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  As if he could tell, he moved even closer and said throatily, ‘What is it?’

  ‘I’m scared,’ she whispered, baring herself in a way she’d never done with anyone before. ‘I’m scared because my own family turned their backs on me. Betrayed me in the worst possible way. I couldn’t survive that again.’

  Lexie could feel the tension in Cesar’s body, see the ferocity in his expression.

  ‘I vow to you with every breath in my body that I will spend my life protecting you from hurt and harm. I love you, Lexie. You’re as much a part of my soul as I am myself. A betrayal of you is a betrayal of me...and whatever the future brings I’m going to be right by your side to deal with it. Including Connor.’

  Lexie’s eyes filled with tears. The fact that he’d acknowledged her son dissolved the last of her defences.

  Cesar was blurry in her vision as she came up on tiptoe and slid her arms around his neck. ‘I love you, Cesar...so much.’

  He groaned softly and covered her mouth with his. The kiss was searing and passionate.

  Lexie broke free and looked up. ‘Take me home, please?’

  Cesar smiled and his thumbs wiped away the tracks of her tears on her cheeks. ‘Espere querida...wait... There’s just one thing I have to do first.’

  Suddenly Cesar disappeared, and Lexie gave a little surprised yelp to see him kneeling at her feet, her huge skirt between them. He was holding out a black box which he then opened. He looked up, his slightly nervous smile making Lexie’s heart flip-flop.

  ‘Lexie Anderson...will you marry me?’

  More tears filled Lexie’s eyes. Pure joy bubbled up inside her. Her heart was in her voice when she said simply, ‘Yes!’

  Cesar took her hand and slid a stunning antique gold and diamond ring on her finger. The fact that she’d barely looked at it didn’t seem to bother either of them, because he stood up and swept her and her voluminous dress into his arms before kissing her senseless—much to the entertainment of the security guards, who were the only people left on the set.

  * * *

  A week later Cesar had arranged to have his private jet standing by at a nearby private airfield. As soon as Lexie was wrapped after her final scene later that day they were going back to Spain.

  Cesar’s mobile phone beeped with a message and he read it.

  Congratulations on your engagement. Alexio and I would like to meet you, if you’re ready. Call me any time. Rafaele.

  Cesar showed the message to Lexie later, when they were on the plane, and she was sitting in his lap. She looked at him and he saw the way her eyes grew suspiciously bright.

  She pressed a kiss to his cheek and said, ‘I’m ready when you are.’

  Incredible joy gripped him—there wasn’t a hint of the old darkness and pain. Cesar grinned and threw his phone down, and then got busy showing his fiancée just how ready he was.

  EPILOGUE

  Eighteen months later

  ‘I MEAN...THEY look so innocent, don’t they?’

  Cesar smiled at Alexio’s almost incredulous tone. Rafaele sighed deeply on his other side. They’d been standing and talking and were now watching the three women who were sitting around a picnic table under a huge tree, a few yards away. They were on Cesar’s lawn, at the back of the castillo, where a new outdoor pool twinkled invitingly through some small trees.

  The castillo looked the same on the outside but it had been almost completely remodelled on the inside, so that very few vestiges of the past remained apart from the parts that had to be preserved. It was light and airy, with vast spaces, and decorated with a sumptuous yet understated luxury. Lexie had personally supervised the storage of the portraits of Cesar’s grandparents in a special airtight room deep in the cellars.

  ‘I know,’ Rafaele said now. ‘And yet in spite of that innocence they all—’

  ‘Brought us down,’ Cesar chipped in, sounding the happiest out of all of them.

  Just then the three women’s heads drew closer together: one dark, one bright blonde and the other reddish blonde. There came a very distinctive peal of laughter from Samantha Falcone, and then they were all guffawing inelegantly, heads thrown back.

  Rafaele shifted uncomfortably. ‘Why does that always make me nervous? As if they’re talking—

  ‘About us?’ Alexio cut in.

  ‘Because they probably are,’ Cesar said equably, once again sounding like a Zen Buddha.

  His younger half-brothers turned towards him and folded their arms, two versions of his own green eyes narrowed on him.

  Alexio remarked dryly, ‘I could take a photo of you right now and Tweet it and you’d lose your well-honed mystique in seconds.’

  Cesar smiled and said ruefully, ‘Be my guest. I think I lost that mystique somewhere around the first nappy-change, when my sense of smell got scarred for life.’

  The tiny bundle wriggled against his chest and he looked down at the small downy head of his two-month-old daughter, Lucita, where she was burrowing into a more comfortable position. His hand supported her bottom in the baby sling protectively.

  Just then a small toddler in a bright dress broke free of the women at the table and tottered towards the men with a determined expression on her face. A halo of strawberry-blond ringlets framed a heart-stoppingly cherubic face dominated by huge green eyes.

