“Don’t be an idiot, Taviano. All you have to do is look at Stefano when he talks about you or to you and see the love on his face. It’s hard to miss. Your entire family looks at one another like that, but especially Stefano. And I don’t say it like loving you is the worst thing that anyone could possibly do. It’s difficult when it’s not the same kind of love given back.”
He stared at her, hoping that somehow clarity would come to his brain. He considered himself an intelligent man, but he got nothing just looking at her. “At this moment, Nicoletta, I really want to shake you. You aren’t making any sense, when I’ve always considered you sensible. My family is going to be showing up soon, and I’d prefer not to be pulling out my hair when they arrive, so do a better job of explaining what the hell that means.”
She heaved a sigh as if he wasn’t quite bright. “I know you love me. How could I not? You’ve looked after me for the last three years. There’s a difference between being in love with someone and loving someone. You can love children, Taviano, and siblings, and parents, but you aren’t in love with them. Do you see the difference?”
“Why do you think I married you?” She exasperated the holy hell out of him sometimes.
She shrugged. “Obviously, the investigation turned up the fact that my lineage would produce the right babies you needed, and our shadows tangled together way early and you couldn’t get out of it. You were kind of trapped into it.”
“That’s what you think?”
“Yes.”
“First I’m entitled and privileged, and then I’m this poor sap who was trapped into a loveless marriage by my own shadow. You know what I think, Nicoletta? I think you’re a little afraid to face the truth.”
“I’ve never been afraid to face the truth, Taviano. I’d rather just know it and deal with it than skirt around it or wonder all the time.”
“The truth is, I’m so in love with you—and have been for so long—I don’t know how I would survive without you. If you decided you couldn’t handle what we do, although shadow riding is who I am, I would find another way to live just to be with you. I knew some time ago, long before you knew, that I was born to be that man, the one to make your life the best it can be, and I intend to be that man.”
Nicoletta stared at him, her mouth slightly open, her eyes wide with shock. Clearly, it was the last thing she’d expected him to say.
He stood up and held out his hand to her. “The ants are going to eat you alive. Come on. We have to get back to the house. Stefano wants us to take the fight to the Demons instead of letting them get to us if at all possible. He’s got plans so they’re coming to the house. They gave us a little bit of time because they know we’re on our honeymoon.”
She put her hand in his and let him pull her to her feet. “Are you serious?”
“About my family coming here? The ants? The honeymoon? Which we’ll take after the real wedding. We are having a real wedding no matter what,” he added decisively. “I’m certain Grace has half of it already planned out with Francesca and Lucia by now, and it’s not quite noon.”
“Not any of that. Loving me.”
“Oh. That. I’m very serious, Nicoletta, and you should have known. I’ve never let you out of my sight. I ran off every boy that ever wanted to ask you out on a date. Two years ago, I informed Dario Bosco we were engaged so he’d back the hell off.”
She gasped. “No way. That’s why he quit calling me.”
“That, and I threatened to knock his head off if he went behind my back and tried to undermine me. Of course, the family helped by keeping you busy, and Lucia and Amo were wonderful and aided me as well. It was a great conspiracy.”
“They knew?”
“I told them I was going to marry you. I was just waiting for you to get to be a decent age. I couldn’t very well ask you to marry me when you were underage.”
“I wasn’t underage.”
“Eighteen was underage to me.”
“I felt like a million years old.”
He put his arm around her shoulders. He knew exactly what she meant. Sometimes he felt the same way. He’d often looked at her when she’d been trying to fit in with the other schoolgirls and he’d known it would never happen. Her childhood had been ripped away, just as his had been.
“How could I not be in love with you, Nicoletta? And why would I ever allow my shadow to tangle with yours so fast? I’ll admit it was a little shocking even to me, the way they bound together, merging so quickly, but I didn’t do anything to stop them. I didn’t want to. I knew immediately you were the one and I was going to have you.” He sent her a quick grin. “Once Stefano and the others realized our shadows were so fully merged, they got behind us very quickly.”