“Us,” Henri said with a grimace.
“Exactly. I would call him ruthless, butrecklessis the better word. This favor isn’t without risk for you. Say the word and I’ll look at other options.”
“The day he comes for my family is the dayIcripple him,” Henri said. “Does she need extra security?”
“I’m arranging that.”
Henri nodded thoughtfully. “Have you discussed this with her?”
“Not yet.” Joaquin grimaced again. “She would be devastated if she thought she was the reason my father came after any of you. I don’t even want to put the potential of it into her head.”
“Don’t. She puts too much pressure on herself for our safety. That’s my job, not hers. And she can’t hide her connection to us forever. It sounds as though your father will become a problem to me eventually. I’m making the decision to deal with it now, while it’s easily contained. Do you have a list of targets and timelines?”
“I do.”
Christmas Day was utter perfection, filled with food and torn paper and nonstop laughter—especially when Malik discovered that all the gifts Joaquin had wrapped were missing name tags.
She and Joaquin looked at each other, perplexed.
“You said you’d do it,” he reminded her.
“I did!” She burst out laughing.
Everyone groaned, but she recovered by having each child find a gift that was missing a tag. It turned into a game to open it and give it to whoever was the intended recipient. The children loved it.
Her gift for Joaquinwaslabeled. He looked uncomfortable accepting it, saying, “You didn’t have to get me anything.”
“I wanted to,” she insisted and had to wonder whether he was given gifts very often. By his reaction, she suspected not.
He frowned with curiosity as he unwrapped the framed photo. He read the accompanying certificate. “You bought me a race car?”
“A share in the team Ramon is buying. You seemed interested when I mentioned it last week.”
“I can honestly say this is something I didn’t know I wanted, but I’m delighted to have. Thank you.” He kissed her thendropped a gift in her lap that contained a pair of earrings he “thought would suit her.”
The large, pear-shaped aquamarines were suspended from a shimmering row of brilliant-cut diamonds. When she joined him in bed that evening, she wore only them and thanked him by kissing her way down his torso, eventually making her way back to his lips.
“Not just for the jewelry,” she whispered when his heart was still pounding and all the tension had left his body. “Thank you for being here with me. You helped me remember why I love this time of year.”
She was in love with him, she realized in a rush of clarity. It was a wide, glorious light inside her, one that felt so distinctlyrightshe didn’t know why she’d fought it. Joaquin might still be reticent at times, but he was a fiercely protective, caring, indulgent man.
Her love was so fresh and new and perfect, she almost said it aloud.
But he was twisting to roll her beneath him, kissing her with ravenous passion.
“My turn to have a peek under the tree. I think there’s one more gift for me.” He parted her legs and slid down.
Chapter Sixteen
They left thenext day, amid pleas to stay longer. Ramon and Izzy were staying through the end of the year, but both royal families were needed at home.
“Joaquin has work and we’re attending a New Year’s Eve gala. But I’m not so far away anymore,” Siobhan reminded Cinnia. “Come see us anytime.”
They hugged it out and Siobhan was still floating in warm, happy vibes when they arrived back in Barcelona.
Shelovedhis home here. It was two stories in an older building and managed to be both spacious and cozy at the same time. There was a comfortable breakfast nook in a sunny corner of the kitchen and a wraparound terrace that looked onto the sea. A Jacuzzi tub stood on the balcony off the primary suite surrounded by wintering shrubs strung with fairy lights. Empty flowerboxes promised a riot of color in the spring.
After all the drama at LVG and the shock of her pregnancy and the busy-ness that had led up to Christmas, she needed the pleasant bubble of contentment that encased them between Christmas and New Year’s. Joaquin mostly worked from home while she read a book on pregnancy and combed through a contract for him, making notes that had him saying, “Good catch.” They cuddled in the evening while watching movies, slept late and made love midday becausewhy not?
