Billionaire Bad Boys of Romance 2(157)
“It’s like this; we got married and afterwards you got on a flight to Italy.”
“But we planned to come to Greece for our honeymoon,” Keyonna cut in.
Nick blinked. “Ah…we changed our mind,” he said lamely.
“Well, it was a bad idea since it landed me in the hospital with bruises and a piece cut out of my life…Hold up, did you say I got on the flight? What about you?”
“I…had to stay back for some time because I had some business engagements that came up unexpectedly that required my personal attention. And then you remember there was still the matter of handling the issue of that clause in my father’s will – my birthday was three days later and there were tons of documents to sign.”
Keyonna nodded with a thoughtful expression, and Nick added quickly, “Anyway, I joined you soon enough, and minus the bike accident, I think we’ve been having a great time, no?”
He smiled roguishly, gathering her close while deep inside, he felt like such a bastard for lying. But Keyonna was his little treasure – his tesoro and he’d do anything to protect her from any kind of pain. And hopefully when truth time came they’d both be strong enough to face it.
Keyonna crossed her arms behind his neck and stared solemnly into his eyes, as if she could see right through his playful façade. “You know what? I don’t really care about if I remember everything or not. Because come what may, I love you, Nick. I have for a long time and I’m sure I always will.”
Nick’s heart felt like it was clenched in a tight fist and he almost couldn’t breathe. His smile died off as he gazed back into her deep brown eyes. Madre di Dios! He was like a teenager again when it came to this woman. The cold-hearted businessman who’d earned respect of peers and rivals alike and even men far older than him; the same Nick who’d never cared for love or even believed in it, who’d only focused on his cut-throat career and regaining his hard-won birthright, was almost pushed to tears with emotion as he felt the depth of Keyonna’s love shining through her beautiful brown eyes.
“Do you truly mean that?” Nick asked her thickly.
Keyonna felt his strong arms close around her more tightly and she quelled a flinch, her fingers digging into his hair as she drew him close for a clinging, reassuring kiss. “Yes. I do. I used to be so scared to allow myself to grow feelings for you,” she breathed against his lips. “I kept thinking I’m far from the suitable wife your friends or family would expect for the billionaire Nick Vitale. I don’t have the right connections or the class.”
“Keyonna…”
“But then I convinced myself,” she went on firmly, placing a shushing finger on his lips, “That you, Nick Vitale, would be lucky to have a woman like me because I can see through your cold, icy walls to the man of worth beneath. Your name and money meant nothing; I was drawn only to the person within. The man whose one touch could set my blood rushing faster through my veins, whose voice calmed and yet thrilled me, who made my body sing. And I realized I was lucky too, because I have you. You’re mine, Nick,” she added firmly, pouting with playful possessiveness as she threw those last words back at him, words he’d said to her before, almost a lifetime ago but which had always made her spine tingle from the force of his dominance.
“All yours,” he responded with fierceness in his eyes that stilled her breath. He pressed a ravishing kiss to her mouth, plunging them both in a sizzling whirlpool.
As always, his kisses and caresses chased the doubts away. And yet Keyonna felt that one lingering dread that he was keeping something from her, and she had this feeling that she was making a futile attempt to escape from something unpleasant and inevitable that would hurt her terribly.
But Keyonna refused to believe the worst of Nick. Whatever had happened when they’d met, he’d proven over and over that he was a good man. Better than she could have hoped for considering her lack of experience in the male department. And if Nick wasn’t the wonderful man she thought he was then only time would tell…
Chapter Fifteen
Keyonna felt ridiculous, her hair packed up underneath a baseball cap concealing half of her face and dressed in her most disreputable jeans and sweatshirt. Stepping down from the plane, she glanced at Nick as he too made his way down, a pair of dark aviators shielding his eyes. Not much of a disguise, but it had been all they could come up with.
He took her arm once they got on the tarmac. “We could be lucky and not get spotted by a journalist looking to make a scoop with photos. But if we do get to bump into any of those infernal paparazzi, then remember; you had to travel ahead to Italy without me. I still had some business to finish up. And after a few weeks, I joined you. That’s all you need to say.”