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      ‘And?’

      ‘And then I realised that was wrong thinking. I’d welcome Fran back into Ella and Holly’s lives.’ He stopped pacing. He stopped right in front of her. ‘But I wouldn’t welcome her back into my life. You were right, Nicola, when you said you deserved better than what I’d offered, that you deserved love and friendship. It hit me then that I deserved those things too. And they’re not something I can ever find with Fran.’

      Her jaw dropped. Her heart thumped. He looked as if...as if... ‘I didn’t think you believed in love any more—a fairy tale, isn’t that what you called it?’

      ‘It’s what I wanted to believe—to protect myself from being hurt again.’ He drew her to her feet. ‘But then a no-nonsense nanny with killer curves and a smile that practically knocked me off my feet swept into my life and made me feel alive again...made me feel things I never had before and I...’

      A smile started up in the depths of her. ‘Panicked?’ she offered.

      He cupped her face. ‘Nicola, I have absolutely no right to expect you to believe me, but I love you.’

      She wanted to believe him—so much it hurt. The light in his eyes as they rested on her lips left her in no doubt whatsoever that he desired her.

      ‘When Fran left, my life went into a tailspin of shock, panic and pain at the trauma the girls suffered. When you left, it felt as if I’d lost a limb, as if nothing in me worked properly any more.’

      Her heart lurched and then thumped hard and fast. What he’d described fitted her own state during these last few months so perfectly that suddenly she knew he spoke the truth. He wasn’t after a mother for his children, but a wife to share his life.

      He loved her!

      He went down on one knee. ‘Nicola, I can offer you a family who will adore you, friendship, a horse, life on an Outback station—and if any of those things will sway you I’ll use them shamelessly—but mostly I can offer you a heart filled with love for you. I love you, my beautiful girl. I will love you till the day I die. Please say that you’ll marry me and let me spend the rest of my life proving to you just how much I do love you.’

      Her heart had grown so big she thought she might explode. She knelt down on the ground in front of him and took his face in her hands. She smiled at him with her whole heart. He blinked...and she watched as hope stretched across his face. ‘Can we get rid of that awful home gym?’

      ‘Consider it gone.’ He grinned that lazy, tempting grin that never failed to bump up her heart rate. ‘And I promise to always keep the cupboards stocked with chocolate sultanas.’

      Her heart pounded. She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. For a moment he seemed too stunned to respond but, just as she was about to draw back, his arms flashed around her and he held her so tightly she could barely breathe. He kissed her so thoroughly her head swam and she had to cling to him for support.

      He lifted his head. ‘I love you, Nicola. I can’t even begin to describe how much.’

      Her breath hitched. ‘I don’t know. I think you did a pretty good job.’ She reached out to touch his face. ‘My days have all been grey these last four months. I missed you so much. I didn’t want to believe I’d fallen in love with you—I thought it would prove that I was needy and weak.’

      He frowned. ‘Do you still believe that?’

      She shook her head. ‘I know that if you ever walked away from me that I’d survive, but...oh, how much better my life is with you in it!’

      Determination blazed in his eyes. ‘Are you going to marry me?’

      She smiled. She grinned. She threw her head back and laughed. ‘Yes!’

      He stared at her as if she was the most magnificent thing he had ever seen. ‘When can I take you home to Waminda?’

      Home. The word stretched through her, full of promise. Wherever this man was, that would be her home. And she would be his.

      ‘Just as soon as we give my mother the wedding she’s always dreamed of,’ she breathed.

      ‘Whatever will make you happy,’ he swore.

      And she knew he meant it.

      * * * * *

       Behind the Castello Doors

      Chantelle Shaw

      CHANTELLE SHAW lives on the Kent coast and thinks up her stories while walking on the beach. She has been married for over thirty years and has six children. Her love affair with reading and writing Mills & Boon stories began as a teenager, and her first book was published in 2006. She likes strongwilled, slightly unusual characters. Chantelle also loves gardening, walking and wine!

CHAPTER ONE

      THE road twisted up the mountainside like a sinuous black snake, its wet surface gleaming in the glow from the car headlamps. The rain seemed to fall harder the higher they climbed. They had left Oliena some fifteen minutes ago, and as the car rounded another bend Beth watched the lights from the town disappear from view.

      She leaned forward in her seat to speak to the taxi driver. ‘How much farther?’

      She had already discovered that he spoke little English and sighed when he shrugged. But perhaps he had understood her, because a few moments later he glanced over his shoulder.

      ‘Soon you see Castello del Falco…er…Castle of the Falcon, I think is how you say,’ he explained in a heavy accent.

      Beth frowned. ‘You mean Mr Piras actually lives in a real castle?’ She had assumed that the owner of the Piras-Cossu Bank’s private residence in Sardinia would be a luxurious villa, and that ‘castle’ was simply an extravagant title he had given to his home.

      The taxi driver did not reply, but as the car crested another ridge of the Gennargentu Mountains, Beth caught her breath at the sight of a great grey fortress looming out of the darkness. Peering through the rain, she saw that the road stretched ahead until it disappeared through a cavernous black gateway. The outer walls of the castle were illuminated by lamps which revealed the sheer vastness of the structure, and grotesque gargoyles leered out of the shadows like portents of doom.

      For heaven’s sake! She gave herself a mental shake, angry that she had allowed her imagination to run away with her. But as the taxi drew nearer to the castle entrance she could not dismiss an inexplicable feeling of apprehension, and she was tempted to ask the driver to turn around and take her back to the town. Maybe she was being over-imaginative, but she sensed that her life would change for ever if she crossed the threshold of the Castello del Falco.

      She had come to Sardinia for Sophie’s sake, she reminded herself, glancing at the baby-carrier affixed to the seat beside her. She could not turn back now. Nevertheless, her heart lurched as the car sped between the black gates, and she cast a last look behind her, feeling as though she had passed from a safe and familiar world into the unknown.

      * * *

      The party was in full swing. From his vantage point on the balcony overlooking the ballroom Cesario Piras watched the guests dancing and drinking champagne, and through a doorway leading to the banqueting hall he could see more people crowded around tables laden with food.

      He was glad they were enjoying themselves. His staff worked hard, and deserved his thanks with this lavish reception in recognition of their services to the Piras-Cossu Bank. The guests were not to know that their host was counting the hours until he could be alone again. He regretted now that he had not instructed his PA to rearrange the date she had picked for the party. Donata had only worked for him for a few

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