CHAPTER TWELVE

ONTHERIDE home from La Gaude, Dominic made a few important phone calls and constructed a list of all the other things he had to do before Sunday. Near midnight, he let himself in the apartment so euphoric over the miraculous outcome at the Guinguet, it took him time to realize Raoul wasn't there.

Eager to share the news of his impending marriage with his cousin, he texted him. Within a minute his phone rang. He clicked on. "Raoul? I just got home. Where are you?"

"I've been in Nice, but I'm back on the estate. See you shortly." He clicked off fast.

His cousin didn't sound at all like himself. Raoul's jubilance of earlier had vanished. Worried about the change in him, Dominic went to the kitchen to make them coffee. They had a lot to talk about.

"Dom?"

"In the kitchen."

His cousin walked in. "I can't tell you how happy I am for you, Dom. I knew Nathalie would come around."

"You had a lot more faith in her than I did." He put their coffee on the table, but when he glanced at Raoul, he saw a man in pain. "Sit down and tell me what's wrong."

"Horace contacted me after I left the bistro and told me I'd better come to his office in Nice because there was a problem."

"Has Sabine demanded more money?"

"She's demanding that the two of us go to counseling to try to save our marriage, claiming she still loves me. Her reason is that with professional help we could start over again."

Dominic sat back in the chair. "Counseling? That doesn't sound like Sabine."

"No. It sounds like both sets of parents have gotten together to try to stop the divorce. Hell, Dom!" He shot to his feet, raking a hand through his hair. "No amount of counseling can make me love Sabine. That's what I told Horace."

"Does he know about Alain?"

"Not yet."

"What's he going to do?"

"Respond with my answer to the judge. But Horace imagines she'll come back with possibly a hundred million dollars in damages since our family has billions. Horace said he'll hammer out the best settlement he can."

"Whatever the judge decrees, you know I'll help."

"You're the best, Dom, but it's my problem and I'll have to solve it. One good thing did come out of tonight's meeting. He's still asking for the same court date that was set."

"Good. For Alain's sake you need to be divorced ASAP."

A glimmer of a smile broke out on his face. "So when are you two getting married?"

"This Sunday."

He shook his head. "When you make up your mind about something, there's no stopping you. How can I help?"

"You already have. Nathalie told me your talk with her reached her heart. None of this would be happening without you. We're going to have a ceremony at her house with her mom and Minerve. That's it. Andre Godin will officiate. And within less than two weeks your divorce will be final."

"God willing, Dom."

"Nathalie Durand Fournier, do you take Dominic Laurent Fontesquieu to be your husband in sickness and in health? Do you vow to love and cherish him for all the days of your life?"

She couldn't believe this moment had come. Her heart was so full of love for Dominic she really did have trouble breathing. With those dark eyes and hair, and wearing an elegant dove-gray suit, he was so gorgeous it didn't seem possible she'd won the love of this man.

"I do," she cried softly.

With a smile, the judge turned to Dominic. "Dominic Laurent Fontesquieu, do you take Nathalie Durand Fournier to be your wife, in sickness and in health, always watching over her, loving her and protecting her for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," he answered in a thick voice.

"Then by the power invested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife. What God has brought together, let no man put asunder. You may now kiss your bride, Dominic."

Her new husband pulled her into his arms and kissed her with such hunger her legs started to tremble.

When he finally let her go, the judge said, "You may now present each other with rings."

Dominic drew a diamond ring out of his jacket pocket and slid it home on her ring finger. It had a dazzling sparkle as she took the gold band from her little finger and put it on his ring finger. The engraving said Mon Bien Amie.

He kissed her deeply again before relinquishing her once more.

The judge beamed at them. "It has been my pleasure to marry a man I've highly esteemed for years." He gazed at Nathalie. "How I envy him."

She felt the heat rise into her face. "Thank you, Your Honor."

He shook Dominic's hand, then said a few words to her mother before leaving the house.

"Oh, darling." Her mother ran to her and they hugged. "It was a beautiful ceremony and you look so lovely."

"So do you, Arlette," Dominic murmured. "Now I know where Nathalie gets her fabulous looks." He gave her a hug.

Alain made some noises that caused them to turn around. He was getting restless. Minerve had been holding him during the short ceremony. Nathalie's mother reached for him so Nathalie could hug Minerve. She'd been a part of their family for a long time.

"I'm so happy for you, Nathalie." On a whisper, she said, "If he were my husband, I don't think I'd ever be able to let him out of my sight."

