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She falls down a lot, but she laughs. Luckily, Ashley is an excellent skater, so she helps pick her up as they try again. Around and around they go, giggling as Mia wobbles here and there, though she gets the hang of it after a while.
Rayne captures pictures on her phone while stationary, then spots me when she passes by the barrier.
She skates over and says, “Dante, this was all so sweet of you. I can’t thank you enough.”
I brush it off. “As I said, Angelo wouldn’t forgive me if he knew it was Mia’s birthday and you guys ate pizza and watched movies in the hotel.”
She looks at me like she knows that is not the reason I did this.
“Level with me,” she says, her face bemused. “You like her, don’t you?”
I open my mouth to flat-out deny it, except no words come out.
I can’t lie. Not like this.
Rayne has been nothing but nice, and she’s going to be Angelo’s wife, my sister in law. She’s family. I shouldn’t have to lie to anyone in my family.
Looking her straight in the eye, I say, “I’d be lying if I said that I don’t.”
She nods. “I know you have a connection after what happened.” She pauses. “I’m just frightened of Mia getting hurt if she falls for you - and she’ll kill me for saying this, but sheisfalling for you. Especially after tonight…I don’t think she’d recover this time. It’s nothing personal, Dante. I think you’re a really great guy.”
“I would never do that,” I tell her honestly. “I’m not the kind of guy to hurt women just because I can.”
“I know that, and you wouldn’t probably mean to. Nevertheless, when Mia falls, she falls hard.”
“I’ve already fallen,” I say, the words blurting out of me like I have to get it off my chest. “The first time I saw her, when I was in the back of the car…that day…”
Rayne takes a few deep breaths. It’s hard for all of us to go back to that day. To be perfectly honest, I wish I could erase it from my memory.
“And that’s exactly what I mean. Are you sure that what you’re feeling isn’t just affection? You’re a good guy. You feel bad for her, because she was hurt…”
“I do feel all those things, but that’s not the reason.”
She doesn’t let up. “Then what is?”
“Sometimes you just know.” I stare at her. “I know you know what I’m talking about. How far along were you in Angelo’s demise before you realized you were in love with him?”
She swallows hard, looking away. When her eyes meet mine, I see the resolve in their depths. “I get your point.”
“Tell me.”
“When he cooked dinner for me at his house,” she says.
I smirk. “Angelo cooks?”
“Nonna’s carbonara.”
“That’s cheating, easiest recipe in the world.”
She smiles. “I support your overall goal. Believe me, Mia needs a strong, capable man who will give her the world, but she also needs to have her freedom. Not many men can get that balance right. I don’t want her to forget about all of the things she wants out of life.”
“Meaning, you think it’ll be all about me.”
“Not exactly, but I know how she is with men.”
I nod. “I understand, but if your sister were mine, she’d be treated like a queen. I would give her the world and burn everything else in it.”
“That’s what scares me. I know how the Medici men are, all of you…you’re intense. You’re all powerful. What you say goes…”
