“Give the man a dollar and tell him he has a deal.”
“What?”
“Just do it, Nadia. He’ll explain.” Rand hung up on her.
She stared at the phone. “That was weird. He said, ‘Give the man a dollar and tell him he has a deal. ’What does that mean?”
A smile slid across Lucas’s sexy lips. “Need to borrow a dollar?”
“I have a dollar. But why would I give it to you?”
He held out his hand, palm up.
Grunting in frustration, Nadia dug a dollar out of her evening bag and slapped it into his hand. Hard.
He tucked it into his pant pocket. “I flew to Miami today to broker a deal with your brothers.”
Suspicious, she narrowed her eyes. “What kind of deal?”
“KCL now owns Mardi Gras Cruising or will as soon as the paperwork is signed and notarized.”
“What?”
“KCL bought Mardi Gras for one dollar—the price your father put on his holdings. When the deal is closed you can get out of this apartment and go anywhere you want. You’ll be free instead of trapped here for a year.”
“I don’t understand. Why would you sell your company at a multibillion-dollar loss? What’s in it for you?” None of this made sense. Just two weeks ago Lucas had been trying to destroy KCL.
“What’s that old cliché? When you love someone you let them go? You won’t be bound by the terms of your father’s will because if you forfeit, everything will be handed over to Mardi Gras, which you Kincaids will already own. So you’ll be giving it to yourselves.”
The convoluted logic almost made sense. “Is that legal?”
“According to the best legal minds I could buy, yes. And I’m sure your brothers had their attorneys go through the purchase agreement with a fine-tooth comb, too, before agreeing.”
“You sold your company for a dollar so I could have my freedom?”
“I want you to be happy, Nadia. With or without me. That’s all I ever wanted. Even when I walked away eleven years ago that was my goal.”
Her vision clouded. She blinked to clear the tears and a hot trail burned down her cheek. “I’ll stay in Dallas for the full year because Daddy expected me to fail. I need to prove to him and to myself that I can take whatever life dishes out.”
“Now that’s the attitude of the woman who’s given Andvari hell for the past forty months.”
“I’m not the girl you fell in love with eleven years ago, Lucas. I can’t give you the family you want. I can’t have children.”
“We don’t have to make babies to be happy together.”
“I don’t even know if I want to risk adopting. The doctors tell me I don’t carry my mother’s trait for bipolar disorder. But what if they’re wrong? What if I end up ill?”
“You said I never gave you a chance to prove your love for me by telling you I was paralyzed. Works both ways, princess. You’re not giving me a chance to prove mine, either. Nadia, I will love you even if you end up like your mother. And if you need it, then I will take care of you and keep you safe to the best of my ability.” He cradled her face in his palms. “I love you. Let me prove it.”
And then his lips touched hers in the gentlest kiss they’d ever shared. When he lifted his head she looked into his eyes and saw the emotion to mirror his words. Her heart swelled and tears of happiness clogged her throat.
She covered his hands with hers. “I want to take that chance. With you. Only with you.”
“Marry me.”
She gave him a patient look. “I’m already married to you.”
“Marry me again. But this time we’ll meet at the altar as equals.”
“I never considered you less than my equal, Lucas. But if it’s important to you, then, yes, I’ll marry you again.”
Epilogue
Nadia sat behind her desk at KCL and sighed in satisfaction. It was good to be home and back on the job.
Her year in exile had flown by—thanks to Lucas’s company—and life was good.
No, better than good because she had it all this time. A husband who adored her. A job she loved. And family. His and hers.
She glanced at the card that had been tucked in the massive flower arrangement from Lucas’s mother and sisters.
Party at 7:00 to celebrate your first day back on the job. Be ready to boogie Stone-style. Martinis on us. Lucas’s Girls
“Ms. Kinc—Mrs. Stone, your husband is here,” her assistant said over the intercom.
“Send him in, Ann.” She rose, circled her desk to meet him halfway.
Lucas strode through the door, looking powerful and gorgeous as always, this time in her favorite black Armani suit. His blond hair gleamed, but it was the way his eyes lit up when he saw her that made her heart flip-flop. Not once in the past nine months had she had any reason to doubt his love or his loyalty.
He covered the carpet in long strides and didn’t stop until his arms surrounded her and his lips covered hers. She adored his kisses. The devouring ones, the gentle ones, the tempting ones, but she especially liked this kind—the kind that promised more than kisses later.
He lifted his head. “Good first day back?”
“Absolutely.” When he kissed her breathless that way he couldn’t expect long-winded answers. He was lucky to get more than one syllable.
“Ready for this?” The sun glinted off his wedding band—the one she’d given him years ago—as he reached into his coat pocket and withdrew an envelope.
