Illegitimate Tycoon by Janette Kenny Read Free Book Online Page A

eager to be alone with him.
                 “Would
you like to take in the sights before turning in?” he asked, stopping well
before the flood of lights spilling from the Palais du Cinéma.
                 She
looked at the active scene they’d soon walk into and shivered. “No. I’ve no
interest in becoming one of the hundreds in the nightclubs.”
                 He
released a sigh of relief. “What about the secluded beach? Just us walking,
like we used to do.”
                 Music
danced on the balmy night air, but he felt the shift in her mood from tense to
relieved.
                 “I’d
enjoy that, as long as it takes me away from the spotlight.”
                 He
couldn’t agree more, and was relieved she felt the same. There was a change in
Leila that he’d never seen before, and wasn’t quite sure how to deal with. But
part of her seemed closed off even to him. Distant. What had happened this past
year while they had been embroiled in their careers to put those shadows in her
vibrant eyes?
                 Rafael
certainly intended to find out once they were alone. He eased them past the
barriers that served to keep the onlookers out and took a trail that wound to a
secluded stretch of sand. It wasn’t wide and it wasn’t pretty, but it was
quiet.
                 “I
applaud you for avoiding the paparazzi and the guards,” she said, pausing to
slip off her heels before they started down the warm sandy coast.
                 “I
was lucky.” Just like he’d been all the times he’d sneaked into Wolfe Manor so
he could play with his half brothers and sister, defying his father’s edict.
                 He
shook off those old painful memories and held on to the good ones. He’d made a
solid connection with his siblings over the years, though he didn’t keep in
touch with all of them. But then his family had remained fractured, with each
of his half siblings emotionally or physically scarred by their father.
                 Rafael
had worried that he would not be able to love another person up until the day
he’d met Leila. Even during that first year of marriage he’d wondered if what
he felt was real. If he’d awaken to discover it had all been a dream.
                 He
glanced down at Leila now, whose features seemed suddenly lighter, freer. He
surrendered to his own smile, for there was something about defying the norm
that made his own adrenaline surge.
                 “Feeling
better?” he asked, twining his fingers with hers as they struck off down the
beach.
                 “Much.
The air is so refreshing.”
                 He
made a sound of agreement, though every breath he took drew her sweet scent
deeper into his soul. The tension of being the object of so much attention
began easing, yet he sensed Leila hadn’t let go of it yet.
                 “I’ve
missed this,” she said at last.
                 “The
beach?”
                 “The
peace and quiet with you.” The exact opposite of her lifestyle. Right now at
this moment their separate worlds were miles apart. But if they didn’t put a
stop to this madness they’d lived with for a year, their marriage would surely
suffer. Perhaps it already had.
                 “Why
push yourself so hard in your career now?”
                 “If
I don’t fight to stay on top of it I could end up on the fringe of this
business outside of a year.”
                 Rafael
suddenly felt tension seep into his bones. Surely this would happen anyway once
they started the family they’d agreed on? Or had that changed?
                 “It
sounds as if you intend to keep working.”
                 “I
do,” she said without hesitating. Was she serious?
                 He
wanted a wife and the family he’d