Her eyes widened. ‘You love me?’
‘So very much.’ Gregorio had only realised how much earlier, when he had contemplated the huge gap Lia would leave not only in his hotel suite but in his life, his heart, when the time came for her to leave and return to her own apartment.
Lia swallowed. ‘Really?’
‘Really,’ he confirmed. ‘Perhaps I always did. I have never believed in love at first sight, but...’ He leant over to pull open a drawer in the bedside cabinet and remove something from inside. ‘This is the handkerchief I used to wipe the blood from my cheek the day you slapped my face at the funeral.’
‘You keep it in your bedside drawer?’
‘Silvio gave it to me that day.’ He smiled ruefully. ‘I placed it in this drawer when I returned home, and it has been here beside me every night since.’ He dropped the handkerchief back in the drawer. ‘I couldn’t bear to part with it.’
‘You love me?’
‘I do.’ He nodded. ‘More than life itself. Rather than wanting you to leave, as you believe, if I could I would keep you here with me for ever. But all of this is too soon for you.’ He sighed. ‘You lost your father such a short time ago. Your engagement ended badly. You need time to heal. To make a life for yourself. To prove to yourself that you can make a life for yours
elf.’
‘You can understand that?’
His smile became warmer. ‘You would not be the Lia I love if you did not feel that way.’
She looked up at him searchingly, noting the love and pride shining in his eyes as he steadily returned her gaze, leaving himself and his emotions wide open for her to see.
‘Gregorio.’ She reached up and touched his cheek. ‘I’ve fallen in love with you, too.’ She spoke clearly, firmly, wanting there to be no more misunderstandings between them. ‘I love you,’ she said. ‘So very much.’
Gregorio felt as if someone had punched him in the chest, stealing all the breath from his lungs and rendering him incapable of speech. Lia loved him?
‘How can you possibly...?’ He was finally able to force words past his shock. ‘You cannot possibly... You believed... You accused me of...’
‘Yes. Yes. Yes. And yes,’ Lia acknowledged emotionally. ‘I did, and I believed all of those things. And still I fell in love with you. Because you’re none of those things, Gregorio. You’re honourable. Truthful. Protective. You have been nothing but kind to me even in the face of my less than gracious behaviour towards you. How could I not fall in love with you?’
‘Dios mio...’ Gregorio continued speaking in Spanish as he buried his face against her throat.
‘I have no idea what you’re saying, but I don’t care because I’m sure it’s something beautiful.’ Lia laughed happily, her arm about his shoulders as she clung to him.
He lifted his head, his mouth now only inches away from Lia’s. ‘I said you are beautiful. My heart. My world.’
‘I love you, Gregorio. I love you so very much.’
She lifted her head and claimed his lips with her own.
* * *
‘I said you would be bossy in bed,’ Gregorio murmured indulgently a long time later, when the two of them were lying naked in bed together, Gregorio on his back, Lia nestled against his side with her head on his shoulder.
Their lovemaking had necessarily been gentle, because of the cast on Lia’s arm, but no less beautiful because of it. Perhaps more so, because they had taken the time to explore and appreciate every inch of each other. Not just in passion and pleasure, but in love.
‘Lia, when this is over there is a question I wish to ask you.’
Lia felt as if her heart had leapt into her throat. ‘Why can’t you ask me now?’
‘For all the reasons I stated earlier.’ He sighed. ‘I want you to be sure—very sure—when you give me your answer.’
She frowned. ‘And what happens in the meantime? Between us, I mean? Do we go our separate ways and meet up again in three months’ time, say, to see if we both still feel the same way?’
‘No!’ Gregorio’s arms tightened about her possessively. ‘Absolutely not. We will see each other every day. And we will share the same bed every night,’ he stated firmly.
Lia could barely hold back her smile of happiness.