeping adequate track of your sneaky ass!”

“Wait, Nico. I never said that I was leaving you, but I need to work. I know you don’t want me to, but I think I have worked out a compromise.” He began to interrupt her. Mari gently placed a finger to his lips. She explained how she’d gotten away from her security detail and why she was so late returning.

“Don’t ever do something so reckless and irresponsible again! You were given protection for a reason! There is no point in them being there if you’re constantly working to undermine their jobs. You left yourself open to any would-be kidnapper, rapist, or murderer. The Darian name carries a lot of responsibility and risks.” Nico’s arms tightened around her as he thought of all the things that could have happened to her.

“I won’t do it again, I promise. Did you mean it? Do you love me?”

“Of course. I’ve loved you for years without realizing it. I was celibate for more than four years because I couldn’t get over you. Did you think I would have arranged a wedding like ours if I didn’t love you?” His warm breath caressed her cheek.

Mari turned to fit her lips over his in a kiss filled with promise and commitment.

“I only wanted to be yours! I’ve always loved you, Nico. You’ve been it for me since I met you.” she whispered, her eyes glowing with emotion.

“Thank God!” He lovingly buried his face in the curve of her neck, breathing her in.

“Do you have something to tell me?” Nico whispered.

“I got a job?”

“What? It had better not be with Andrews because I will kill him with my bare hands.” He said the words without heat, not moving his head a millimeter.

“No, I am now working for Richard. He will have to resign from the Darian Group, by the way.” She smiled at his stunned expression.

“I knew I should have beaten the shit out of that pisser months ago! But I will deal with that prick later.”

“No, you will not!”

“I will buy his company.”

“You won’t be doing that, either.”

“What the fuck am I allowed to do?” He shook his head in irritation as she continued to giggle.

“What else do you need to tell me?”

“Richard says to tell you we’ll need to temporarily borrow a few more assets—capital and human—to bolster our efforts.”

“I think you had better tell me later what you and Richard have cooked up. He’s seriously stretching the bounds of our friendship!” Nico drawled. “Do you have anything else to tell me?”

“I have signed on to help out at the War Child Charity once a week, and donated a million pounds in Alex’s name to their ongoing efforts. There are too many children affected by wars around the world. I want to help in some way. We can do so much, Nico. Since we don’t need my salary, I thought I would use that to help this project.”

“I can see that I will have to ask you this open-ended question at least once a week. When did you do this?”

Mari laughed. “Only a few days ago. I was going to tell you but I got distracted when you came home.” She smiled, happy tears flooding her eyes. “It feels good to be held like this and to be able to talk so openly.”

Nico’s hand settled on her belly and gently caressed it. “The Group will certainly contribute to your project. Anything else you would like to tell me?”

“In a few months, we are going to have another baby,” she said shyly.

Nico kissed her passionately, letting his hands rove up and down her back, her stomach, overwhelmed with the gifts she had brought into his life. He was blissfully happy.

“Nico, your parents must think I am very rude. They are out there waiting for us to join them. We need to go relieve their worries.” Mari slowly stood up.

Nico held her hand and tugged her into his arms.

A knock sounded at the door.

Upon Nico’s command to enter, Gio popped his head in and asked if everything was okay and whether they needed anything. He left them a few moments later, mollified, and grinning as he heard his employer’s next words.

“You know, wife, I am still going to spank your ass for putting me through this,” Nico whispered, palming said ass.

“Tsk, tsk. You keep promising.” Mari smirked. “All I hear is talk but no action, big guy.”

Nico growled. “I got your all-talk right here!”

In seconds she was slumped over his lap, bare ass in the air, and a wicked grin on her face.

Epilogue

Mari’s gaze was
glued to Nico’s impressive, forceful figure. She was very proud of him as he addressed the executives and staff of the Darian Group at the annual Christmas party.

She would never have believed that their relationship could have blossomed and deepened as much as it had in the past seven months. Despite her new career with Richard’s company, she and her husband had gotten closer, taking great pains to carve time out for each other despite their hectic schedules.

“Just a few more minutes,” Mari mumbled to her distended stomach. Now more than forty weeks pregnant, her baby was impatient to meet its parents. All day, she had been experiencing sharp pains lasting for mere seconds. Now the pains were coming faster and lasting longer. Her belly tightened with each spasm.

As Nico finished his speech, Mari stood with everyone else in the room to give him a hearty round of applause. Unfortunately, when she stood, the pressure in her belly intensified as another contraction gripped her.

Mari pasted a smile on her lips and remained in stoic silence until her unsuspecting husband approached their table.

“Take me to the hospital now, please. I think our baby wants to finally meet us!” she whispered urgently as Nico kissed her dewy lips in greeting. She giggled when she saw the panicked look on her husband’s face.

With strong arms under her back and knees, he lifted her high in his arms and clutched her against his chest. “I love you,
cuore mia
!”

Tears blinded her as it always did every time he called her “my heart”.

“I love you too,” her voice was hoarse with emotion.

About the Author

Thank you so
much for taking time out of your precious relaxation time to read Nico and Mari’s story. I trust you have enjoyed it as muc
h as I enjoyed writing it. “I Want To Be Yours” was my first novel. This has truly been liberating to finally publish it.

I’m hoping to publish by next novel “Secret Lovers” in March 2015. You may contact me at
[email protected]
. I would love to hear from you. Your feedback is very important to me.