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After Constanza had buttoned her into it, she folded a white fur cloak around Lia’s shoulders and gave her a pair of white boots to put her feet into.
‘Is this...?’ Lia began to say and then faltered.
Constanza merely turned towards the door. ‘Follow me.’
And Lia did, half in a daze, not understanding what was happening, though a part of her knew. A part of her had recognised that this was a gown and it was wedding white.
But she didn’t want to think about it, didn’t want to hope, so she followed Constanza down the stairs and into the living area, where the doors to the terrace outside were already open.
Chilly wind whipped through the open door, the terrace outside sparkling in the winter sunlight.
Shining on the man who stood by the parapet waiting for her.
He was dressed in black and he was staring at her, his grey eyes molten silver. He was alone.
‘Rafael...’ Her voice failed, her throat going thick.
‘I’m sorry, Lia,’ he said, his voice that rough velvet she loved so much. ‘I am so sorry about last night. I kept things from you, hid things from you. What happened to my mother was her story and I didn’t feel I could tell anyone, but... I felt you needed the truth. And here is another truth.’ His eyes blazed. ‘I love you,princesa.I have loved you for a long time, I think, but I didn’t recognise it for what it was. I was afraid. Afraid that if I opened myself up to it, I’d lose control, become something terrible like Carlos. But it was you who showed me differently. You who made me see that love isn’t something to be afraid of, that it isn’t pain and suffering. That it is healing and warmth and strength.’
Lia’s eyes were so full of tears, she could barely see his tall figure in front of her. ‘Why? What changed?’
‘A phone call from an old friend.’ His expression softened just a touch. ‘Yes, I have friends.’
She swallowed and then she was walking towards him, her feet crunching in the freshly fallen snow. ‘You’re not like Carlos, Rafael. You know that, don’t you? You finally believe it?’
‘Sí.’The fierce heat in his eyes had something else in it now, not just pain, but something more. Something that wasn’t desperation, but a certain kind of peace. ‘And because I am not my father, if you do not wish to marry me, you can walk away. Say the word and you’ll never have to hear from me again. I’ll leave you to make your own choices, to follow your own heart.’
Lia blinked hard through her tears, meeting his gaze. ‘I’ve followed my heart already. That’s why I’m standing here.’
A fierce expression crossed his face, part-possessive, part-protective, all love. ‘Are you sure? You don’t have to choose me if you don’t want to.’
Even now, he was holding himself back.
Foolish, stubborn man.
Her throat was tight and sore, but there had never been any doubt about the feeling in her heart. That this man was worth the fight to have him.
And there would be more fights in the future, because no relationship was ever a simple bed of roses, but she knew in the deepest heart of her that she would battle to keep him with her last living breath, because he was worth it no matter the cost.
‘I do want to,’ she said simply. ‘And I choose you, Rafael. I will always choose you.’
He lifted a hand, not taking his gaze from hers, and from out of the house came three men. All tall. All ridiculously handsome—one was even wearing a crown.
The dark-eyed man in the crown came to stand next to Rafael, while the other man, dark-haired and wearing sunglasses, came to stand on the other side.
The third man, again dark-haired and dark-eyed, with olive skin, who wore his immaculate suit with a certain careless insouciance, gave her a smile that if she hadn’t been about to marry the man she loved would have knocked her socks off. ‘Your bride, Rafael,’ the man said, ‘is exquisite.’
‘Stop trying to charm her, Zeus, and marry us,’ Rafael growled.
Lia coughed delicately. ‘Rafael...’
‘Mi princesa,’Rafael said, sliding an arm around her waist and drawing her close. ‘These are my friends, Vincenzo and Jag.’ He indicated the man wearing the crown and the man in sunglasses. ‘And my other disreputable friend Prince Zeus, who has been ordained and can marry us.’
‘This is much better than the cathedral,’ Lia said and leaned against her husband to be. ‘Yes, please marry us, Prince Zeus.’
It was a very quick ceremony and afterwards there was champagne. Lia thought Rafael might want to spend time with his friends, but they didn’t linger. Vincenzo had his own wife to get home to and Zeus and Jag had other ‘adventures’ to attend, according to Zeus.
Lia had her own adventure, too.
