The Sicilian's Scandalous Secret

His hands fell to his sides. He stared at her.

‘Clearly we have misunderstood each other badly.’

‘We have?’

‘I had no idea you loved me. And you clearly have no idea how much I love you.’

Fia stared at him and her heart rate doubled. Hope bloomed as he slid his hands into her hair and took her mouth in a slow, erotic kiss. She wanted to ask him if she’d heard him correctly but it had been so long since he’d kissed her like this, she didn’t want him to stop.

He lifted his mouth from hers with obvious reluctance. ‘How could you ever think I’d want a divorce?’

‘We stopped having sex.’

‘I was so conscious that I’d forced you into this marriage and then you made those comments about me being insatiable—’

‘I liked you being insatiable,’ she muttered. ‘When you stopped I assumed it was because you were bored with me, so I chose an especially sexy dress last night and you didn’t even look at me.’

‘And why do you think that was? In most things I am a very disciplined man but I’ve discovered that I have virtually no self-discipline where you are concerned.’ His tone was raw. ‘I’d promised myself that I wasn’t going to make the first move. That I was going to let you come to me. You didn’t.’

‘I thought you didn’t want me.’

He groaned and gathered her against him. ‘We have both been blind and stupid. And we are going to start again from now.’

Fia closed her eyes for a moment, the feeling of relief so enormous that she couldn’t speak. ‘Do you really love me? This isn’t to do with Luca?’

‘This has nothing to do with Luca.’ He murmured the words against her mouth. ‘This has to do with you and me but I’ve made a total mess of things because now I can’t make you believe me. Because I rushed you into this, you think it’s all because of Luca. I love you, Fia. And if there were no Luca I would still love you.’

‘If there were no Luca, we wouldn’t have met again.’

‘Yes, we would.’ Lifting his hand, he stroked a finger over her jaw. ‘I didn’t even know about Luca when I came back. The chemistry between us is so powerful we would have ended up together sooner or later, you know we would.’ He reached past her, picked up the box that had pride of place in the centre of the table. With a few flicks of his fingers he dispensed with the packaging and flicked it open.

Fia gasped. ‘What’s that?’

‘It’s an engagement ring. I’m proposing.’

She felt dizzy as she saw the size of the diamond. ‘You already proposed, Santo. We’re married. I have the ring.’

‘You have a wedding ring. And, as I recall, I ordered you to marry me. Now I’m asking you to stay married to me. Always. Whatever life sends, good or bad, I want you by my side.’ He breathed deeply, his eyes wary. ‘Tell me honestly—would you want me to let you go?’

Warmth rushed through her, erasing all her doubts.

‘Never. The fact that I know how committed you are to family is what makes me feel so secure,’ she admitted. ‘I know that no matter what happens we’ll work it through.’

‘Ti amo tantissimo, I love you so much,’ he breathed, ‘and I’m sorry I’ve messed this up so badly.’ He slipped the ring onto her finger, above the gold band he’d given her on their wedding day. It fitted perfectly.

Fia stared at the huge diamond, dazzled. ‘I’ll have to have twenty-four-hour security if I wear that.’

‘Given that I don’t intend to leave your side, that won’t be a problem. I’ll be your personal security.’

Overwhelmed, Fia flung her arms around him. ‘I can’t believe you love me.’

‘Why? You are the strongest, most generous woman I’ve ever met. I cannot even bear to think about how it must have been for you to discover you were pregnant at a time when your whole world was collapsing. If I could put the clock back, I would, and I would never have left your side.’

‘You did the right thing,’ she said softly, sneaking another look at her ring. ‘If you had come back that night it would simply have added more distress for my grandfather. You were being sensitive, and it was the right decision.’

‘But it meant that you coped alone. Knowing what I do about you, I do not blame you for not telling me about Luca. I understand why you made the decision you did. Your childhood experience was so different to mine. And yet, even with that background you didn’t repeat the pattern.’ He slid his fingers gently through her hair. ‘When you told me that you’d forbidden your grandfather to say a bad word about a Ferrara, I couldn’t believe it.’

‘Although he was shocked when he discovered I was pregnant, I think it actually gave him something to live for.’