  She’d already wrapped everyone within a ten-mile radius around her tiny finger—even Cesar’s normally very taciturn housekeeper.

  Cesar’s chest grew tight as he imagined Lucita at that age. And growing older in a vastly different castillo from the one he’d experienced. One filled with light and love.

  Alexio bent down and encouraged his daughter Belle the last few yards, until she fell into his arms with a squeal of excitement. Lifting her up, he settled her high against his chest, a distinctly soppy expression on his face as she rested her head between his neck and shoulder, thumb firmly in her mouth.

  ‘How the mighty are fallen indeed,’ Rafaele remarked wryly, observing this just as Milo, his almost five-year-old son, streaked by with his armbands on, ready to jump into the pool, followed swiftly by Juan Cortez’s similarly aged son—Milo’s new best friend.

  Belle immediately straightened up to take her thumb from her mouth and pointed a clutching hand at where Milo was, exclaiming urgently in baby gibberish.

  But Alexio’s attention was fixated on his wife, Sidonie, who had followed her daughter and was sliding an arm around her husband’s waist. She wore a long colourful kaftan over a bikini.

  Cesar knew that they were sitting on the news that they were expecting again until Sidonie had passed three months. But Sid had already told Lexie, and Lexie had told Cesar, and he was pretty sure that Sam must know too—which meant Rafaele knew, which meant it was an open secret. But of course no one would acknowledge it till they did.

  The look between Alexio and Sidonie was definitely carnal and very private.

  She smiled as Belle wriggled to be put down. ‘You know that now she’s seen Milo she won’t rest until she can play with him.’

  Alexio scowled in Rafaele’s direction and Rafaele raised a brow. ‘What? It’s not my fault she’s hero-worshipping her cousin. She’s displaying remarkably good taste in men already. That’s a good thing!’

  Sidonie just shook her head at the men’s ribbing and took Belle’s hand when Alexio let her down. She glanced fondly at where her new niece was cuddled against Cesar’s chest. ‘Lucita’s due a feed, and Sam wants to take a nap, so I said I’d watch the kids. I’ll take Belle to the pool.’

  Alexio immediately declared, ‘I’ll come too,’ and another hot, private look passed between them.

  Samantha Falcone was walking towards them now, still graceful despite her seven months pregnant belly, evident under a stretchy dress. When she came near Raf
aele drew her close and asked throatily, ‘You’re taking a nap?’

  She looked up at him and nodded, and then said, far too innocently, ‘You didn’t sleep very well last night, did you? Maybe you should take a nap too?’

  Cesar almost laughed out loud at the way Rafaele muttered something unintelligble and all but dragged his pregnant wife into the castillo. Rafaele had confided that this time was very poignant for him, because he’d missed Sam’s pregnancy with Milo.

  Alexio and Sidonie were now wandering off hand in hand, with Belle toddling in front of them, towards the pool.

  Cesar looked over to where Lexie sat on the love seat beneath the tree, watching him. She smiled and crooked her finger. As if he needed any encouragement...

  When he sat down beside her Lucita was already raising her head and mewling softly, clearly ready for her feed.

  Deftly Cesar unhooked the sling and lifted his daughter out, holding her head securely as her huge blue eyes opened wide and she gazed back at him guilelessly. His heart clenched. Was it possible to fall even more deeply in love every time he looked at her? And then she smiled and the question became moot, because he fell fathoms deeper in a nanosecond.

  ‘Look!’ Cesar declared proudly, angling her for Lexie’s inspection. ‘She smiled at me.’

  Lexie grinned and took their daughter from his safe hands, settling her against the breast she’d bared, helping that seeking mouth to find her nipple.

  As Lucita latched on, Lexie said wryly, ‘I hate to burst your bubble but it’s probably just wind.’

  Cesar said nothing and when she peeked at him he was just smiling at her, a very private smile. He put his arm around her and said throatily, ‘I could watch you nurse Lucita all day.’

  Lexie rested her head back against him and smiled. ‘Happy?’

  Cesar looked down at her and felt his heart swell so much it might explode. Those huge blue eyes sucked him in as they had that very first time.

  He shook his head and said quickly, ‘Happy doesn’t even come close to how I’m feeling.’

  He took Lexie’s free hand—the hand on which she wore his rings. He brought it up and pressed his mouth there, over the rings that bound them together for ever.

  He found himself admitting something he’d been too ashamed to admit before. ‘Do you know...just before Lucita was born I was afraid...afraid that I couldn’t possibly love any more than I already loved you?’

  Lexie’s eyes grew bright.

  ‘But as soon as she was born I realised it’s infinite. Love can’t be bound to one person.’

  ‘I know,’ Lexie whispered. ‘I felt it too.’

  The pregnancy and birth had been incredibly emotional for them both, but especially poignant for Lexie, considering it had brought back everything she’d been through with her first baby. But Cesar had been with her every step of the way, and more supportive than she might have dared to imagine. With his encouragement she’d even been in touch with the adoption agency to leave word as to where she could be contacted should her son ever feel the desire.

