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‘The knowledge that I came that close to losing you for ever still haunts me. The stag cruise was a disaster. No…’ Sergio groaned when she suddenly snatched her hands from his. ‘You have to let me talk about this—’
Her face tight, Kathy stepped back from him. ‘No, that kind of stuff is better left buried. It was before we were married and none of my business.’
Sergio strode forward and swept her up off her feet. ‘Oh, I like that when it’s still being held against me and thrown up at every opportunity!’
‘When did I last throw it up?’ Kathy yelled.
‘You didn’t see the judgemental look on your face when you got on this boat for the first time…’
‘Maybe your conscience made you imagine that. For goodness’ sake, put me down!’
‘No. I didn’t get horrendously drunk on that stag cruise. I didn’t even kiss anyone. Okay?’ he demanded. ‘You were inside my head to such an extent you might as well have been with me. You were the only woman I wanted.’
Shocked by that burst of confession, Kathy let him carry her downstairs to their stateroom. ‘I didn’t like you very much then.’
Sergio laid her down very gently on the bed. His brilliant dark eyes were bleak. ‘I know and it’s what I deserved, totally what I asked for. But I’ll never be like that with you again because I love you. Even if you were a thief I would still be married to you and I would still feel the same way.’
Kathy was stunned by the raw emotion stamped in his face. ‘You fell for me?’
‘Probably the first time we met and my brain started malfunctioning. I was all over the place, assuming this, assuming that about you. The sex was amazing, but so were you. When I was in Norway, the rest of the guys were in stitches at the number of times I phoned you.’
‘Yes, you did phone quite a bit,’ she acknowledged.
‘And the move to France may not have appealed to you, but it was my first fumbling attempt at a committed relationship in a decade,’ Sergio argued in his own defence.
‘I’m glad you used the word fumbling.’
‘And I blew any remaining goodwill with that stupid stag do. I accept that. But when I couldn’t find you, I was devastated. That’s when I knew how I felt about you. That’s why there was nobody else all that time…’
‘Nobody?’ Wide-eyed, Kathy turned her coppery head to study him. ‘Not one single woman in all those months?’
‘Call it retribution for the night I made you sleep with me. I haven’t been with anyone else since I met you and I’m amazingly proud of that fact.’ His rueful smile tilted her heart on its axis. ‘I did get you to agree to marry me in a weak moment. It was deliberate. I knew I wouldn’t feel secure until you were my wife. I would have done virtually anything to get that ring on your finger.’
Kathy was smiling back, flattered by such eagerness to marry on his part. ‘So it was really just the wedding hoopla you disliked? Not the act of getting married to me?’
‘Is that what you thought?’ Sergio grimaced. ‘It wasn’t meant that way, bella mia. I thought I could make you happy—’
‘You did.’
‘But all the time I was making the worst mistake I could in not believing in you. I feel very guilty about that.’
‘It’s true you’ve got flaws, but I love you anyway—or maybe even because of them. I don’t think I could stand you if you never did anything wrong but don’t take that as an invitation to stray.’ A luminous smile curved her rosy mouth while he studied her in wonderment. ‘Because as you know—the stag thingy—I’m not forgiving about stuff like that—’
On his knees on the bed, he hauled her to him and kissed her with a passionate intensity that made her blink back tears of happiness.
‘And what is more, a good husband keeps his energy for his wife,’ Kathy told him dizzily, yanking off his tie.
Sergio pitched off his jacket and wrenched at his shirt with considerable enthusiasm. ‘How the hell did you manage to fall in love with me?’
‘You’re annoying, but very good-looking, sexy, entertaining…’ Kathy spread admiring fingertips on his bronzed and muscular chest, but her eyes were soft and bright and loving. ‘I have to confess that when I beat you at chess it gives me a thrill—’
In answer Sergio tipped her back against t
he soft pillows and kissed her breathless. His rampant enthusiasm met with a most encouraging reception.
Almost three years later, Kathy put the finishing touches to her make-up, smoothed her vibrant copper hair into place and stood back to get the full effect of her shimmering golden ball gown.
Within the hour, everybody who was anybody would be arriving at the Palazzo Azzarini, because Sergio Torrente was throwing what was being described as the party of the year. Why? A miscarriage of justice had been declared in Kathy’s case and her wrongful conviction as a thief quashed. The judge during the original court case was also deemed to have misdirected the jury, thus preventing her from receiving a fair hearing. She had had the support of a wonderful legal team, who had had to work long and hard to achieve that successful result even though Janet Taplow had finally owned up to planting the jug in Kathy’s bag.
