They were finished eating when Tino spoke again. “I will be staying with Faith until she moves home. You will have no problem watching over Giosue for me?”
“Naturally not,” Rocco said before Agata could answer.
“But Tino, Gio needs you.”
“So do you, even if you will not admit it.”
Faith opened her mouth to argue further, but Tino shook his head. “Trust me, I will not neglect my son. I will tuck him in at night and then come to your apartment. If you should be willing to join me in the evenings with Gio, we will both be pleased. I will make sure he knows to invite you.”
“You’re being sneaky again, Tino.” No fair bringing his son into it. “You know I cannot refuse Gio.”
“The term is resourceful.”
Rocco and Agata laughed.
“I am only relieved my son carried more cache with you than his father.”
“That’s not true.”
“Would you have accepted my invitation so readily?”
She wanted to say yes, if only to prove him wrong, but she couldn’t. “We’ll discuss this later.”
“Already they are talking like an old married couple.”
“Don’t tease the children, Rocco.”
Faith had to laugh at that.
CHAPTER TWELVE
TINO GOT OUT OF THE CAR when they arrived back at Faith’s apartment building.
“I don’t need an escort to my door, Tino.”
“That is no surprise. You do not think you need me for anything.”
“I didn’t mean that, I just…you don’t have to walk me up.”
“Perhaps I want to.”
She nodded, warmth unfurling through her when he placed his hand on the small of her back even though he was clearly upset with her.
“I do need you, Tino,” she said as they climbed the stairs to her second-floor apartment.
“That is good to hear.” There was something in his voice that she could not decipher, but he sounded sad…defeated.
Something was definitely wrong.
Hoping to find out what, she offered him a drink when they got upstairs.
But he shook his head. “I must get back to the office if I am going to get out of there at a decent hour tonight.”
“Something is bothering you. I want you to tell me what it is.”
“It does not matter.” He looked away from her. “Life is what it is.”
“I don’t understand. Are you unhappy I’m pregnant? If you don’t want to marry me, I’m not going to make you. And as much as they love you, your parents aren’t going to, either.”
“I am well aware you are all too ready to walk away from me.”
“What? Tino, what has gotten into you? I’m not walking away.”
“But you want to.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Oh, you are happy enough to have my baby, but it is clear you would have chosen another father for your child. Only the man you would have chosen is dead.”
“I don’t want this baby to be Taylish’s.”
“I do not believe you.”
“You are being ridiculous, Tino.”
He simply shrugged. “I will see you tonight.”
“You do not have to stay with me.” She knew he would ignore her, but she had to say it.
“So long as you stubbornly refuse to move home, I do.”
“Grisafi Vineyards is not my home.”
“It became your home the moment you conceived my child and will remain that way until the day you die, should you wish it. Even if you can never bring yourself to marry me.”
“You have no idea how much I want that.”
“But not enough to commit to taking me along with it, unless it is proven necessary. Right?”
“Tino, what is going on with you today? That is not what I said and you know it. That is so far from what I feel, it isn’t even funny.”
“I know that I want you to marry me and that you will not do so.”
“You’re like a single-track CD programmed to repeat.”
He didn’t respond.
She had to take a deep breath so she would not yell. He could be so irritating. “Tell me something, Tino.”
“Si?”
“If I miscarried tomorrow, would you still want to marry me?”
“Yes.” His dark eyes gleamed with sincerity and something else. Oh, gosh…it looked like love. He meant it.
Really. Truly.
Her knees went weak, but she could not trust what her brain was telling her heart her eyes were seeing. “You don’t mean it.”
“I do.”
“I…”
“Give us a chance, Faith. You may not love me like you did your precious Taylish, but I can make you happy. You said your attraction to me was a miracle to you.”
“It was…it is.”
“Marry me, cuore mio.”
My heart. He’d called her his heart. Was it a misspoken word, an attempt at manipulation…or did he mean it? “You…I…”
“Please.”
She could not deny him. “Promise me something.”
“What?”
“You will not regret it.”
“This I can easily promise.”
“Why?”
“Why would I promise you?”
“Why is it easy?”
“You have not figured it out yet? I have broken my promise to Maura. I love you. You fill my heart. You are my heart.”
“You don’t. You can’t. You said.”
“Many things I wished were true, but the only real truth is my love for you.”
“But you aren’t happy about it.”
“I have never before broken a promise. I could not save Maura and now I cannot keep my last promise to her.”
“She made you promise never to love again?” That didn’t sound like the woman Agata had told Faith about.
“I promised her at her grave. I told her I would never replace her in my heart.”
Faith felt the most amazing sense of release pour through her. And she laughed, the joy-filled sound stopping Tino’s pacing. “You find the compromise of my honor amusing?”
Instead of answering, she said, “You’re being all-or-nothing again. Loving me doesn’t mean that Maura no longer has a place in your heart. She has a place in mine, too, because she loved you and because she gave birth to a little boy that I love very much.”
“But not his father. I understand. You loved Taylish too much to love another. I should be grateful for what I have. You carry my child and that is a great gift.”
“I loved Taylish, but nothing like I love you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I loved Taylish, but I was never in love with him. I have been in love with you since the first night we made love.”
“You mean that?”
“More than anything.”
“I…this is hard.”
She grinned. “Talking about your feelings?”
“Si. It is not something I like to do.”
“You told me you loved me, that’s all you needed to say.”
“No. You deserve all of the truth.”
“What did you leave out?”
“Maura was the love of my youth, you are the love of my life. It hurt when she died. I grieved a long time, but if I lost you, it would kill me.”
Faith threw herself at Tino and he caught her, just as she knew he would. They kissed until they were both breathing hard. He pulled his head back, protecting them both from going too far.
She snuggled her head into his neck. “Just one thing, Tino.”
“Si?”