  A deep sense of peace and security pervaded her life now. And love.

  Lexie huffed a small laugh then, even as emotional tears made her eyes glitter. ‘You know, for someone who was deprived of love growing up you’re remarkably good at it.’

  Cesar smiled back and said, with not a little sadness, ‘I can feel sorry for my grandparents now. They were so bitter and caught up in anger.’

  Predictably, at the mention of his grandparents, Lexie’s eyes flashed with emotion. But before it could rise Cesar pressed a kiss to Lexie’s mouth, long and lingering, full of love.

  When he drew back the fire of anger had gone out of Lexie’s eyes to be replaced by another kind of fire, and she said, almost grumpily, ‘That was blatant distraction.’

  Lucita’s mouth popped free and Lexie handed her back to Cesar while she prepared her other breast for feeding.

  When their daughter had emitted a gratifyingly robust burp Cesar handed her back. With Lucita settled again, Lexie looked at her husband. ‘Are you ready for tomorrow?’

  ‘Tomorrow?’ he asked disingenuously, clearly much more interested in his wife and baby. ‘Tell me what’s happening tomorrow again?’

  Lexie smiled. He knew exactly what was happening. Even so, she reminded him. ‘Sidonie’s aunt is arriving and it’s her first time out of France, so we all have to be very mindful of her. Alexio is going to Paris to meet her and bring her here so she won’t be nervous. Rafaele’s father and his new wife Bridie are coming from Milan. And Juan Cortez and Maria are coming to pick up Miguel—although you know they’ll probably end up spending the night because it’d be rude not to ask them to stay for the barbecue...’

  ‘And,’ added Cesar dryly, ‘because Maria is as thick as thieves with you and Sid and Sam.’

  Lexie smiled, but couldn’t stem a niggle of anxiety for Cesar. This was their biggest family get-together yet. And it would getting bigger all the time—especially as Sam’s new baby would be born soon and added to the mix. And then Sid’s.

  It had been easier for Lexie, knowing what it was to come from a sizeable family, in spite of their estrangement. And also because she and Sam and Sidonie had formed a solid and genuine friendship almost within the first ten minutes of meeting each other.

  She knew that even though Cesar’s relationship with his half-brothers had taken a quantum leap ever since that first meeting in Rome, when she’d gone with him to meet them properly for the first time, it was still a novel experience for him to play at happy families having come from the exact opposite experience.

  But then, it had been healing for Cesar to hear how Rafaele and Alexio had suffered at the hands of their unhappy mother in their own lives. Happy families didn’t come naturally to them either. Once he’d seen they could empathise with him he hadn’t felt so alone in his experiences.

  Lexie saw the glint of determination in Cesar’s eyes and castigated herself for underestimating how he might deal with this. He pressed another lingering kiss to her mouth and then pulled back, saying with a grin that transformed him into someone infinitely younger and even more gorgeous, ‘Am I ready? As long as you’re with me I’m ready for anything.’

  Lexie answered huskily, with her heart in her voice, ‘Well, that’s easy—because I’m not going anywhere.’

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from THE MAN SHE CAN’T FORGET by Maggie Cox.

  We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Presents title.

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  Ten years ago one devastating night changed everything for Austin, Hunter and Alex. Now they must each play their part in the revenge against the one man who ruined it all.

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  CHAPTER ONE

  IT HAD SEEMED like a good idea at the time. If only Lara had remembered her brother Sean’s sage advice to ‘expect the unexpected’, then she might have thought twice about agreeing to stay at their parents’ home while they took a much needed restorative break in the south of France.

  But then Sean wasn’t there any more to remind her of that particular little pearl....

  And, in truth, she would never have dreamt of refusing her mum and dad’s request to house-sit for them when they were still reeling from the tragedy that had hit them all six months ago. Their son, Sean, Lara’s brother, was dead. He had contracted malaria whilst undertaking the charity work that he loved in Africa and had not recovered from it. It hardly seemed real that such a thing was possible in the twenty-first century, but sadly it was.

  Having already been back in the family home for a week now, Lara still expected him to walk through the door with a cheery, ‘Put the kettle on, sis, I could murder a cup of tea!’ just like he had done when they were teenagers.

  Time seemed intent on playing tricks on her these days. One minute it passed like a slow and choking mudslide, threatening to cut off her ability to breathe, and the next... The next it seemed to vanish completely, leaving her feeling that she was stuck in a desolate and unhappy dream that she couldn’t wake up from.

  Whilst she loved her work, she was glad that the college term had come to an end. Her duties and responsibilities in the library had been particularly arduous this past month, what with so many students wanting help with research to take home with them. But now that that frenetic time was over she had no choice but to fully embrace her grief and process the soul-deep pain that she felt at losing Sean.