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She swallowed and calculated quickly.“The IL trip won’t be finished.”
“We’ll be done with Thailand and the guests.We’ll take a break and finish the private tour after we meet with the attorney.”
She hugged him tight and waited, knowing there was more.
“It could turn ugly, baby.But I’ll protect you, no matter what.”
Her fear escalated.“What are the options?”
He shrugged.“Breaking the agreement could possibly mean getting sued, maybe jail time.I don’t care about that?—”
“I do!”She reared back and stared into his face.“I do,” she reiterated forcefully.
“Fuck, baby, I didn’t mean it like that.I won’t accept anything that takes me away from you.But I don’t want this thing between us anymore.I’m not prepared to take that risk.But we need to do it right.Regardless of anything Karim’s trying to pull, his family has suffered enough.Hell, he’s lashing out because he’s in pain, much as I want to tear him a new one.I’m going to do my best to make things right all round.”
That core of integrity, which had been the first pull to her falling in love with him, tugged harder at her heart.He drove her mad with his secrets and veils, but from the first, Zach had worn his integrity with unashamed pride.
How could she fault him for that now, simply because it stood in the way of her truly knowing the man behind the enigma?
She burrowed into his chest and breathed him in, her heart sighing in contentment at just being close to him.“You know I would never betray your trust, don’t you?”
He tugged her head up and kissed her, long and deep.When he raised his head, they both gulped in much-needed oxygen.“I know.And if it were up to me, you’d know everything by now, fucked up bits and all.”
“You call it fucked up.I call it the building blocks of who you are today.”
“You must really, really like me, Peaches.Because only you see things that way.”
She smiled.“I do really, really like you.”
His eyes darkened.“Come inside.I need to fuck you again.”
28
They flew by helicopter to the Amalfi Coast and Zach’s place right on the shores of Lake Como.
The red-brick palazzo was another stunning masterpiece that left her slack-jawed.
“Can you believe this place?”Angela, who’d accompanied them with Gabriel, asked as they moved from room to breathtaking room.“I hear it once belonged to a famous opera singer.”
The statuesque African American beauty shaded her eyes as they gazed back at the palazzo from the jetty where they’d wandered.Behind them, Zach was showing Gabriel the workings of his speedboat.
A big boy with his toy.
As if he’d caught her thoughts, he raised his head and slanted a heart-stopping smile her way.
“Shit.That smile shouldn’t be legal,” Angela murmured under her breath.“And you two really need to stop with the I-wanna-fuck-your-brains-out-right-now looks.It’s a health hazard to the rest of us trying to keep up.”
Bethany’s face flamed.Knowing how completely besotted Angela and Gabriel were with each other made it easy to join in when Angela’s smirk turned to outright laughter.
“You glad we ditched Olga the Ogre?”She waggled her eyebrows.
Bethany laughed again.“It’s certainly nicer without her around.”
Angela’s eyebrow arched.“Right.You’re the diplomatic type.I think Mike’s about to ditch her.I say the bitch deserves to be ditched all right.From like thirty thousand feet above the Atlantic.”
Bethany’s eyes widened.
Angela shrugged.“Yeah, I’m hating on her.She tried to make a play for Gabe, too.”