Page 102 of Contract of a Billionaire

Every inch of my body shook, the tremor in my fingers visible. It was terrifying to think the next few seconds could forever end this. End us. Four years and I had never stopped loving him. After the loathing simmered down, underneath the bitterness, love remained. The craving for him remained. Because he wasitfor me.

Just as he promised, he ruined me for anyone else.

I stopped in front of him in nothing but a bra and panties. White, his favorite. He didn’t look up at me. I took another step, forcing myself between his slightly parted legs. He didn’t widen his stance to welcome me between his legs either.

Will he ever welcome me again?I wondered.Once I told him my truth.

My breaths came out shallow and the drumming of my heart filled the air.

I lowered myself to my knees and took his face between my hands. Our eyes met, locked into many breathless moments. Those two months were the best of my life. Sweaty bodies. Hotel sheets. Pillow fights. Only so he could catch me and fuck me again. Agonizingly slow, until I begged him to make me come.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. He let out a tense, sardonic breath. His warmth poured off him and I absorbed it. I needed strength right now. His strength. Because he was one of the bravest men I had ever known.

“Don’t pity me.” Three words. The lifetime of vulnerability.

“I’m sorry I didn’t save you four years ago,” I rasped, emotions choking me. It took all this to realize I couldn’t live the rest of my life without him. “I’m sorry I thought the worst of you. I’m sorry I didn’t talk it through with you. And most of all, I’m sorry I didn’t kill that woman or your father.”

Maybe there was some of my mobster grandparents in me after all.

My fingers laced through his soft strands, gripping a handful of it. “I love you,” I murmured softly, my lips skimming over his neck. “Just the way you are. Every single piece. Broken or not. Your bad boy ruthlessness underneath that gentlemanly exterior. I love you so much that it hurts to breathe when you’re not around.”

Our gazes remained locked. My admission filled the air. Vulnerability lingering in his eyes matched the one in my voice. Rejection - we were both scared of it. There was nothing I wouldn’t give to erase his pain.

“Alessandro?” I murmured softly.

“Yes?” His palm snaked under my panties and kneaded the flesh of my ass.

“I have a confession to make too,” I whispered softly. He waited, his eyes on me. “I-I came to tell you. In London.” Something dark flickered in his gaze and he searched my face. “I wanted to tell you I was pregnant.” His fingers dug into my ass. “Kol is yours.”

Something dark as sin filled his gaze. Possessive. Consuming.

“I know.”

An incredulous breath left me. So he knew after all. “How? When?”

A half-smile pulled on his lips.

“Only yesterday. When I saw Kol at the gravesite, I called a friend,” he admitted. “Kol is mine. You listed me on his birth certificate.” He raised his hand to cup my cheek. “You gave him my name.”

The intensity in his voice made my throat tighten. The way his hand shook told me I did something right.

“Yes. Your first name for his middle name,” I breathed. “Alessandra is Maman’s name so I figured if anyone questioned it, I’d blame her for it.” His lips tugged up, tempting me to kiss him. “We can change his last name. Anything you want.” His heat and familiar scent wrapped around me like a blanket. “I’m sorry I kept it from you.”

“I’m sorry for hurting you, love.”

Tears blurred my vision. So much time wasted. “Ditto.”

“Tell me about Kol’s scar.”

As always, terror squeezed my chest. The man was dead. Six feet under. But the memory still terrified me.

“Your father showed up at the hospital the day he was born,” I croaked, that old familiar fear in my chest. “He threatened me. He pushed a cigarette butt into Kol. I fought him, but I was too weak after giving birth. He only stopped when I threatened him by using the Corsican mafia.”

He pushed his face into my lower belly. His mouth skimmed over the soft cloth, like he wanted to kiss all the pain away.

“I gave you up and still you ended up hurt.” His voice was rough. Full of pain and regret. ”I failed you and Kol.”

I shook my head.