AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No,cara.No.” He was emphatic. “I don’t have all the answers yet,” he said with that same quiet determination. “I admit, there are some practical matters to consider, and these will take time to resolve. But one thing is not up for negotiation: in loving you, I ask to be a part of your family with Dash, not to take you away from him. I have known the pain of being a child who was abandoned; I would never inflict that hurt onto another.”
A single tear rolled down Charlotte’s cheek. All the hope that had been growing inside her started to burst, to have full reign of her body, but reality was there too, the reality of the last few years which had left her jaded and uncertain, and too quick to believe in worst case scenarios.
“This is impossible,” she said slowly, another tear rolling down her cheek. “You live in Italy, I live here.”
“I have had that same thought. We can fix that.”
She shook her head. “Dash’s grandparents—I can’t—,”
He regarded Charlotte, waiting for her to continue.
She expelled a breath, then spoke with a voice that was husky with emotion. “They’ve always made it very clear that if I get involved with someone, and Dash is no longer my priority, they’ll fight me for custody. I can’t risk that, Alessio.”
“Just let them try,” he responded with a voice that was flooded with strength and resolve. “You will have all my resources at your disposal,cara.There is no fight they can pick with you that they would win.”
Charlotte was in awe of his confidence. Then again, this was not a mere mortal.
“But you’re—Alessio, listen. This last week has been amazing,” she said with sincerity. “Truly one of the best of my life.”
He waited, one brow lifted.
“But what if you don’t feel like this in a week’s time. Or a week after that? I can’t…the way I feel…if I open myself up to this, and you, I’m so scared of what will happen if you change your mind.”
“And why would I change my mind?”
“Because you don’t do long term relationships,” she said, simply. “You told me that.”
“That’s true,” he agreed with a nod. “Then again, I have never met anyone like you before,cara.”
She smiled but still, her heart was uncertain. She knew what she wanted, but the future was so impossible to see, and the leap of faith so large.
“I am asking too much,” he said, with a single nod, showing that he understood. “Instead of asking what I really want, let me say this: what are you doing for New Year’s Eve?”
Her eyes sparkled as she lifted her gaze to his face, this question far easier to answer. “I’m working.”
“And afterwards?”
She didn’t tell him that she’d be exhausted. It was too pragmatic and sensible.
“You will be tired,” he said, understanding anyway. “So, what if I run you a bath and pour you a champagne, and we have a quiet toast together, to ring in the year ahead?”
It all sounded so simple, when he put it like that.
“We will take this week by week,mia amore.Step by step,” he moved closer, “for all the steps we take together, side by side,” she blinked up at him, “for the rest of our lives.”
Charlotte’s heart skipped a beat because, as he said the words, she heard the truth of them andknew, beyond any hint of doubt, that he was right.
They would walk, side by side, partners, lovers, friends, family, for as long as they both shall live. There were details to resolve, but details were neither here nor there when two hearts were in lockstep, as theirs had been from the first moment they met.
Epilogue
CHARLOTTE DIDN’T KNOW IF promises made at Christmas were more likely to be unbroken than those made at other times of the year, but something weaved around herself and Alessio that night that became an indefinable part of her soul. She felt it in her breath, her body, her heart, her core. She saw it with her own eyes, the very next morning, when he took over the kitchen to make chocolate chip pancakes for Dash’s breakfast and entertained the little boy with stories of his own childhood—tobogganing down steep, snow-covered hills and feasting on hot chocolates and marshmallows.
Charlotte watched, bemused by this turn of events, and so full of love she couldn’t believe it.
Her relationship with Caleb suffered initially. The development was difficult for him in multiple ways. That Charlotte had fallen in love with any other man would have been hard enough for Caleb, but that it was his own half-brother, a man he professed to hate, made it very difficult for Caleb to be around the two of them initially. Harder still was the sight of Alessio with Dash. As the weeks turned to months and the weather grew warm, it was obvious that Alessio was an excellent addition to the boy’s life. He didn’t push the relationship, nor did he expect Dash to be comfortable with him straight away, but rather, he was just himself around Dash, and as time passed, Alessio became an indispensable part of Dash’s life too.
Charlotte had lived in fear of Dash’s grandparents suing for custody, and while she didn’t doubt that Alessio would have done whatever he could to protect her from that reality, she hadn’t banked on the charm offensive he launched. Rather than doing anything that might turn the relationship combative, Alessio—who quickly bought a large home only two miles from the pub—insisted on inviting Dash’s grandparents to stay with him one weekend in the spring. The visit was a success, and Charlotte was able to exhale for the first time in years, without the ever-present spectre of a custody dispute on the horizon.
