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She couldn’t form words.
“Have dinner with me tonight,” he forestalled her. “Give me a chance to convince you.”
Deep down, she was already convinced, but Bronte nodded slowly, a challenge passing from her to him, a gauntlet thrown down. “One date – one night. That’s it.”
His laugh was a deep rumble. “We’ll see.”
It was a date that turned into a weekend. A weekend of Luca cooking for Bronte and making her laugh, and more importantly, making her forget. It was a weekend that changed the make up of her soul and made her feel as though life was suddenly almost too bright to bear. It was a weekend that left her with absolutely no doubts as to what she wanted.
“Marry me.”
She stared at him as the sun rose on Monday morning, their lives ahead of them.
It was crazy. Madness. “Luca!” She shook her head. “We’ve just met.”
“So?” He answered her laugh with one of his own. “You were dating Ashton four years and it never felt like this, right?”
She nodded, tears in her eyes.
“And I was engaged to someone because it was the ‘right’ thing to do and God, I dreaded every day of that reality. That’s how I know how right this is, Bronte. My darling, beautiful, carissima, bella Bronte.” Her heart flipped like a seal.
“Don’t answer me now.” He turned away from her, walking towards a drawer in the kitchen and opening it slowly. “But wear this, while you are deciding.”
She held her breath, expecting him to return with a small jeweller’s box. She was wrong. While it was clearly from a jeweller, this box was large. She opened it and gasped at the solitaire diamond that sparkled back at her, set in four claws and suspended from a necklace.
“This isn’t an engagement ring.”
“I wasn’t sure you’d want one of those,” he said quietly. “This is a token of my love – a small token.”
She bit back a rejection of that description. She was no expert but the diamond was easily the size of her thumb. She’d guess five carats.
“This was Yaya’s. When I told her about you, she suggested you have it.”
Bronte’s stomach swirled. “You’ve told her about me?”
“She has a nose for this sort of thing,” he said with a laugh.
“What did she say?” Bronte fingered the diamond, her eyes wide.
“That she hopes you’re not so British as to insist on remaining in this country forever,” he grinned.
“And what did you say?”
“That I love you and where we live is your decision.”
Bronte tilted her head to the side. “To which she replied?”
“That I’m a very smart man.” He winked, crouching down in front of her. “This isn’t an engagement ring but it is a promise, Bronte, that I am yours – all of me – for as long as we live.”
She stared at him, her throat thickening with emotions, her heart about to explode. “And to think, it all started with a lie,” she clucked in a soft voice.
“It was no lie.” He corrected, lifting up so he could hook the necklace around her throat. “It was a truth neither of us realised yet, that’s all.”
Epilogue
“COME HERE, CARA.” BRONTE smiled at hearing that same term of endearment from Yaya’s lips. She turned to find the older woman standing a few metres away, watching Bronte thoughtfully.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Bronte said, placing the ornament down on a nearby table and moving towards Luca’s grandmother.
