Love in Purgatory (De La Fuente Family 2)

Panting hard, Dante dropped his forehead to her back and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I love you.” She felt him smile against her skin. “So much.”

He slipped from her body and turned her in his arms, Dante’s lips meeting hers in a soft kiss. His fingers brushed the hair from her face as he smiled at her. All his happiness was clear in his dark eyes.

“I have to pinch myself sometimes,” she slipped her hands to his shoulders, and then to the hair at the nape of his neck, “to make sure this isn’t a dream. I love you so much that it would kill me if it was.”

“After that, you still think you’re dreaming?” he smirked.

She chuckled. “Not anymore…but, I do love you.”

“I know,” he wouldn’t meet her gaze, “and I hope you don’t get too angry with me when I tell you what I have to tell you.” He looked sheepish. “Let’s clean up and get dressed…again, and I’ll tell you.”

“Okay.”

He collected their clothes from around them, and tugged her into their bedroom. While they cleaned up, and dressed, she couldn’t help worry because he’d never held anything back from her before. Although she had no clue as to what he was about to tell her, she had a bad feeling about it.

So as soon as she was dressed, she followed Dante out into the living room of their new home, and said, “Please tell me. You have me worried.”

Dante caressed down her arms and took hold of her hands. “Bishop Colin Sommer is going to be here soon.”

“What?” she whispered. “Why is the bishop on his way here?” Emelia queried, while her heart started to beat frantically in her chest.

The thought of the bishop in their home scared her to bits because, deep down, she was worried that he’d try and talk Dante into returning to the church. Oh, she knew that Dante was devoted to her and their future together, but the nerves just wouldn’t stop now that she knew his friend, the bishop, was on his way.

A sudden thought struck her while she mulled over his visit, which was why she watched Dante closely. “Hmm. You didn’t by any chance know in advance that he was coming? Did you? Like, before today?”

He offered a wry smile. “Maybe,” Dante sighed. “I knew you’d worry so I thought it best to not tell you until his visit was more or less upon us…and to answer your unasked question, he’s had a response back from Rome.”

Her heart thumped in her chest at that knowledge.

The bishop’s visit made her grasp at the string of hope, but as she met Dante’s gaze, she asked, “If he’s coming here, do you think it’s good news?”

Dante moved his hands to her shoulders. “I honestly don’t know. He didn’t give any indication when he called.”

“I hope it is.” She took a step closer and wrapped her arms around his waist.

“We’ll see,” Dante add

ed in a non-committal manner. “Let me go and close the garage so I don’t forget later.”

She nodded and smiled when he kissed her nose before he disappeared through the front door.

The past three months had flown by since Mateo’s accident, and the purchase of their new home in Essex, Vermont.

Their home was everything she’d ever dreamed of, from the wooden floors to the high ceilings, and floor to ceiling windows with the picturesque view of the Vermont Mountains.

Her mom had tried to persuade them to settle close by, but a lot of folk in the town knew that Dante was a priest and it would have become awkward. They’d needed a fresh start miles away from where Dante had lived, so they’d ended up in Vermont.

She was happy and so was Dante. Not once had he appeared to regret his decision to be with her, and it made all the difference.

Dante’s restaurant, Emelia’s Bistro, had opened a few weeks ago and had already received rave reviews in some food magazines. She’d been surprised but delighted when he showed her the sign on the front of the restaurant. It should have been his name up there, but he’d refused and told her that it was a way of honoring the woman he loved.

They’d made friends in the town, and they always gave their past location as Great Falls, Montana, which was true, in a way. But they’d made a home in Essex, and planned on staying there, and raising any children they may have in the future.

Up to now, everyone had presumed that they were married because of their surnames, so they hadn’t bothered to correct that wrong assumption.

It was nice, and she knew that one day Dante would come around to the idea of marrying elsewhere, if it came to that. She knew him well. They’d decided to start a family within the next two years, and she knew, without having to ask, that he’d make sure they were married before the birth. A small part of her would find sadness in that even though she knew how much he loved her.

All her hope now rested on this visit…