Nordic Heroes: In the Market and a Wholesale Arrangement (46 page)

“Andrea phoned. She’s at the hospital with Jordan. Your wife’s in labor.”

“I’m on my way.”

“One thing first.” Thor’s tone hardened. “You say a single, unpleasant word to my wife, and your life won’t be worth dust in a high wind.”

Rainer chuckled. “No fear of that, big brother. No fear at all. See you soon. I’m gonna be a father!” he shouted, and hung up.

Thor pocketed his phone and leaned back in his chair. Slipping his hand into his pocket, he fingered Andrea’s wedding band and smiled.

Soon, very soon, he’d help that little lady climb off her high horse, even if he had to drag her down personally.

W
here was everyone? Andrea wondered for the hundredth time. She squeezed Jordan’s hand and glanced at the clock on the wall of the birthing suite. “Thor will find him. I know he will.”

“You’ve told me that every minute on the minute. I believe you already. I believe you. Now let me concentrate on my breathing.”

“Jordan?” Rainer pushed into the room and grinned at them, his arms overflowing with flowers. He dropped them at the foot of the bed and enclosed his wife in a tender hug. “How’s my Valkyrie?” he whispered his favorite endearment.

“Your warrior maiden is busy breathing, Viking. About time you showed up.”

He glanced over his shoulder at Andrea. “Hang on a sec,” he said, stopping her before she could leave the room. “I have something for you, too.” He picked up a bouquet of white roses and handed it to her.

Andrea stared in confusion. “For me? I don’t understand.”

“You do that innocent look very well.” He chuckled, then gave her a jubilant hug, swinging her around in a circle. “Let me say one word before you leave. Cannoli.”

Her eyes widened. “You know. Does Thor?”

“Not yet. I thought you’d appreciate having the pleasure of telling him yourself.” He escorted her to the door. “And now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re going to have a baby.”

“I’m going to have a baby,” Jordan snapped. “And when I’m through there had better be some grapefruit to show for all my trouble, or there’ll be hell to pay.”

Andrea blinked away tears. “I . . . I can’t make any promises. But I’ll do my best. Good luck.” She wandered out to the waiting room, took a seat and, as the sign above the room decreed, waited. And waited and waited. Or so it seemed.

Just as she’d begun to lose hope, Thor showed.

She jumped to her feet. Attack being the best defense—and safer, judging by his expression—she let him have it with both barrels. “You’ve taken long enough!”

“You mean I’ve taken quite enough. Now you start taking.”

“Fine. I’ll start with my ring.” She held up her hand and wiggled her fingers. “Put ’er there.”

“You mean this?” He reached in his pocket and pulled out her wedding band. “Forget it.”

She tried a different approach. “I’d like my ring back.”

He flicked it into the air and caught it. “Tough.”

She gritted her teeth against the prideful voice whispering in her ear. “Please, Thor, may I have my ring?”

He returned it to his pocket and shook his head. “Not yet.”

“You . . . you want me to beg?” she choked.

“That would be nice.” He laughed at her expression. “But, no.”

She glared at him. “You’d like an apology? What?”

His laughter died, his blue-eyed gaze turning fierce. “An explanation, as you damned well know. I’d like an explanation about Constantine’s, and I’d like to know why you want your ring.”

“The explanation might take a while,” she said, stalling. Not that it helped.

“I’ve got all day and all night.”

“Excuse me, you two—” Rainer appeared in the doorway and glanced from one to the other, a huge grin on his face.

“You’ve finally decided you want an explanation?” she demanded, ignoring Rainer. “You didn’t before. You let me leave your house without making a single move to stop me.”

“You might like to know—” Rainer tried again.

“What was I supposed to say? You took off your ring and left. Comebacks to that are a bit hard to find.”

“It’s a girl—”

“How about, don’t go?”

“Seven pounds, nine ounces—”

“Would it have made a difference?”

“Hair as red as a beefsteak tomato—”

“Yes, it would have made a difference,” Andrea snapped. “It would have made all the difference in the world.”

“Valerie. We named her Valerie. Get it? Valkyrie, Valerie.” Frowning, Rainer glanced from his brother to his sister-in-law. “Maybe I can help move things along. Thor, you say: ‘Why did you sell Constantine’s?’”

“Yeah, right. Why did you sell Constantine’s?”

Rainer nudged Andrea. “And you say: ‘Because . . .’ And fill in the blanks.”

“Because, and fill in the blanks.” The nudge became a shove. “All right. All right.” She glared at Thor. “I wouldn’t have business coming between us anymore. If we were going to stay together, it had to be for personal reasons, not business.”

Thor ran a hand through his hair. “You sold because you wanted proof I loved you?” he asked in exasperation.

She eyed him uncertainly. “Er, no?” She glanced at Rainer. “That was a ‘no’ question, wasn’t it?”

“Sounded like it to me.”

Thor gritted his teeth. “You want proof? Fine. I’ll give you proof.” He grabbed her by the hand and started from the room. “Congratulations, Rainer. A girl, huh? Tell Jordan she’ll have that grapefruit delivered to her market first thing in the morning.”

“You knew about our bet?” Andrea squeaked.

“I knew.” He turned a hard look her way. “Not another word until we’re home. And then you’d better talk fast.”

The minute they hit the house, the torrent began. “I owed the bank a lot of money,” she said, inching into the living room. “The note came due. It was either sell or have the Thorsens back Constantine’s line of credit.”

“Which you chose not to do.”

