The Billionaire's Island Romance (The Romero Brothers, Book 3.5) (14 page)

They’d danced the night away, pretty much.
She had a longing for family again. Before she and Christian headed to her
suite, she checked on her father. He was sound asleep in his suite. Toni’s
wife, Shelly, who was also a nurse, had learned that he hadn’t been “feeling
well” and had also checked on him. Soon thereafter, Ari would be taking time
off from the hotel to take him to a treatment center in Florida, while Tiff
managed things at the hotel for a while, and Christian, darling Christian, had insisted
that he take the trip with them. He said he didn’t want to spend another moment
away from Arianna, but that was too much to ask of him, she told him. As usual,
he told her not to ever insult him again. He was, after all, the boss. He could
hand over duties to his subordinates while he carried on with important matters
in his life. She was important to him? The thought caused a rollercoaster wave
of emotions to heat through her body. She was important to him, but how much?

She woke up to sunlight piercing hot rays
into the room. She glanced around pulling the sheets over her. “Christian?”

She looked around. Where could he be? They
had made passionate love despite being a bit tired at first from dancing all
night, but oh, their energy kicked up a notch when he got aroused seeing her
strip out of her gown. Arianna grinned at the memory.

She brushed her dishevelled mound of
morning hair off her face and got up off the bed. She went into the living room
of her suite and overheard Christian speaking to his cousin, Carl. “Yeah, cuz.
Thanks again. I’ll catch up with you later,” Christian said just outside the
door to his cousin before returning to the suite and coming back inside.

“Christian,” she said, turning to him. She
was caught by surprise that he was already up…and dressed.
What gives?
“You’re up early. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. Morning, beautiful.” He pulled her
gently to him and bestowed a soft, tender kiss on her lips. Oh, those sensuous
lips of his.

Christian reached for the bouquet she’d
caught at Blue’s wedding. “Carl just brought this in. You left it at the
reception.”

“Oh, no. I…I was tired. Thank you. I must
tell him thank you.”

“No problem. I already thanked him for
you.” There was something odd about the way Christian uttered those words. She
didn’t know why but it was just…different. There was a look on Christian’s
face.
A handsome, mysterious poker card-playing look.
As if he didn’t want her to know what cards he had up his sleeve.

“Okay, what is it? I can tell you’re dying
to laugh. Is there a gag here?” She held the bouquet away from her chest, just
in case. She knew the Romeros often liked to play jokes on each other. Was the
bouquet of flowers going to fall apart on her or spew water? She grinned to
herself. She then placed it on the table beside her, only to have
a small
, velvet covered box drop out.

Her heart pounded fierce and hard in her
chest, thrashing madly. She could not breathe. She needed oxygen. This couldn’t
possibly be what she thought it could be—could it?

“W-what is this?” she whispered,
breathless, picking up the small jewelry box. She quickly opened the box as swiftly
as her heart sped in her chest.

“Oh, God!” Arianna covered her mouth with
her free hand. It was the most beautiful sparkling diamond engagement ring
she’d ever seen.

“I had my assistant bring it in when she
landed a couple days after me.”

“Oh, Christian.” Arianna was in shock. Her
legs felt numb. Weak. Her head felt giddy.

Christian got down on bended knee and tears
watered her eyes. “Arianna Marie Duponte, will you marry me?”

Arianna was overcome with emotion; her
lungs were squeezing hard for air. She could not speak at first but just nodded
repeatedly. “Yes. Yes. Yes,” she said, wrapping her arms around Christian after
he got up. She embraced him like never before. “Yes, Christian, I will!” She
looked into his eyes, those dark, sexy loving eyes of his. “Yes, I will marry
you. I love you.”

“I love you, too, baby. You mean the world
to me. And I’ll never leave you, girl. I’ll be loving you forever.” He pressed
his soft lips to hers and kissed her passionately, sealing the deal. Beginning
their journey of love…forever!

***

Coming soon…Carl
Romero and Venus Jackson’s story!

For the next sizzling
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Books by Shadonna Richards

THE ROMERO BROTHERS

The Billionaire’s
Second-Chance Bride, #1 (Antonio III & Lucy)

A Bride for the
Billionaire Bad Boy, #2 (Lucas & Maxine)

The Playboy
Billionaire, #3 (Zack & Blue)

The Billionaire’s
Island Romance, #3.5 (Christian & Arianna)

The Billionaire’s
Proposition, #4 (Carl & Venus)

The Billionaire’s
Baby, #5 (Jules & Amber)

The Billionaire’s
Assistant, #6 (Dion & Jenna-Lynn)

Snowbound with the
Billionaire, #7 (Troy & Pamela)

The Billionaire’s
Marriage Proposal, #8 (Alonso & Britney)

THE BRIDE SERIES

An Unexpected
Bride
 

The Jilted
Bride
 

The Matchmaker
Bride

His Island Bride
(Free)

An Unexpected Baby
(The sequel to An Unexpected Bride)

The Billionaire’s
Second Chance Bride

The Belmont
Christmas Bride
  

THE BRIDE SERIES
COLLECTION (Books 1-5 and other stories)

WHIRLWIND ROMANCE
SERIES

Accidentally
Flirting with the CEO (Free)

Accidentally
Married to the Billionaire

Accidentally
Falling for the Tycoon

Accidentally
Flirting with the CEO 2

Accidentally
Flirting with the CEO 3 

THE BILLIONAIRE’S
WHIRLWIND ROMANCE (Books 1-3)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SHADONNA RICHARDS,
USA Today
Bestselling Author

Shadonna Richards
enjoys reading and writing about the magic of romance and the power of love.
She has sold over 300,000 copies of her bestselling romance novels. Born in
London, England, she has a B.A. Degree in Psychology and a Diploma in Nursing.
Winner of Harlequin's So You Think You Can Write 2010 Day Two Challenge, she is
also a member of Romance Writers of America. She's a proud mommy and wife and
lives in Canada with her husband and son.

AUTHOR CONTACT:

Email:
[email protected]
Website:
www.shadonnarichards.blogspot.com
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/authorshadonnarichards

SOME INTERESTING FACTS
:


* All books in her Bride Series (as of May, 2012) have hit the #1 spot
in their categories


* Three of her Bride Series novels simultaneously occupied the Top 5 Hot
New Releases in Romance Anthologies in May 2012
*

Five of her Bride Series novels were simultaneously listed in the Top 20
Bestsellers list in Romance Anthologies in May 2012


* Her novels: The Matchmaker Bride, His Island Bride and The
Bride Series (Novels 1-4) made the Top 100 Most Wished For list in April 2012
& May 2012 in the top 10 spots


* She made Amazon's Top 100 Most Popular Authors in Contemporary Romance
at #48 in March 2013


* She made Amazon's Top 10 Most Popular Authors in Contemporary Romance
in November 2013