asked Darius helplessly in the backseat of the car a few minutes later as it pulled away from the airport.
“You’ll see.”
“You’re really vexing.”
His dark eyebrows lifted. “Vexing?” he teased, then moved closer as he whispered, “Is that what I am?”
Then he kissed her senseless in the backseat, until she was forced to agree rather unsteadily that he did have one or two good qualities, as well.
But she tensed when the limo turned onto the coastal road that she’d once known very, very well. Her suspicions were confirmed as they drove down the same country lane that she knew led to the massive 1920s beachfront estate that had once been her home. She turned on Darius angrily.
“Why would you bring us here?” she choked out. “Just to torture me? You can’t see the house from the road.” She felt a sudden ache in her throat as she looked out toward the gray-blue bay that led to the Atlantic. “The gate is guarded. That tech billionaire is serious about privacy. So if you’re hoping to get a peek of the house, it won’t happen.”
“You tried?”
“A month after it was sold at auction. As I told you, I just wanted a picture of my great-grandmother’s fresco. His guard did everything but set the dogs on me.”
“That won’t be a problem today.”
Letty pointed at the road ahead. “See? I told you—”
Then her eyes went wide.
The gate was wide open. Their limo drove right past the empty guardhouse, up the wide driveway to the glorious windswept oceanfront manor that had been built by Letty’s great-great-grandfather, a steel baron named Edwin Langford.
Fairholme.
Letty’s breath caught in her throat as she leaned out the car window, and her eyes were dazzled as she saw, for the first time in ten years, her beloved home.
Tears swelled in her eyes as she looked up at the gray stone mansion with its turrets and leaded glass windows soaring against the sky. Looking back at her husband, she breathed, “What have you done?”
He was smiling. “I’ve given you what you want most.”
The limo had barely stopped before she flung open her car door and raced eagerly into the house. Pushing aside the stately front door—unlocked!—she hurled herself into the foyer where she’d played as a child.
“Dad?” she cried out. “Dad, where are you?”
Letty ran from room to room, calling his name, overwhelmed with happiness that somehow, while pretending he was never going to forgive her father, Darius had seen the desperate desire of her heart.
I’ve given you what you want most.
“Dad!” she cried, moving from one elegant, empty room to the next. Memories followed her with every step.
There she had played pirates with her father.
There she had slipped down the marble floor in socks as the two of them competed to see who could slide farthest and make her mother laugh loudest.
There she’d played with the gardener’s kittens.
There she’d played hide-and-seek with Darius when they were kids...
There—every Saturday in summer—she’d tucked roses into the priceless Ming dynasty vase to make her mother smile.
But where was her dad? Where?
As Letty finished going through the main entrance rooms, she ran up the sweeping staircase toward the second floor. She stopped halfway up the stairs, realizing she was hearing only the echo of her own voice.
Her dad wasn’t there.
Letty’s shoulders sagged with savage disappointment. Turning back down the stairs, she saw Darius standing in the front doorway, watching her. The happy, smug expression had disappeared from his handsome face.
He said tightly, “Why do you think I would invite your father here?”
“You said—you said,” she faltered, biting her lip, “you were giving me what I wanted most.”
“This house.” His expression now could only be described as grimly outraged. “Your childhood home. I arranged to buy it for you. It wasn’t easy. I had to pay the man a fortune to leave before we arrived. But I wanted you to have all your dreams. Everything you’d lost.”
Everything she’d lost...
Gripping the banister for support, Letty sagged to sit on a stair. Heartbreaking grief was thundering through her, worse than if she’d never gotten her hopes up at all.
She struggled to hide it. She knew she was being churlish. Her mother would be ashamed of her. Here Darius had given her the stars and she was crying for the sun.
She should be overjoyed.
Fairholme.
Letty took a deep breath, looking up at the high painted ceilings, at the oak-paneled walls. Home. She was really here. Darius had given her back the home that had raised generations of Langfords, her mother’s family.
What an amazing gift.
Wiping her eyes, Letty looked at Darius and tried to smile.
His handsome face was mutinous.
She couldn’t blame him. He’d gone to a lot of trouble and expense to give her this incredible surprise, and she’d been completely ungrateful.
Rising unsteadily to her feet, she walked down the stairs to the foyer where he stood with a scowl, his arms folded.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “I love your wonderful gift.”
He looked distinctly grumpy. “It didn’t look like it.”
Feeling ashamed at her bad manners, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
“I love it,” she said softly. “It’s a miracle to be here.”
Looking mollified, he accepted her embrace. “I’ve also hired Mrs. Pollifax to come back as our housekeeper.”
“You have!”
He smiled, clearly pleased by her reaction. “Along with as many of the original staff who were available. Giving them a big raise, naturally. I’ve also established a bank account in your name.”
“Whatever for?”
Darius gave her a sudden grin. “You obviously haven’t seen the stripper pole the last owner put up in the library. I knew you’d want to oversee the remodeling personally. Perhaps the fresco can be repaired? I’ve instructed the bank to give you unlimited funds. Use the money however you please.”
“For the house?”
“Yes.”
“The baby?”
“Of course. And you, Letty. Anything you want, jewelry, cars, furniture. You don’t have to ask me. Buy anything you desire.”
Biting her lip, she blurted out, “Could I send some money to my father?”
She knew immediately it was a mistake.
His expression turned icy. “I weary of your constantly bringing up this topic. We have an agreement.”
“I know, but—”
“Your father already has far more than he deserves.”
“If I could only just see him, so I could know he’s all right...”
“He’s fine.”
Letty searched his gaze, hoping for reassurance. “He’s fine? You know for sure?”
He paused. Then