She sighed, nodding. “Which I chose not to do. Thor, it was more than two hundred thousand dollars.”

He couldn’t hide his shock. “Two hundred— How the hell did that happen?” His eyes narrowed, sudden understanding in his gaze. “Nick wasn’t quite the businessman we all assumed, was he?”

“No,” she admitted. “He took chances, lots of them. He’d buy on spec in order to get a deal his competitors couldn’t match. For a long time, he did well. But the last few years, that changed.”

Thor rubbed a hand across his jaw. “Which explains why he went after Thorsens’ business so ruthlessly. I never could understand what made him desperate enough to throw you into the deal.”

She thought about it. The business must have been in serious jeopardy for Nick to have used her like that. It was the only possibility that made sense. She crossed to Thor’s side and put a hand on his arm. “Don’t you understand? I couldn’t ask you to help with the loan. It was too much. Jordan says it’s pride. I say it’s practical. Constantine’s wasn’t worth it. Nor, in my opinion, was the Milano account.”

He didn’t pull away. Instead he cupped the side of her face, his fingers sinking into her hair. “But you made the decision without consulting me. Why?”

She shivered beneath his touch, struggling for control. “Because I didn’t think you’d agree. Because you’d handled every other crisis that came our way, and the time had come to take care of matters myself. Because . . .” She closed her eyes, finally admitting the truth. “Because I was tired of business always coming first in your life. It’s selfish, I know, but I wanted to come first for a change.”

“You are first.” She shook her head, and he said more insistently. “You are. You’ll notice the first thing I did was hustle you to the nearest altar. And then I married you in front of as many witnesses as I could stuff into that church. I wanted to tie you to me so tight you’d never be free of our marriage.”

“What about Constantine’s? You told me, if not for the business, you’d never have married me. Explain that.”

“Hurt, did it?”

She nodded, tears spiking her lashes. “Yes, it hurt.”

His thumb caressed her cheek. “I asked you to marry me a year ago. How did you respond?”

She froze. “I . . .”

“You ended up saying no, remember? If it weren’t for the problems at Constantine’s, the answer would still be no. I had to blackmail you into marrying me. So I did. I used every excuse I could dream up. I wanted you that badly.” She couldn’t mistake his sincerity. “You still haven’t told me why you want your ring back.”

A tear traced a path down her cheek. “I want my ring because I love you.”

He reached into his pocket and handed it to her. “Look at it.”

Remembering Jordan’s obsession with its return, she examined the band and instantly found the inscription. “I never noticed this before.” She licked her lips and glanced up at him.
Først kjærlighet . . .
“What does it mean?”

“First love.” He tugged off his ring and handed it to her. “And mine gives you my answer . . . .
deretter arbeid
. Then business.”

Andrea shut her eyes, sobs racking her slender frame. He scooped her into his arms. “I love you, my prideful wife. I always have and I always will.”

He strode toward the bedroom and she buried her head in his shoulder, clinging to him. “Welcome home,” he whispered into her ear. “Hope, remember? You told me about its importance the night we made love. I’ve lived on nothing but hope these past days. And faith. Faith that you’d come back to me. And trust. Trust, that you loved me as much as I loved you.” He set her on her feet. “And determination. I was very determined to succeed where you were concerned, my love.”

She opened her eyes and looked around the bedroom. “Oh, Thor!” she whispered. Prisms hung everywhere, far more than she’d kept in the loft at Constantine’s. They spun gently above the bed, on all the fixtures, and in each window. The entire room glittered with colors—every color in the rainbow. And attached to each prism was a tiny gold hammer. “Hope and determination,” she whispered, remembering their first night together.

He crushed her in his arms. “An unbeatable combination. I love you. Not for Constantine’s. Not because of the Milano contract. But for you.”

She suddenly remembered. She hadn’t told him about the tugboat account. She wrapped her arms around his neck. There’d be time. Plenty of time. Right now, business would have to wait. They had more important matters requiring their attention.

“
T
his is the sweetest grapefruit I’ve ever tasted!” Jordan exclaimed.

Andrea grinned. Cradling Valerie in her arms, she gently ruffled the red-gold curls. “Believe me, it’s my pleasure.”

“Cannoli, anyone?” Thor held out a platter. “Joe dropped it off as a gift for the new momma and to say he’s delighted the Thorsens are once again his suppliers.”

“Here I busted my buns getting that tugboat account for you, bribing Captain Alexander with Joe’s cannoli, and for what?” Andrea complained. “Jack Maxwell intended to hang on to the Thorsen contract all along. He’s a sneaky man.”

Thor took a huge bite of pastry. “No. He’s an astute businessman. A very astute businessman. By refusing to make Thorsen’s Produce part of the sale, he forced us to renegotiate our contract, which put him in a much stronger bargaining position.”

She remembered again her final worrisome discussion with Constantine’s new owner. She knew she’d missed something vital during that telephone conversation, and now she understood what. It must have been very difficult for Jack to keep quiet about his intentions, considering his innate honesty. “And did he get a better deal?”

“A bit. There’s one other little difference with this arrangement.” He grinned wickedly. “I didn’t get a wife out of it.”

“You didn’t before,” she scoffed. “I nixed that particular deal, if you’ll recall.”

“Well, there won’t be any more of that nixing stuff. You promised.”

She frowned. “When did I do that?”

“You don’t remember? You mean to tell me you stood before a pastor with thousands of witnesses and don’t even remember what you promised?”

“It was hundreds, not thousands. And I promised to love and honor,” she retorted. “That’s it.”