There it was again. That selflessness that cut him to the core, that forced him to let go, to be a better man. Dio mio, but he wanted her to be selfish for once. To claim what she wanted. To claim him!
‘How very noble of you to think of me. But I don’t need a family.’
Shock widened her eyes. ‘What did you say?’
‘I don’t need a family, il mio cuore. I don’t need anything, or anyone, if I have you.’ She was all he wanted. He’d prostrate himself at her feet if that was what it took.
She stared at him for so long, Zaccheo felt as if he’d turned to stone. He knew that any movement would see him shatter into useless pieces.
But he had to take the leap. The same leap she’d taken on the island, when she’d shared something deeply private and heartbreaking with him.
‘If you have me?’
He risked taking a breath. ‘Yes. I love you, Eva. I’ve been racking my brain for weeks, trying to find a way to make you stay, convince you to stay my wife—’
‘You didn’t think to just ask me?’
‘After walking away from you like a coward?’ He shook his head. ‘You’ve no idea how many times I picked up the phone, how many times I summoned my pilot to bring me back to you. But I couldn’t face the possibility of you saying no.’ He gave a hollow laugh. ‘Believe it or not, I convinced myself I’d rather spend the rest of my life living in another country but still married to you, than face the prospect of never having even the tiniest piece of you.’
Her face crumbled and he nearly roared in pain. ‘That’s no life at all, Zaccheo.’
‘It was a reason for me to breathe. A selfish but necessary reason for me to keep functioning, knowing I had a piece of you even if it was your name next to mine on a marriage certificate.’
‘Oh, God!’ Tears filled her eyes and he cursed. He wanted to take her in his arms. But he had no right. He’d lost all rights when he’d forced her into marriage and then condemned her for trying to protect herself from his monstrous actions.
He clenched his fists against the agony ripping through him. ‘But that’s no life for you. If you wish for a divorce, then I’ll grant you one.’
‘What?’ Her face lost all colour. She started to reach for him, but faltered. ‘Zaccheo...’
A different sort of fear scythed through him as she started to crumple.
‘Eva!’
By the time he caught her she was unconscious.
* * *
Muted voices pulled her back to consciousness. The blinds in the strange room were drawn but there was enough light to work out that she was no longer in Zaccheo’s penthouse. The drip in her right arm confirmed her worst fears.
‘What...happened?’ she croaked.
Shadowy figures turned, and Sophie rushed to her side.
‘You fainted. Zaccheo brought you to the hospital,’ Sophie said.
‘Zaccheo...’ Memory rushed back. Zaccheo telling her he loved her. Then telling her he would divorce her...
No!
She tried to sit up.
The nurse stopped her. ‘The doctors are running tests. We should have the results back shortly. In the meantime, you’re on a rehydrating drip.’
Eva touched her throbbing head, wishing she’d stop talking for a moment so she could—
She stared at her bare fingers in horror. ‘Where are my rings?’ she cried.
The nurse frowned. ‘I don’t know.’
‘No...please. I need...’ She couldn’t catch her breath. Or take her eyes off her bare fingers. Had Zaccheo done it so quickly? While she’d been unconscious?
But he’d said he loved her. Did he not love her enough? Tears brimmed her eyes and fell down her cheeks.
‘It’s okay, I’ll go and find out.’ The nurse hurried out.
Sophie approached. Eva forced her pain back and looked at her.
‘I hope you don’t mind me being here? You didn’t call when you got back so I assume you don’t want to speak to me, but when Zaccheo called—’
Eva shook her head, her thoughts racing, her insides shredding all over again. ‘You’re my family, Sophie. It may take a while to get back to where we were before, but I don’t hate you. I’ve just been a little...preoccupied.’ Her gaze went to the empty doorway. ‘Is...Zaccheo still here?’
Sophie smiled wryly. ‘He was enraged that you didn’t have a team of doctors monitoring your every breath. He went to find the head of the trauma unit.’