“Finally, an honest answer!”
A delicate frown marred her brow. “What do you mean?”
Too late Rini realized his slip. “Forget what I said.”
“I can’t.”
He took a deep breath. “Luna—you’re always so wonderful to me and make me feel so good, I—”
“But you don’t think I’m telling you the truth?” she broke in on him.
His wife sounded hurt. He groaned. “Yes, I do, but I know I couldn’t have been a paragon to live with. Just now your comment seemed—”
“Real?” she cried out. “Does that mean you believe I’ve been lying to you from the beginning?”
“No. Of course not. It’s just that I’ve had a hard time understanding how I married such a fantastic woman I couldn’t possibly be worthy of.”
“Worthy—Don’t you think I have those same worries about you? At the hospital you woke up to find out you were married to a woman who means literally nothing to you. I’ve been shocked you wanted to come home with me. You could have asked Chispar to help you settle somewhere else.”
“You’re the only person I want to be with,” he insisted.
“I’m thankful for that because I love you so much. But if the time comes and you want to move on and figure out your life without me, all you have to do is say so. I would never blame you if you wanted a divorce. You’d be free to do whatever you wanted.”
He pulled onto a side street. Her words kept pouring out, crushing him.
“Rini? I’ve tried to imagine how ghastly it would be to wake up with amnesia and discover I was trapped in a marriage I didn’t remember, with a stranger no less. Today you proved you can handle everything on your own.”
He found a parking space and hit the brakes. “Except I need you, Luna!” A soft gasp escaped her lips. She stared at him with eyes full of tears. “I may have lost my memory, but I’m a man. Even before you told me you were my wife, I knew I needed the beautiful woman helping me with every fiber of my being.”
She broke down sobbing quietly.
“Now is the time for total honesty, Luna. Do you want a divorce? Tell me the truth. We’ve got to have that, or we don’t have anything.”
Luna smoothed the hair out of her eyes. She cleared her throat. “Here’s my truth. I want my life back with you, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”
Rini reached out t
o squeeze her shoulder. “You took the words out of my mouth. I’m going to work on our marriage, and I have an idea. Let’s pretend that we just met and want to get to know each other. On the flight home from Rezana earlier, I thought about how you’ve been waiting on me. I wanted to do something for you tonight to show you what you mean to me.”
“Oh, Rini.” She leaned over to kiss his jaw. “I love it. A new beginning for both of us.”
“Amen.” He’d married an angel.
After kissing her mouth, Rini sat back and started the engine. He made a U-turn to get back on the autostrada and they took off until they came to Lago Diamanti. In the distance he saw a castle on the shoreline.
“You’ll love this place,” Luna murmured. “Part of the dining room extends out over the water.”
His eyes took in the pines studding the landscape. “You’re right. It looks like something right out of a storybook.”
Incredible that he remembered none of this. Tonight he got the sick feeling that he’d never recover his memory. The blow to his head had wiped out that part of his brain. It appeared he’d spend the rest of his life working on a new life.
As for being a royal, he might have been born to royalty, but he wanted no part of it. Tonight he didn’t want to think about it. Not when his exciting wife filled his vision.
“When you brought us here, I almost died it was so enchanting, Rini. The ripples on the water catch the light the way a diamond does. Long ago someone called it Diamond Lake and it stuck. The diamonds I’m wearing tonight are the ones you gave me that night for a wedding present.”
“I’m starting to like myself better and better.”
Her giggle made him smile.