"I won't if I can help it."

Dominic hugged Minerve. "Thank you for supporting us and for being so good to Raoul. You've made all the difference while he's been bonding with Alain."

The older woman's eyes filled. "This has been a happy time for all of us. I hope his divorce is final soon. I know he wants to show off his son to everyone."

"It'll happen before long," Nathalie chimed in. She looked at her mother. "Now we're going to leave, but I'll be at the pharmacy in the morning as planned."

"It doesn't seem right that you can't go off on a honeymoon, but I understand what's at risk here."

After knowing how difficult Raoul's life had been when he'd met Antoinette, her mother knew it was vital everything stay secret for a while longer. None of them wanted anything to go wrong at this point.

Nathalie gave Alain a kiss and hug, then hurried out the door with Dominic carrying an overnight bag.

The Soleil Hotel was only two minutes away from Nathalie's house. That was good because Dominic couldn't last any longer before he got his bride all to himself. She looked a vision in a white silk and lace wedding dress that came to the knees of her shapely legs.

He parked the car and walked her inside to their room down the left hall. Each room had a balcony that overlooked La Gaude. Earlier that morning he'd procured the card key and had arranged for flowers to be put on the dresser and table.

Once inside their room, he lowered their overnight bags to the floor and caught her around the waist from behind. "You're trapped now, ma belle. There's no escape."

She whirled around, her green eyes burning with love for him. "I have news for you, mon amour. I told Minerve I'd never let you out of my sight and I meant it."

Slowly he unpinned the gardenia corsage he'd given her. After he'd unfastened the buttons of her wedding dress, she slipped out of it while he removed his suit jacket and tie.

"I love you, Dominic. You'll never know how much."

He studied her exquisite features, taking his time. "We have all day and night to show each other. I can't wait any longer."

"I don't want to wait," she cried.

He picked her up in his arms and carried her through the sitting room to the bedroom. Once he'd followed her down on the bed, he lifted a lock of hair to his lips. "Do you know you have strands of gold and silver? You're like a princess come to life with your hair splayed around you. And you have a perfect mouth. When we met in the tent, I couldn't take my eyes off you. You beguiled me."

"You enchanted me." She kissed his jaw. "When I left the tent, I wasn't the same woman who'd gone in. I didn't know a man like you existed."

"By some miracle we've found each other. I swear I'll love you forever, mon coeur." Burning with desire for her, he lowered his head to kiss her seductive mouth. At the first touch he was gone. Her response enraptured him, sending him to a different world where all that mattered was to love and be loved.

The sun was going down by the time Nathalie became aware she was lying against her husband's rock-hard body. Dominic's legs had trapped hers and his arm lay across her hip possessively. No woman on earth would ever know this kind of joy because there was only one Dominic. Being loved by him made her feel immortal.

Nathalie wanted to know his possession again and started kissing him. They'd married a lot sooner than many couples, but that was part of the fascination of loving him and learning new things about him.

"Nathalie," he murmured. Suddenly he'd come awake and pulled her on top of him. "No man ever had a lover like you. To think you're my wife!" He started to kiss her again, filling her with rapture.

The room had grown dark by the time they came awake again. She eased reluctantly out of his arms. "It's almost ten o'clock, Dominic. We haven't eaten all day. You must be starving. I'll call for room service."

While she reached for the house phone and put in an order for meat crêpes, crème br?lée and coffee, he'd gone in the other room for their bags. When he returned, he was wearing a striped robe, and he answered the door to bring in their food.

They ate in bed. She faced him. "I've never been this happy in my life. If my stepsister hadn't loved Raoul the way she did, we would never have met. The thought of that..." She couldn't finish.

"I don't like to think about it either, so we won't." He moved the tray to the floor, then pulled her into him. "I've been so impatient to make you my wife we haven't talked about the practicalities of being married."

She raised up on her elbow. "You sound worried."

"In a way I am. Your mother lost your stepdaughter, then your stepsister. Soon Alain will be living with his father. Today I took you away from her. I want both of you to be happy."

Tears stung her eyes. She was married to the most remarkable man in the world. Nathalie flung her arms around him. "I love you for thinking of her and caring about her. There's no one like you, but La Gaude isn't that far away from Vence. We'll work things out."

"What if she moved to Vence? I'd help her get into a house near our villa. She wouldn't have to work anymore and could have time for friends as well as being a grandmother. Raoul's house is only two streets away from us. I'd like to be there for her and offer support if the idea appealed to her."

