Page 17 of His Willing Wife

“You weren’t close to anyone in the system?”she asked.

“None. A lot of time, the kids were justtrying to survive. Some ran away, others hoped to get adopted. Itwasn’t always a good place to be. I don’t know ifit’s like that foreveryone, but it was for me. I learned to take care of myself, andthen when I got out, I had a plan.”

“You became a self-made billionaire.”

“I had an idea, and I ran with it. It hashelped me get where I amtoday. I take things that are falling apart, and I seem to be ableto fix them. Bring it back together. It’s what I do.” He stoppedand Tillie gave him the space so he could think clearly. “I don’tknow what it means to be a husband, or to be what you want, butwhat I’m offering you is the chance to try. That is all Iknow.”

“You want to be my husband?” Tillieasked.

“I am your husband, but I don’t want us tokeep going the way we are. When I come home, I want to be able totouch my wife. To not be afraid of hurting her.”

Tears filled her eyes, she couldn’t help it.Did he even realize how … emotional he sounded. How concerned andfull of love?

“I had no idea you were a virgin. If I’dknown, I’d have done things differently.”

“Stop,” Tillie said. “It doesn’tmatter.”

“I hurt you that night, and it was never my intention.”

“You didn’t know and I didn’t tell you. Itseemed kind of personal.”

He laughed. “And you didn’t think to tellyour husband?”

“You were a stranger, and do you think you would have believedme?” she asked.

He sat back just a little and then noddedhis head. “Touché.You’re right. There is a chance I wouldn’t have believedyou.”

Tillie smiled. “Is it me, or does it feellike we’re making progress?”

He laughed. “I don’t know, but I want totouch you, Tillie, and kiss you. I don’t want to hold back.”

She took a deep breath and slowly blew itout. “I … I don’t want you to cheat on me. I’d like to try and havea good marriage.” She was trying not to get overly excited. Shedidn’t know what had changed his mind, but she was willing to takewhatever he had to offer.

Tillie couldn’t help but think of hergrandparents. They fellin love at first sight. She didn’t think their relationship wasquite on the same scale, but at least they were talking to eachother civilly, so they had that.

“I won’t cheat. If you read the prenup,there’s a clause in itthat states in the event of infidelity, the company reverts back toyou, and I will help it to thrive, and you will never have to worryabout anything ever again.”

“What?” Tillie hadn’t read the prenuptialagreement. It had been another matter where her father was annoyedwith her, also the family lawyer.

Without his presence, she’d taken thepiece of paper and signed it. Probably one of the single mostidiotic things to do, as her father had stated Luca could have demanded everything andanything, but she had a little trust. A tiny amount, but it wasthere.

“You didn’t read it at all, did you?”

“No. I … I wanted to help the people whoworked for my father. They didn’t deserve to suffer because ofsomething we did.”

Luca tightened his grip around her hand. “Iwon’t cheat on you.”

And Tillie knew she was never going to cheaton him either.

She didn’t know what was going to change,but she couldn’t help feeling a little excited about the future.

Chapter Six

Coming home that night, Luca had nointention of trying to make his marriage work. All he’d beencurious about was the tension between father and daughter. Now ashe made his way up toward his bedroom, a sense of anticipationswept over him.

He hadn’t known enough about Tillie tounderstand what her dreams were. During the negotiations, beforeand during their engagement, he’d never asked Andrew about hisdaughter. Tillie hadn’t been a topic of conversation. Their weddingalso hadn’t been on theagenda.

Business had been the only goal, andcoming to a reasonable understanding to work together.Andrew had wanted the best forhis company, but it would seem he didn’t quite hold his daughter inthe same regard, which Luca didn’t like.

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