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He swallowed. ‘I thought that if I could control you, then...’
‘Then you would have all the power and I would never leave you the way your mother left you. You didn’t want anyone to be able to hurt you like that ever again.’
His throat was tight and he could hardly breathe, because her level of understanding was devastating. It was as if she knew what he was thinking. As if she could peer deep into his soul. But whereas once t
hat thought would have filled him with dread, now it filled him with awe.
‘But I’ve come to realise that by playing safe,’ he continued bitterly, ‘I am closing myself off to the greatest potential for happiness I’ve ever known. Because when you weren’t around I discovered how empty my life felt. And I realised that by trying to control you, I risked crushing your inner strength and that burgeoning independence which makes me love you even more. And that is why I’m asking you to forgive me, Lina. Forgive me and stay with me and let me make amends. I want to marry you, if you’ll have me, so I can spend the rest of my life loving you, as you deserve to be loved.’
She didn’t have to think about it for long, because Lina knew there could only be one answer to a question she hadn’t dared ever believe he’d ask. She had admired him from afar and then she had loved him up close. She’d seen the darkness in his soul and had wanted to flood it with daylight. She didn’t care about his money. If he told her he wanted to go and live in Caltarina in a little house like the one she’d grown up in, she would be happy with that. Then she thought about her mother living down the road and thought...well, maybe a different village.
She opened her mouth to tell him all these things, but she was so overcome with emotion that the words just wouldn’t come. And perhaps he read her answer in her eyes, because his own were suspiciously bright as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. It was a long time after that kiss had ended, and the coffee on the kitchen counter had grown completely cold, that she brushed her finger along the shadowed edge of his unshaven jaw. ‘You know, I’ll never hurt you, Salvatore.’
He dipped his head to capture her fingertip and nipped at it with his teeth. ‘You can’t say that.’
‘Yes,’ she contradicted, more certain now. ‘I can. Oh, sometimes we might fight, or disagree—because that is the way of the world. But my heart is so full of love for you, that there’s no room for anything else and there never will be.’
His eyes grew hard, and bright. She saw in them understanding, and fear. But the fear would fade in time. Love would make sure of that. It would soothe and smooth everything in its path. It would comfort and reassure. And it would also provoke—in ways which were emotional as well as physical.
She shivered as he stroked his thumb over one peaking nipple.
‘I think it’s time for bed,’ he said, a little unsteadily. ‘Don’t you?’
EPILOGUE
‘READY?’ QUESTIONED SALVATORE.
Lina looked up into the glitter of her husband’s beloved blue eyes and nodded. ‘Ready,’ she said.
The limousine was waiting outside to take them to the airfield. Soon they would be high over the skies of California, en route to Caltarina—their first trip since they’d married there, last year.
It had been the most gorgeous wedding Lina could have imagined—an unfussy ceremony, the tiny church bursting to the rafters with a mix of villagers and many of Salvatore’s jet-setting friends. Siena had been there, eying up some Greek tycoon, and Lina had insisted on Henry, Shirley and Salvatore’s chef, Ric, being present. There had been huge excitement when Sheikh Kadir Al Marara had flown in for the reception, and Lina’s mother had been in her element, boasting to anyone who would listen that her beloved daughter was marrying one of the richest and best connected men in the world. But Lina didn’t let that bother her—to be honest, she was so happy that nothing could bother her.
Reconciled soon after the announcement of her engagement, and determined to forget the harsh words of the past, Lina had asked her mother to make her wedding dress, and throughout those fittings they had talked in a way they’d never done before. Each stitch sewed into the delicate organza seemed to have helped heal their fractured relationship. She had learnt of her mother’s desperate loneliness after the death of her husband and her realisation that she had transferred all that pain onto her daughter. Yet Lina’s departure for the United States had forced her mother to re-evaluate her life, and to forge a new way of living, which was bringing her an unexpected kind of contentment.
The wedding dress had turned out to be a triumph of simplicity and Lina had worn her hair loose—of course. A single photograph of the happy couple had been sold to news outlets around the world, with all the profits going into Salvatore’s charitable foundation.
A foundation for which Lina now worked, alongside her husband, because she’d decided that dispossessed children were closer to her heart than accessories for the rich and privileged. But she hadn’t given up completely on her unique designs. Her handbags were now made by a dedicated team of out-workers and there was huge competition for these jobs, because the rates of pay were so favourable. There had already been talk of diversification. Of shawls and evening shoes, with the looping Lina signature embroidered on every product. There was also a simple Lina scent—an evocative lemon fragrance meant to evoke images of sunny Sicilian days.
She was happy about her success and the fact that all profits went into the foundation. But most of all Lina was happy because Salvatore loved her with all his heart. He told her so every day, and every day she echoed that sentiment.
But...
She looked up to find him watching her, his eyes narrowed with interest. He was so intuitive, she thought happily.
But...
Her heart was beating very fast and she knew she couldn’t put it off any longer. ‘How...how would you feel about us having children?’
Salvatore didn’t answer straight away, but then, he was pretty sure she didn’t expect him to, because this was way too important not to give it his full consideration. But he didn’t have to think about it for very long.
‘I want to have a baby with you,’ he answered simply.
Tears sprang to her eyes. ‘You’re sure?’
He nodded. ‘As sure as when I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. But this isn’t an academic discussion we’re having here, is it, Lina?’
‘I don’t know how it happened!’ she burst out.
