Those words hit her deep in her soul… Calleigh always thought her mother had died of a broken heart. She must’ve known that… The way her mother was behaving, her state of mind, her depression.
Reading her father’s letter showed everything in a new light, so different from the one she imprinted in her brain for all those years. Endless minutes, hours, days of planning a revenge against someone that had nothing to do with her family’s tragedy. She’d been so wrong…
‘You never named your source. Who was it, Gabriel?’
‘I can’t say. I gave my word I wouldn’t reveal that.’
Now Calleigh knew that the source was… Leona Medlock-Swanson, her own
Gabriel De León had heard a lot of lies in his life, particularly in relation to his beautiful, ruthless ex-mistress. But this one topped them all.“No, it can’t be true,” he said in shock, staring at the doctor. “She’s lying.”“I can assure you, it’s absolutely true,” Dr. Levi replied gravely. “She really has no memory. Not of you, not of me, not even of her accident yesterday. And yet there’s no physical injury.”“Well… That’s because she’s lying, doctor!”“She was wearing the seatbelt when her head hit the airbag,” Dr. Levi continued. “There was no concussion.” Gabriel stared at the doctor with a scowl. He had a reputation as a doctor of great skill and integrity. He was rich from a lifetime of serving wealthy, aristocratic pa
She searched his face, holding her breath. But no memories rushed through her, no recollections of the hard curve of his cheek or the slightly wicked twist to his sensual lips. No memories of a thousand little intimacies between lovers. Nothing! He helped her sit up. His hands lingered possessively on her back, causing a sudden heat across her body. A heat she couldn’t understand. Calleigh licked her lips nervously.“Um… You are… You must be… Gabriel De León?” she ventured, giving him a shy glimpse. After saying those words, Calleigh almost hoped he would deny it, and that her real boyfriend, a kind-faced man with gentle eyes, would walk through the door. The Spanish tycoon’s hands on her back paused and she felt ice going up and down her spine.“So&hellip
Beneath heavily lidded eyes, Gabriel watched Calleigh as he led her to the black limousine purring on the street in front of the hospital. She wasn’t faking her amnesia. In spite of his initial incredulity, he now had no doubt. She had no idea of who he was or what she’d done. And now she was pregnant with his child. This detail changed everything. He gently helped her to the car. She had no luggage. One of his men had taken her smashed Aston-Martin to the garage, while the other had gone to make quiet amends for the smashed postbox. Calleigh wore the black silk dress and carried the black clutch purse from her stepfather’s funeral yesterday. The black dress clung to her breasts and hips when she walked, the silk shimmering and sliding against her hips and breasts. 
Marry him? ‘Yes!’ Calleigh thought in a daze, looking up into his handsome face. Feeling his strong, rough hands against the softness of her skin, the warmth of his touch seared her, tracing down her neck to her breasts and lower still. How could any man be so masculine, so beautiful, so powerful all at once? So perfect? Gabriel was everything her tore, empty, frightened soul had desired. He would protect her. Love her. He would complete her life. ‘Yes, I will!’ But even as the words rose to her lips, something stopped her. Something she couldn’t understand made her pull her face away from his touch.“Marry you?” she whispered.&nbs
Sunlight reflected off the water as Calleigh and Gabriel took the motoscafo, a Venetian private water taxi, from the Marco Polo Airport. The September weather was bright and warm as they crossed the lagoon, passing by the Piazza San Marco and the Rialto Bridge on the way to their hotel. Italy… Venice… Memories started to pierce his heart. Gabriel had never expected to return here again. But he said to himself that sometimes a man had to change the cards in the middle of the game. He swore to himself that he would do whatever it took, be as romantic a fool as any man could be, in order to lure Calleigh into marriage before her memory returned. It was the only way to make her pay for the wrong she had done to him. Gabriel loo
They stood on the dock as his bodyguard-assistant, Miguel, paid the young Italian taxi driver and organized the luggage. But all Calleigh could see was Gabriel. He was so breathtakingly handsome, tall, and strong... He seemed a demigod… like he left Heaven and came to Earth only for her… At this thought, she smiled slightly, almost imperceptibly. He really was there for her, to help her remember their wonderful love story, to recall how it has been between them before she lost her memory. Seeing her wardrobe in her stepfather’s house, Calleigh knew, without the shadow of a doubt, that she had been extremely hard to handle before the accident. The way she dressed, all the useless parties, her continuous running around from one city to another… It was time to put that aside and embrace this strange, ne
The sun was starting to set, giving the twilight a pink-and-orange glow with a rapidly chilling autumn bite in the air. As a light fog blew in from the lagoon, Gabriel reached for Calleigh’s hand. His hand wrapped around her smaller one, their naked palms pressing together, and she gave an involuntary shiver that had nothing to do with the cooling night. He paused on the walkway between the piazzetta and the canal.“Cold?” She nodded, because… how could she tell him the truth? How could she tell him that his every touch exhilarated and frightened her in equal measure?“Then we should do something about it.” Behind his head, Calleigh could see the Byzantine white domes, arches, and sharp
She swallowed, staring at his profile, very aware of what he just said and the bed behind her.“Well, um… Not anymore…” Calleigh whispered.“You won’t be hearing me complaining…” Gabriel said and a little mischievous smile appeared on his lips.“Nope… Thank you very much. New me… new habits.” Anxious, she looked at the bed and the couch.“You take the bed,” he said and the smile was now long gone. Standing up, he closed his laptop. His dark gaze, which had been so hot when he’d nearly kissed her near St. Marco’s Piazza, had suddenly cooled.“I’ll work in the office so I don’t disturb you. I’ll sleep on the couch when I’m tired.”&n