She shook her head in disbelief. "You're so generous and amazing. What did I ever do to deserve you?"

"I keep asking that question about you. The women who've been in my life have been so different from you. There's nothing shallow about you. You're an exceptional woman in every way, Nathalie. It means you've had exceptional parents. I see the way you are with Alain. The love you've shown him is a revelation."

"He's easy to love," she said in a broken voice.

"The day I saw you get him out of your car, he reached for your hand. I thought he was your son. There was a tenderness in the way you treated him. It was a defining moment for me where you're concerned and brought tears to my heart. I knew at that moment I loved you desperately."

"Oh, Dominic." She half sobbed and clung to him. "Do you know when I knew I loved you forever? I was telling you about the man I was trying to find. And even after you thought I loved him, you offered to help look for him because that's the kind of unselfish person you are. You even said you'd talk to your vintner friends. You don't know what that did to me. That day, like all the others with you, will live in my memory."

"Nathalie—"

He caught her to him and started making love to her again. Far into the night he swept her away. She couldn't believe it when morning came. He was already awake, kissing her so she'd wake up.

"It couldn't be time to go to work!"

"I'm afraid it is."

"I can't leave you."

"You think I want to let you go? But we'll have tonight. I'll pick you up at five."

"I can't bear to leave you, but I have to. I'd better hurry and shower."

"Go right ahead. Of course, I'd be happy to help you." His grin turned her heart over. "But it might make you late for work by six or seven hours."

Blushing from head to toe, she grabbed the robe he'd taken off and ran to the bathroom to get ready. Within ten minutes they were both dressed and walking out to his car.

En route to the pharmacy, she clung to his hand. "If this is the way it's going to be from now on, I can't do it. Leaving your arms this morning has been agony."

"How do you think I feel? I'll be in my office all day watching the clock until it's time to come and get you. My assistant, Theo, will tell me to go home because I'm worthless. This is why we're going to need a honeymoon soon."

"Where will we go? I don't know if I want it to be far away. Traveling to get someplace will take time away from lying in your arms."

"Then we won't go anywhere. We'll just stay home and go out on the cruiser for weeks on end. We'll explore the other sites of Les Calanques to our hearts' content." He'd pulled up in front of the pharmacy.

"Do you promise?"

He caught her to him and kissed her long and sensuously. "Anything you want."

She kissed his jaw before getting out of the car. "There's nothing else in life I want but you."

"In that case, be ready to leave Vence right after work. I'll pack for you."

Her eyes lit up. "What have you got planned?"

"You'll find out."

"Dominic—"

"I've cleared it with your mother."

He drove off, taking her heart with him.

When Dominic drove up to the pharmacy at five, his brand-new wife came running out. His heart leaped at the sight of her. Once in the car, he reached for her and kissed her with abandon. But too many onlookers caused him to relinquish her mouth.

"Let's get out of here." He started the car and merged with the traffic. "Where are you taking me?"

"To the airport. We're flying to Paris on my private jet."

Paris?

"For how long?"

"Two days. We'll eat dinner en route. I own an apartment there where we can be private and make plans for our future."

She let out a squeal of joy. "I feel like I'm in a dream."

"Before I met you, I didn't believe in dreams and planned to go back to Paris."

Nathalie gazed at him in alarm. "When?"

"Once the harvest was over. My father has recovered and I had no desire to remain on the estate any longer. In fact, the morning I had to help do Etienne's job at the tent, I was already making plans to leave for good. And then you sat down in front of me, and every coherent thought left my mind but one. Who was this gorgeous creature who'd come out of nowhere? Suddenly the idea of leaving Vence held no appeal. That was longest weekend of my life waiting for Monday to roll around so I could talk to you. Until I saw you, I'd been holding my breath for fear you'd changed your mind and wouldn't come."

She leaned closer and put her hand on the back of his neck. "There was no chance of that, mon amour,not after meeting the most exciting man to ever come into my life. Whether you were Antoinette's lover or not, I knew I had to see you again and get to know you no matter how brazen I was. I had no willpower where you were concerned."

He reached for her hand and kissed the palm. "We were meant to be, Nathalie. Whatever life has in store for us, we'll face it together." They'd reached the Nice airport and he drove to the private jet section where his jet stood on the tarmac.

Dominic looked into her eyes. "Are you ready?"

"I was ready the moment our gazes collided beneath the tent," her voice trembled. "It was like falling into space, and you were there to catch me. Don't ever let me go."

"As if I could. You're my heart."

"And you are mine.Forever."