Secret Love - Brenda Jackson [58]
“You did what!”
“Over a year and a half ago?”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Who did you marry?”
“Why did you keep something like that a secret?”
Jake raised his hand to stop the outburst of questions that started coming at him from every direction. Everyone was talking at once.
“You got married and didn’t let your family know!” his oldest brother Milton roared accusingly. His voice thundered loudly above all the others.
Jake rolled his eyes and shook his head. He wasn’t surprised that the main person who took offense to not knowing about his marriage was his oldest brother, Milton. There was an eighteen-year difference in their ages, and being the oldest of the brothers, Milton felt it was his God-given right to know everything that went on within the family. And usually he did.
“Yes, but there’s a reason the news of my marriage was kept a secret from everyone. And once I explain things, I’m sure you’ll all understand,” Jake assured them.
“And I’m just as sure that we won’t,” Milton Madaris snorted, his feelings clearly hurt.
“Who did you marry, son?” his mother asked after her initial shock had worn off. Unlike her oldest son, her feelings were not hurt. In fact, she was tickled pink that her baby boy was no longer single. “Where is she? Where’s this woman you’ve kept hidden from us all this time?”
Jake turned toward the stairs. “I’d like to present to all of you, the woman who has made me believe in love again, my wife, Diamond Swain Madaris.”
A sudden mixture of “Wh-wh-what” and “Ohhh” murmured across the room as a beautiful and dazzling Diamond suddenly appeared on the top stair on Jonathan Madaris’s arm. She was dressed in an elegant tea-length cream-colored gown and was a vision that put everyone in a daze. Even Jake was spellbound as he looked at her. A tightness gripped his throat, and his heart thumped in his chest. She was totally and incredibly beautiful.
His Diamond.
He felt so very fortunate, so very blessed to have discovered such a treasure as this diamond. And as long as he lived, he would give thanks to God for bringing her into his life.
Their eyes met and held for the longest time. It was an automatic gesture on his part to slowly move toward the stairs. His mouth was set in a determined line and his eyes were filled with love when he came to a stop at the bottom stair and stood there. Like everyone else, mesmerized, he looked up at the woman standing next to his brother.
The room went completely silent. Whether it was in awe or in shock, Jake wasn’t sure, nor did he care. The only thing he cared about was the woman returning his stare from under long lashes and who was smiling down at him. He gave her a long look, from the top of her head down to the bottom of her feet. His gaze moved back up again and followed her gown’s tempting neckline and the split that ran down the front.
He swallowed. Breathtaking. She was simply breathtaking. A part of him trembled when she left Jonathan’s side and began slowly walking down the stairs to him. Alone. It was as if she was giving herself to him again, fully and completely. And she was taking it a step further by giving herself to him publicly.
Unable to stand still, he began moving up the stairs to meet her.
They met on the middle stair.
“You are,” he started saying in a voice that was deep and husky, “everything that any man could ever hope for. You are more than I could ever hope for.”
Diamond felt like she couldn’t breathe with Jake’s words. Her heart was beating with the amount of love she felt for him. Her entire body was pinned in place by the intensity of his gaze. He reached out and captured her hand in his and brought it to his lips.
Her body slightly trembled with the emotions that overwhelmed her from his touch. Everyone else in the room faded in a haze the moment he released her hand and his arms slipped around her and he pulled her to him. She moaned when he captured