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A rush of sudden fury caught at her and she abruptly screwed up the schedule and threw the ball of paper at the nearest wall.
How dared he do this to her? How dared he abandon his children? How dared he leave her like this, weeping and feeling shattered in a featureless hotel room in a strange country?
How dared he make her fall in love with him and then tell her to walk away?
Stupid,stupidman!
Tears filled her eyes and she covered her face with her hands, allowing herself to weep for a little bit. Afterwards, she’d clean her face and have a shower. Get dressed and eat something. Then she’d try to figure out what the future looked like with twins if he refused to be a part of their little family, but until then, she was going to have a damn good cry.
There was a sudden, loud knock on the door.
Nell muttered a hoarse curse under her breath, grabbed some tissues from the table beside the bed and hurriedly wiped her eyes, before going to the door.
The knock came again, louder and more impatient sounding this time.
‘Okay, okay,’ she said tiredly, and, without bothering to check the peephole, pulled open the door.
Aristophanes stood in the doorway, his black hair standing up on end, no tie, his shirt crumpled. There was dark stubble on his jaw. He looked like hell. He was also the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen.
Her stomach dropped away, at the same time as her fury leapt high. ‘What the bloody hell do you want?’ she demanded. ‘I thought you told me to leave.’
‘I did.’ His eyes were blazing silver, his voice rough with emotion. ‘I was wrong.’
Nell’s heart tightened. ‘I don’t know—’
‘Let me in,’ he said hoarsely. ‘Please, Nell. Please let me in.’
She didn’t want to and yet she found herself giving ground as he took a step forward and then another and another, backing her slowly into the hotel room, the door swinging shut behind them. Then he stopped and stared at her as if he hadn’t seen her for years and years instead of only the night before.
Nell swallowed and folded her arms. She wasn’t going to be the first one to speak.
‘I was wrong,’ he said starkly, obliging her. ‘I shouldn’t have asked you to leave. Because you’re right, itwaseasier to make someone go than it is to ask them to stay. And I was just...terrified that I wasn’t enough to make you stay. I’m a difficult man, Nell. I’m arrogant. I am not empathetic. And I do not like to be wrong.’ His broad chest heaved as he sucked in a breath. ‘I will make you a terrible husband and I hope to God I won’t be a terrible father, and, quite frankly, that also terrifies me. I’m terrified of not being enough for you.’
He ran a hand through his hair. ‘You’re so amazing. You’re a better person than I am in every way, smarter, braver, more honest. But... I want to try, Nell. I want to be worthy of you.’ The look in his eyes blazed brighter. ‘I’m in love with you and I don’t know how this is supposed to work... All I know is that I can’t live without you.’
There were more tears rolling down her cheeks. All her fury had died, vanished without a trace, leaving in its place something hot, something that felt suspiciously like joy.
He loved her. He really did. It was there, burning bright, in his eyes.
‘You don’t have to do anything to be worthy of me, Bear,’ she said huskily. ‘All you have to be is yourself, just as you are, arrogance, stubbornness, and difficult behaviours and all.’
He took another step towards her, and then one more, and then suddenly she was in his arms, held tight and close to his chest, his heat and his strength flowing into her. And something that had knotted tight and hard in her heart abruptly released, making her turn her face into his shirt to stem yet more tears that threatened.
‘I love you,’ he murmured into her hair. ‘I can’t live without you, Nell. Don’t ever leave me, don’t ever leave me again.’
She swallowed and lifted her head, staring up into his beautiful face. ‘I won’t. Not ever again.’
He bent and kissed her, and it went on for some time. Then she put her hands against his chest and said, laughing, ‘You’re very damp.’
‘Cesare told me to have a shower before I came to you. I was too impatient to dry myself.’
She laughed. ‘Idiot, Bear. Were you angry that I called him?’
‘No.’ He kissed her again, hungrier this time. ‘I was glad. He can be very intelligent sometimes.’ Another hot kiss, then he lifted his head, looking down at her, one hand curving possessively over her stomach. ‘Nell, I know you didn’t choose to be the mother of my children, but I would very much like it if you chose to be my wife.’
Her heart was full, a joy she’d never thought would ever be hers making a home for itself inside her. Making a home for him, too, and their babies. A family, together.
‘Yes, Bear,’ she said, smiling. ‘Yes, I think I’d like that very much, too.’