“Wow.” Pulling my hand out of his grasp, I get up and start to pace, my thoughts tumbling like clothes in a dryer. There’s so much to unravel here, so many layers of conflicting emotions to dig through. What Marcus did is horribly wrong, the invasion of my privacy deplorable. It’s also frightening that he could do that—both that he had the means and that he was willing to go that far to get what he wanted.
Which was me.
And that’s what complicates matters… because I can’t say I’m sorry he got his way. If he hadn’t come at me with all those perfectly selected gifts, if he hadn’t been so ruthless and persistent, I might’ve found the strength to stay away from him—and then we wouldn’t be here today.
I would’ve never known the terrifying, exhilarating high of being in love with this man.
He watches me pace with the intensity of a cat tracking a stray lizard, and I know it’s because he decided that this is the best approach, that he needs to give me time to process these revelations. Even now, his devious mind is working on a way to spin this situation, to turn it to his advantage so he can get what he wants.
Which, presumably, is still me.
“What else?” I demand, stopping in front of the bed. “Is there more I should know?” He hesitates for a long moment, and an incredulous laugh escapes my throat. “There is, isn’t it? What is it?”
A muscle flexes in his jaw. “I may have delayed your plane the day you were flying to Florida. Also, I asked a realtor to speak to your landlady about putting the townhouse on the market, and more recently, I arranged for Weston Long to buy it.”
I’m so stunned I sink onto the bed, my knees buckling underneath me. “For God’s sake, why?”
His blue eyes glint fiercely. “The plane, because I was stuck in traffic and couldn’t have caught you in the airport otherwise. And the townhouse, because…” His chest rises and falls on an unsteady breath. “Because I’m crazy, madly, obsessively in love with you, kitten… to the point that I can’t bear the thought of spending a night apart. I want you with me every moment of every day. I want to fall asleep with you in my embrace and wake up to the smell of your hair on my pillow; I want to see your smile over breakfast every morning and talk to you at dinner every night. You’re my addiction, my obsession, my reason for existing—and there’s nothing I won’t do to earn your love. Emma, kitten…” He grips my hand again. “I love you, and I want you to marry me. I want you forever in my life.”
My mouth works, but no words come out, my chest feeling like it’s about to burst. The stark longing in his voice, the unconcealed vulnerability in his gaze—it undoes me completely, cutting through the tangle of conflicting emotions like scissors through a knot.
Marcus wants to marry me. He loves me. Really, truly loves me—so much so he jumped in front of a car to save me… and before that, crossed all sorts of lines to get us where we are. And in hindsight, what did I expect? Would a man as ruthless as this leave something as important as matters of the heart to chance? Did I honestly think he’d meekly hang back in the hopes that I’ll work through my insecurities before the end of the next decade?
No, that’s not how Marcus Carelli operates. He goes after what he wants, and the more he wants it, the harder he fights for it.
I was right to picture him as a modern-day pirate.
He is—and I’ve been his desired loot all along.
“Emma.” His eyes narrow, his grip on my hand tightening. “Kitten, say something.”
I force my paralyzed tongue into action. “What about your criteria? Don’t you want to marry some glamorous, sophisticated socialite? Someone who knows all about the latest fashions and politics and can—”
“No.” There’s utter certainty in his voice. “That’s what I thought I wanted, but I was wrong. There was only one criterion that ever truly mattered to me, only one thing I wanted my future wife to be.”
“And what’s that?”
“My family. Someone I can count on.” He pauses, then adds softly, “A woman unlike my mother.”
My heart squeezes to the size of a pinprick, my lungs stalling as tears prickle at the back of my throat again. Marcus hasn’t talked much about his childhood, only dropping hints here and there, but it doesn’t take much imagination to picture what it was like. His mother had been an alcoholic, he’d told me, a twenty-four-seven drunk. Of course he couldn’t count on her; whatever love she had for her son would’ve been swamped by her addiction to the bottle.
No wonder he’d embraced my grandparents so eagerly. Whereas I’ve always had their love to sustain me, he’s never had anything close to an actual family, to people he could rely on and trust.
Looking at him now, at this gorgeous, powerful man I’ve always viewed as being out of my league, I realize for the first time that I can be what he needs.
I can give him love and family… and the entirety of my heart.
He’s watching me keenly, waiting for my answer, so I drag in a breath and say, “You know I come with cats, right? It’s three of them now, but I may want to adopt more in the future. There are so many in shelters that could use a good home. And I may want to get a dog or two one day as well.”
His eyes flare with banked triumph, but his voice is even. “The more, the merrier. Fill the entire penthouse with pets if you want. Hell, I’ll buy you a bigger one—a mansion, a castle, an island… We’ll have an entire zoo if you’re so inclined.”
I bite the inside of my cheek. I was
