The Tycoon's Forced Bride

“No.” She gritted. “You’re right. I wanted more than that. I wanted love. I wanted you. I wanted forever.”

“And now you have it.” And his head came down, his mouth taking hers in a hard, punishing kiss.

He kissed her until she clung to him, unable to stand without his support. He kissed her until she was dazed and breathless and unable to argue.

“You have it,” he repeated. “My wife.”

Chapter Eleven

‡

Wife?

She blinked at him, still dazed, and very confused. “What did you say?”

“Wife.” The corner of his mouth lifted. “You’re my wife, Ava. We’re already married. We’ve been married since last Thanksgiving.”

“That’s not true.”

He pulled Ava from the breezy deck, through doors, into a pretty sitting room. “It most certainly is. For richer or poorer, in sickness and in health,” he said.

She sank into the nearest chair, her legs no longer able to support her. “I don’t believe you.”

Colm drew a slim leather wallet from his pocket and opened it to show her a photo he kept next to his driver’s license.

It was a picture of a bride and groom and the groom was holding a toddler in a black suit. “This is us fourteen months ago. This is our family. You, me, and Jack, on the day of our wedding.”

Ava studied the photo intently. Handsome Colm in a tuxedo. Baby Jack in an almost identical suit. And her in a white, formfitting gown. She was holding flowers. She was smiling. They were all smiling.

She looked up at Colm. “I see the picture but I don’t remember.”

“The point is, we are married already. We are a family. Jack has a family. It’s time we moved forward, not back.”

She couldn’t tear her gaze from the photo. “Why don’t I remember?”

“You took Jack out in his stroller four days after the ceremony. You left him there and walked away. By the time the police found you, you didn’t remember any of it. The doctors thought you might regain some of your memories if given time, and I think you did regain many memories, but you never regained all.”

“And you’ve been waiting all these months for me to remember?”

“You’re my wife, Ava. I will wait the rest of my life for you. But what about Jack? Is it right, or fair, to make him wait?”

Her heart thumped. She felt wild on the inside but she couldn’t lose it. She had to stay calm, because Colm was right. Jack deserved more. Jack deserved better. “So how do we do this? What happens now?”

“We get our son and we bring him home.”

*

They reached Lorient Bay just before noon and as the crew dropped anchor, a motorboat sped from the beach to come pick Colm and Ava up.

Ava’s heart pounded as she watched the motorboat race towards them. She was nervous, and afraid. She turned to look at Colm, who was standing next to her. “How will this work?” she asked softly. “I don’t even know where you and Jack live. Are you still in Palm Beach?”

“I sold that house. Was kind of short on good memories there, seemed better to just get rid of it.” Colm’s gaze met hers. “Jack and I live in Manhattan.”

Her eyes widened. “I had no idea. Where in Manhattan?”

“Carnegie Hill.”

“That’s a very nice neighborhood.”

“It’s a very nice house, too. You’ll like it.”

He was so sure of himself. She envied his confidence. She wasn’t sure of anything anymore. “And Jack? When will I see him?”

“Soon.” He smiled at her. “Don’t be nervous. There’s no reason to be nervous. Everything is going to be fine.”

“Even though I don’t feel like your wife?” She countered with an unsteady smile.

He gave her a thoughtful look. “I guess that would be a problem. What we need is a wedding. It shouldn’t be a problem. We can put that together in a just a few days.”

“Colm.”

“Don’t worry about a thing. Just leave all the arrangements to me.”

The speed boat slowed, and deckhands went into action, lowering a ladder and tying the small speedboat to the side of the yacht so Colm and Ava could disembark.

The boat swayed as Ava stepped down and she nearly fell. Colm caught her elbow, steadying her.

She thanked him and sat down. Colm took a seat across from her.

Her head was spinning. She was struggling to process the past twenty-four hours. It wasn’t easy to make sense of everything they’d done, and everything he’d told her.

“We really are married,” she said.

He nodded.

“Was it a big wedding?”

“No.”

“It was a very small wedding. A civil ceremony at the Palm Beach courthouse.”

“Why did we marry that way?”

“You didn’t want fuss.”

“Maybe that’s why I don’t remember it. There wasn’t enough fuss.” She met his gaze, grimaced. “Sorry. That was supposed to be a joke.”

“It was funny.”

She made a soft, rough sound. “I don’t think there is any point in marrying again. If we are married, and if we never divorced, why go through all those hoops?”

“Maybe this time you’ll remember.”

“But knowing my track record, probably not.”

“I guess we’re going to be having a lot of weddings then.” He laughed at her stricken expression. “It’s okay. We don’t have to tell anyone. It’ll be our own private thing.”

She laughed, because it was that or cry.

*

The speed boat slowed close to shore, and the driver pulled the motor up and then got them a little bit closer, making it easy for Colm to step out without getting too wet and carry Ava onto dry sand.

They walked along the beach, towards the gondola platform, and in the distance Ava spotted a woman seated on a towel with a small child building a sand castle.

Jack could be that age, she thought, watching the little boy dig with his shovel, his shoulders small but sturdy, his head bent in concentration.