The final words from her father. Her heart stumbled.
Each of her brothers had received letters from her father soon after completing their portions of the yearlong inheritance clause. It stood to reason she’d get one, too. Lucas had volunteered to pick hers up from Richards’s office on his way back from the final inspection of the property he’d purchased to house all of his businesses in Miami. Mardi Gras would fall under the KCL umbrella, but his other companies would be housed near enough that she and he could slip away for lunches together.
“Would you rather do this at home?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No. I want to read Dad’s words here where I can still feel his presence. He may have broken us up, but he also brought us back together. And I’d have to be in serious denial not to admit that we’re both stronger people for difficulties we went through and the time we spent apart.”
“Agreed. But I still resent being robbed of eleven years with you.” He offered her an envelope, which left one in his hand.
“He left me two letters?”
He shook his head, a frown puckering his brow. “Your father left one for me.”
“That’s odd. I don’t think anyone else outside the family received a last missive.”
“Who goes first?” he asked.
“Me. I need answers.” She led him to what she called her oasis, a seating nook in the corner of her office. Lucas had helped her build a minigarden when she’d moved in over the weekend. She had blooming orchids mixed in with the emerald-green tropical plants and fragrant gardenias. She kicked off her Versace heels and sat on the love seat. Lucas settled beside her, hooking his arm around her shoulder and tugging her close.
Nadia’s hands trembled as she opened the flap and withdrew the folded pages. She took a deep breath and flattened the pages in her lap so that Lucas could read along with her.
Nadia,
If you’re reading this, then you have passed the final test your old man is going to throw at you, and I’m probably exactly where you’ve told me to go a hundred times. Roasting in hell. I’m not saying I didn’t deserve the verbal fireballs when you threw them. I held you too tight.
My only excuse—well, I have two of them. First, your mother, my darling Mary Elizabeth, made me promise to take care of her little angel. (Almost blew that one, didn’t I?) I think she knew she wouldn’t be around to do the job. But don’t ever doubt she loved you. She just couldn’t fight her demons. And God help me, I couldn’t fight them for her even though I tried.
Second, you reminded me of your mother in so many ways. Your laugh. Your smile. Your zest for life and your artistic talent. Although you’re mentally much stronger than she ever was. I barely survived losing her. I didn’t think I’d survive losing you, too. But I almost did lose you. And it was my own stupid fault.
In protecting you from life’s lows, I also robbed you of life’s highs. I can’t help believing if I’d given you the wedding your mother would have wanted you to have complete with chauffeurs and horse-drawn carriages, then you wouldn’t have lost my first grandson. And you wouldn’t have hit rock bottom. That guilt ate away at me every blessed day. And I made things worse by getting rid of Stone.
I was wrong about him, Nadia. And you know how much it sticks in my craw to admit to being wrong. But I shouldn’t have tried to play God. He loved you and I had no right to take that from you. But I did. I shamelessly kicked the man when he was down and bleeding. Literally. When I look back on my life, that is not one of my finer moments and it is my biggest regret. In trying to make your life easier, I robbed you of the love of your life and denied you the chance to experience what I had with your mother. As much as losing her hurt me, I would do it all again to relive the days I had with her.
Sending you to Dallas where you’d run into Stone may have been too little too late. But I had to try. And I hate like hell that I won’t be around to see the outcome.
If nothing else, I hope this year on your own has shown you your inner strength. You always were a fighter. The only Kincaid who fought as hard and tough as me. That’s why seeing you so down after the accident gutted me. And, yes, I pushed you around and hit your hot buttons just to get a rise out of you. But it beat the hell out of watching you go through the motions without caring what happened. (Boy, did you make me pay for hitting your buttons.)
If this letter finds Stone by your side, then I wish the two of you years of happiness and joy, and I take credit for fixing my biggest mistake and getting you back together. If he’s not with you, then he’s not the man I thought he was and he’s not worthy of you. Screw him.
But you’re a stubborn cuss, just like your old man. If he’s not there and you want him, I’ll hand you one last weapon. You’re still married to him. The divorce paperwork was forged. I’ve left a letter with Richards saying so. Again, my intentions were good but maybe my methods weren’t the best. If either you or he had wanted to marry again, I’d have had a hell of a mess on my hands. But I figured since that kind of love only comes once in a lifetime, I was pretty safe.
Two pieces of advice to you, Nadia…First, remember if you don’t believe in yourself no one else will. I hope this year gave you that confidence. And second, live life to the fullest—the good and the bad—before you run out of time and all you have are regrets for what you didn’t do and things you didn’t say. Like I did.
I never told you I loved you. Now I’ll never get the chance except in cold, dry words typed on paper. Too little. Too late.