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Santiago’s knees trembled beneath him. He felt a wave rip through his soul, cracking it open.
He’d let her go because he was afraid. Afraid of being vulnerable. Afraid of getting hurt. Afraid of what would happen, who he would become, if he let her love him.
If he loved her back.
“So it’s really true.” Nadia looked stunned. Her violet eyes narrowed with rage. “You’d choose that little nobody over me?”
Santiago thought of Belle’s many joys, her tart honesty, her silliness, her kindness. He thought of her luminous eyes and trembling pink lips as she’d whispered, “There’s only one thing I can give you better than anyone else. My love.”
For the first time, he saw the truth.
When he was a boy, he’d dreamed of being loved by his father, who was rich and powerful and able to command people from a palace. He’d thought if he could just get the duke to call him son, he’d be happy.
As a young man, he’d dreamed of being loved by Nadia, with all her cold beauty and utter lack of pity. He’d thought he’d be happy if he could just win her. Like a trophy.
But today, at thirty-five, he suddenly realized happiness had nothing to do with that kind of so-called love. Wealth and power, physical beauty, what did they have to do with love? Those things didn’t last.
Real love did.
Love was having the loyalty and devotion of a kind-hearted, honest woman. A woman who could make you laugh. Who always had your back. Who would protect and adore you through good times and bad. Who cared for your child. A woman who was the heart of your home. The heart of your heart.
There was only one way to be happy: to give everything he had, just as she had done.
He had to be willing to die for her. And even more important: live for her.
Choose me. Love me.
This was what love meant. What family meant. It didn’t mean requiring someone to jump through hoops. It didn’t mean a lifetime of ignoring someone until you found a use for them, as his father had done. It didn’t mean abandoning them when you had a better offer, as Nadia had.
Love meant acceptance. Protection. It meant a lifetime of loyalty through good times and bad.
Love that will last for the rest of my life.
It meant forever.
Santiago sucked in his breath. Belle was his true family. She was his love.
And right now, Belle was in New York. In labor with their baby. Utterly alone.
Turning sharply, he checked for his wallet. He had his passport. He said, “I have to go.”
“But—where are you going?” Nadia sounded utterly bewildered. “What about your father’s press conference tomorrow?”
“Tell him to forget it.”
“You’re leaving us?”
Santiago looked at Nadia one last time. “I’m sorry. I don’t really care about you, or the old man, either. Be honest. Neither of you really care about me. You ignored me until you had a use for me.”
“But you’re supposed to be the heir,” she wailed. “You’re supposed to make me a duchess!”
He snorted, shaking his head. “Tell my father that if he wants an heir, I recommend he marry you himself.”
Leaving her behind, Santiago left the castle of Sangovia for good.
He was done with his old childish dreams. There was only one dream he wanted now. One dream that was real, and for that, he would risk everything he had. Heart and soul.
* * *
