Caught in the Billionaire's Embrace (16 page)

“Della, there's
nothing
more to consider than you. I've had weeks to think about you and me, and you know what I figured out that was most significant?”

With her head still pressed against his chest—it felt so good to have it there—she asked, “What?”

“What was significant was that I didn't need weeks to think about it. I didn't even need days to think about it. I didn't need to think at all. I only needed to feel. And what I feel for you, Della…”

When he didn't finish, she tilted her head back to look at him. He was still smiling, but there was something in this one she hadn't seen in any of the others before. Peace. Contentment. Happiness. She recognized it, because with him here beside her, she felt all those things, too.

“What I feel for you is like nothing I've felt before in my life. And I like it, Della. I like it a lot. I want to feel this way forever.” He dipped his head to hers and kissed her again. When he pulled back, he repeated resolutely, “So I'm coming with you.”

Della didn't know why she kept wanting to object, but she couldn't quite keep herself from giving it one more shot. “But what if—”

Marcus lifted his hand to press his fingers lightly against her mouth. “It doesn't matter what if,” he said. “Whatever happens, Della, we'll face it together. We'll
be
together. That's all that matters.”

“But—”

“Shh,” he said.

And then he dropped his fingers from her mouth to place a chaste kiss there instead. It was enough to quiet her voice if not quell her reservations. He was right, she told herself. It didn't matter what the future brought, as long as the two of them were together. She'd brought herself up from very humble beginnings and made a decent life for herself before everything went wrong at Whitworth and Stone. And she'd managed to make the best of a bad situation for eleven months in Chicago. The place from which she would be starting
over again now was infinitely better than the places where she'd started off before. And this time, she wouldn't be embarking on the journey alone. This time, she would be with Marcus. And that made even the bleakest prospects tolerable.

He tucked a strand of dark blond hair behind her ear and leaned down until his mouth hovered just next to it. His warm breath on her cold skin sent a delicious shiver down her spine. Or maybe it was his simple nearness that did that. As he had with her mouth, he placed a small, soft kiss on her ear lobe. Then he pulled back far enough to murmur in a voice too soft for anyone but her to hear, “Besides. Thirty percent of my wealth is liquid and highly accessible. It's in conveniently numbered Swiss bank accounts, and I'll be able to get to it whenever I want. We won't starve, sweetheart. Trust me.”

Meaning, she thought with a grin, that she would never have to settle for rented clothing again. A single, genuinely happy chuckle escaped her. But even this information didn't matter. It was as Marcus said, all that mattered was that the two of them would be together. Forever.

She looked at the suitcase by his feet. It was the size of one that could be carried onto a plane. There wasn't much that would fit in a bag that size.

“That's all you're bringing with you into our new life?” she asked.

He glanced down at the bag, then back at Della. “It's more than I need, really. Because everything I need is right here.”

And then he kissed her again. And kissed her. And kissed her. And kissed her. In fact, he kissed her so long, and so many times, that only the appearance of
Carson and Willoughby on each side of them made him stop. Even at that, it took a moment for Della to remember her surroundings. But when she saw the two marshals smiling at her, she remembered all too well.

She'd completed what she'd come to New York to do. Now it was time to head into a new chapter of her life.

“Carson, Willoughby,” she said to the two marshals. “Tell your boss there's been a slight change in my plan.” She turned to Marcus and looped her arm through his. “Tell her I'm going to have one more piece of baggage than I'd planned.”

And as baggage went, she thought, Marcus was the kind she would happily carry with her forever.