Reclaiming the Prince's Heart

Rini nodded and handed back the mirror. His gaze swerved to Luna. “Tell him I can’t complain.”

“He’s paid you a great compliment, Emilio,” she said in Italian.

“Sì?”

“Sì. Rini thinks you did a great job.”

A smile broke out on his face. “It’s been a pleasure to serve you as usual.” He gathered up his things, said goodbye to Luna and left.

Rini watched him go, glad the two of them were finally alone. He got to his feet. “What does my wife think now?”

Her dreamy green eyes studied him. She walked over and kissed his cheek. “You smell good and look like my old Rini.”

“You always smell wonderful,” he murmured, wanting to reach out and crush her to him. But he didn’t dare. Not yet. First, he’d get in shape and regain the weight he’d lost. He wasn’t about to forget she’d fallen in love with his former self.

Luna smiled. “Welcome home eleven days late.”

“That’s where I want to go. Doctor Tullia said he’d tell Doctor Romano he felt fine about releasing me.”

“How wonderful!” Her instant response went a long way to reassure him it was good news to her. He saw no shadow. “The morning you left to inspect the mine was the first time we’d ever been apart.” Her throat closed up. “I’d planned a special anniversary dinner for that evening when you got home.” She’d apparently planned another surprise, too.

“When your grandparents came to the palazzo with the news there’d been an earthquake and men were trapped in the mine, including my beloved husband—I thought I would die.”

He heard the pain in her voice. It caught him unawares. As his gaze fused with hers, one of the staff chose that moment to bring in two dinner trays and put them on the table. Luna turned to thank the woman, breaking the trance that held them.

Once they were alone, she invited Rini to sit back down and eat with her. “Um... Your grandmother knows how much you love veal cooked in wine. I love it, too. This osso bucco looks tantalizing.”

If anything looked tantalizing, it was Luna.

He started eating. “Does our cook make meals like this?”

“Much better, actually. You’ll love her bruschetta.”

Good. He’d gain weight fast and begin to look like the man she’d married.

“Do you cook, Luna?”

“Not well, but you do when we eat outside on the back patio.”

He put his fork down. “Are you joking with me?”

“Not at all. Your specialty is either grilled swordfish or salmon on a stick with your own signature lemon sauce. I understand you learned the recipes from your mother, who was reported to be a fabulous cook. Three days after we went to lunch, you invited me to the palazzo. To my surprise you barbecued our dinner and I knew I was in love.”

“How soon did I propose?”

“That night after you drove me back to my pitiful apartment.”

“So fast?”

She nodded. “I told you I’d give you my answer after our third date, which was two days later. I wanted to impress you with my cooking, which turned out to be a flop because the oven broke down. Raw chicken wasn’t what I had in mind. You laughed and said nothing else mattered as long as I would agree to marry you.”

He eyed her intently. “How long did you make me wait for your answer?”

“I didn’t. I was shameless and told you I’d envisioned you as my husband when we went to lunch. You pulled a ring out of your shirt pocket and put it on my ring finger.”

Luna extended her left hand with its engagement ring and wedding band. He gripped her hand and studied the three-carat diamond set in gold. “I can see I had good taste.”

“In everything!” she cried. “You told me the gold in both rings came from the Baldasseri gold mine and were fashioned expressly for me. Inside the gold band you’d had words engraved: Rini and Luna forever. You’ll never know what that night meant to me. At first, I thought I must be dreaming, but from then on we spent every free moment together and I’d never been so happy in my life. But if you want to know the truth, when I found you alive at the hospital in Rezan