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Tia swallowed. ‘But you told her that you’d always love her.’
Luca frowned. ‘I may have told her that, but—’
‘But he didn’t mean it in a romantic sense.’ Luisa spoke in a pathetically small voice. ‘When I found out he was marrying you I went to see him at the hospital and—well, he was kind to me but very blunt. He told me again that he would never want a relationship with me. I was dreadfully upset and he did tell me that he’d always love me, but of course he just meant as a friend. Deep down I knew there was no hope, but I had a terrible crush on him. I was still kidding myself that he loved me when I spoke to his mother the day of your wedding. I was so crazy about him it made me do stupid things—do you understand?’
Tia thought she probably did understand. She knew just how powerful an effect Luca could have on women.
‘So you’re saying…’ Her voice cracked and she looked at Luca questioningly. ‘You’re saying that what I heard the day of the wedding was nonsense?’
‘Complete nonsense.’ Luca’s eyes gleamed. ‘Something I would have confirmed had you bothered to ask me. Next time you overhear something, it might be wise to discuss it with me, cara mia. It might save us all a great deal of anguish.’
Tia glanced back at Luisa. ‘So why have you come here now?’
Luisa blushed. ‘I’ve met someone,’ she confessed, ‘and we are on holiday in England. I wanted to bring him to meet Luca and apologise for my behaviour. I threw myself at him and behaved very badly.’
Tia flopped back against her pillows and stared at Luca, the colour rising in her cheeks as she met his eyes.
‘Luisa, I believe your boyfriend is waiting downstairs.’ Luca barely gave her a glance but she took the hint immediately.
‘Yes, I’ve got to go.’ She hurried towards the door and cast a final apologetic look at Tia before leaving the room.
Tia stared down at the bedcovers, not knowing what to say. She felt the bed dip and Luca’s solid thigh appeared in her line of vision.
‘Luca, I’m sorry,’ she whispered, hardly daring to look at him. ‘I ruined the wedding and…I really thought you were in love.’
‘I was in love,’ he said quietly, reaching for her hands and taking them in his. ‘With you. From the first moment I saw you in Venice.’
She lifted her eyes to his and shook her head slightly. ‘No.’
‘Yes,’ he said firmly.
There was a long silence. A silence that seemed to stretch for ever.
Finally Tia shifted. ‘But—’
‘It seems to me that we still aren’t talking enough, cara,’ he murmured, his voice rough as he stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. ‘So I’m going to talk now. It’s true that Luisa had a crush on me and maybe I should have told you, but to be honest it didn’t seem important. I was in love with you and spending all my time trying to find ways to make you love me back. I thought that when I told my family I was getting married the problem of Luisa would be solved.’
Tia stared at him. ‘But I thought you were marrying me because I was pregnant.’
He shook his head slowly. ‘No. I was marrying you because I was in love with you. Madly in love with you.’
‘But when I told you that I was pregnant, you were horrified.’
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. ‘I know that it seemed that way, but it wasn’t true. I was very pleased, but also very afraid.’
‘Afraid?’ She was thoroughly confused and he gave a sigh.
‘Yes, afraid. You see, I kne
w how wary you were of men,’ he said quietly. ‘I knew that you were very confused about your feelings for me. I could see that what happened between us physically confused and overwhelmed you, and I was trying to give you space and time to adjust. And then we found out that you were pregnant.’
‘I thought you didn’t want me any more. You spent more and more time at the hospital.’
‘That’s true.’ His voice was suddenly gruff and he walked slowly back to the bed and settled himself next to her. ‘And the reason I spent all that time at the hospital was because I was desperate to finish writing up my research work so that I could be released early and take a job in England. I wanted to take you home, Tia. I thought things might be easier between us if you were in your own country.’
Her eyes met his, her heart thumping uncomfortably in her chest. What was he saying?
‘I loved you from the first moment I saw you. But before you had time to get used to the idea you were pregnant, and I was so angry with myself for that. You were so wary of marriage, I should have given you time to adjust to the idea, instead of which I moved so fast you barely had time to think. And then you panicked. You were suddenly terrified of what you’d done, totally overwhelmed by the enormity of it. And I knew that I’d made a mistake to rush you.’
