Harlequin Presents January 2015 Box Set 1 of 2(60)
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Zayn’s heart felt full. Like it would burst. Pain, grief and a strange release were rising in him like a tide.
He had come back for her. But this...this was beyond anything he had imagined.
And yes, it brought about the pain of that day. Knowing there was a recording of those angry words spoken between them, a tape he would never need to hear because he could replay it in his mind without error.
“I do not...I do not deserve this,” he said. It was all he could say, all he could think.
“You’ve saved everyone else, why won’t you let someone save you?” she asked, the words so innocent, so perfect, he could hardly accept them. Could hardly accept that she was real. That she had seen him, and still wanted him. That she knew his darkest secrets, and still loved him.
“Is that what you have come to do?” he asked. “Save me?”
“You kidnapped me. And I grant you, saving your kidnapper...it’s strange. But so are we. I’m...well, I’m the girl from the wrong side of the tracks. And you? You’re a sheikh. We don’t go together.”
Emotion nearly choked him. “Perhaps that is why we are perfect for each other.”
“Zayn...are we? Do you want this? Do you want...me?”
“Yes.” There was no hesitation, because he had known the answer. Always.
“That’s the moment I was waiting for,” she said, her green eyes glittering with tears, “that triumphant moment...it was this all along. I’m Sophie Parsons. You know me. I don’t have any money or any status. Or a job. My bank account is empty. But my heart is full. It’s full of love for you.”
His chest tightened, so much it was painful, his eyes stinging. “I will tell you another story,” he said.
“Will you?”
“Yes. Once there was a man who did things for others, so he would not have to look at the pain inside himself. And he met a princess. But he did not love her. And she did not heal him. Then he met a woman, and he loved her with everything in him. And that love is what healed him.”
“I hope this story has a happy ending,” she said, a tear sliding down her cheek.
“That is up to you.”
“This is like a fairy tale, you know. And I never bothered with those, because I always figured they weren’t for girls like me. But now...now I think...it was always the girl locked in the tower. Or the girl who scrubbed the floors. Or the one whose father didn’t love her. These stories...they’re for everyone. They’re for me. This is for me. So yes, this will have a happy ending. We will have a happy ending.”
“You’re going to have to be a princess now. Sheikha, technically.”
“Me?” She blinked. “But...what will that do for your country?”
“Everything,” he said. “Because I love you. And a wise woman told me that duty void of love is empty. It is only obligation. And I saw that life, stretched before me. And I hated it. I would have grown bitter. I would have grown hard. But with you by my side? With your children as mine? With love? It is what we need. Without it...without it all, good intentions are dead. I need you, Sophie Parsons, just as you are.”
She leaned in, kissing him, tears running down her cheeks. And he could feel her smile against his lips.
“Zayn, you love me. I wouldn’t ask for another life. For the first time, I’m so very happy to be me.”
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If you enjoyed this book, look out for the next installment of THE CHATSFIELD: DELUCCA’S MARRIAGE CONTRACT by Abby Green. Coming next month.
Keep reading for an excerpt from THE SECRET HIS MISTRESS CARRIED by Lynne Graham.
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