Page 629 of From Rakes to Riches

And Rake… He looked as intense and serious as she’d ever seen him—and something else.Tetchy.As if his nerves buzzed beneath his skin.

Nervous and bedraggled… Who was this Rake?

“I came in search of magic,” he said, low and earnest.

The breath froze in Gemma’s chest and refused to budge.

“I came in search ofyou.”

He reached out and took her cold hand in his. Warmth poured through her.Hiswarmth. And, oh, how she wanted to enter it fully with him. But…

She must say something that might destroy this moment.

Yet if there was to be a future—if there was to be magic…if there was to bethem—she must say it.

The only way out was through.

Horseracing had taught her that much.

“But I…” She drew in a bracing breath. “I betrayed you.”

“You did what you had to do for your family. For you and Liam. You did it for your loved one.”

“But I did it, Rake.” She needed to say something else. “And I would do it again.”

He needed to understand that about her.

The echo of a smile curved about his mouth. “That’s what I love about you.”

She blinked.

Love?

And it occurred to her that, yes,love.

Love was what they were speaking of.

“You love fiercely and protectively,” he said. “I can think of no honor that would make me prouder than to be the man you love.”

She swallowed and blinked away sudden tears, even as her heart threatened to burst.

This business of love certainly put a heart through its paces.

“Gemma, you can stop running now.”

“But I have,” she said. “Bolton no longer?—”

Rake gave his head a slow shake. “Not from Bolton.”

Her eyebrows crinkled together. “From who then?”

“From yourself.”

It was possible she would never draw breath again. Such was the way those two simple words struck her. Though gently spoken, they hit like a blunt instrument.

As her mind wanted to reject them, every cell in her body knew them to be true.

“You’ve only seen love destroy, Gemma.”

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