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He bent forward, kissing her tear-wet eyes, and then, in tender homage, grazed her soft, trembling lips with his.
It was, without doubt, the sweetest, most precious moment in all the world.
How could I have not known? How could I have not seen? Not realised what was happening day after day? Night after night? Not known how precious she is to me?
It seemed extraordinary to him now. Extraordinary and unbelievable. That he had gone on thinking for so long that the original reasons why they had married still had anything at all to do with what was between them now...
He lifted his mouth away from hers, his eyes pouring golden love into the beautiful blue ones that were lifted to his with an expression of wonder in them that made his heart turn over until he felt breathless.
He gave a smile. A crooked smile. Pressed her hands fast between his. Holding them against his heart, which from this moment on would beat for her and her alone.
Then a regretful expression appeared in his eyes. He shook his head in rueful self-castigation. ‘You know,’ he said, and there was sincere remorse in his voice as eyes poured gold into hers, ‘la mia amata moglie—my most beloved—you’re going to have to face having a husband who, for all his financial savvy, is absolutely, shamefully and extraordinarily stupid.’
A voice spoke from the doorway. ‘I will second that,’ said Rafaello.
Dante’s head whipped round. Rafaello was lounging against the doorjamb, perusing the scene. Dante was about to speak, but Rafaello’s attention was on Connie now.
‘He’s an idiot,’ he said, with a smile in his voice, ‘and I’ve had to go to quite ridiculous lengths to get him to finally realise it—shocking him into it with the threat of the divorce I urged you to pursue, Connie.’
His smile deepened.
‘But for all his idiocy and blindness in not realising that you were the one he must keep and cherish all his life, he’s still my friend.’ He levered himself away from the doorjamb. ‘And if he hasn’t told you yet that he loves you just as much as it is obvious to me that you love him—well, then, he’s an even bigger idiot than I think him already!’
Dante threw him a dagger glance, but this time it had no real blade in it. ‘Raf, get out!’ he said warningly, but in a friendly fashion.
Rafaello threw up a hand. ‘I only looked in to tell you the nurse says five minutes longer and no more.’
He retreated, closing the door behind him. Dante turned his attention back to Connie. The only place he wanted it to be—would only ever want it to be.
He pressed her hands. ‘Five minutes, hmm...? Well, I think I can do it in that time.’
He bent forward, dropping down on to one knee but never for an instant letting go of Connie’s hand. He thought he would never let it go again, for all his days.
He lowered his mouth to Connie’s knuckles, which seemed to tremble at his touch. And as he lifted his mouth away his eyes pinned hers, blazing with golden light.
‘You stole into my heart, Connie, and I didn’t even know you were doing it. Your sweetness of nature, your devotion to your grandmother, the way I could talk to you, relax with you, be myself with you... You were becoming important to me, but I never realised just how much. And then, when you came to London and I saw just how beautiful you are, I wanted to sweep you away with me, into my arms, and keep you there. All those wonderful days and nights in Italy were so incredibly precious to me. The happiest time of my life—’
He broke off, emotion choking him.
Then: ‘I want that happiness to be for ever. For you and for me. I want our marriage to be a real one.’
His grip on her hand tightened.
He took a breath and said what was in his heart. ‘I proposed to you once, sitting in your grandmother’s parlour, and you stared at me as if I were mad.’ He gave a rueful twist of his mouth. ‘Would you stare at me that way again if I proposed now?’
He saw the tears well in her eyes again, felt her hand tremble in his again.
He took it as a good sign.
And proposed to her all over again.
She heard his words. Heard his voice. Heard in both all that she’d longed to hear.
‘I initially gave you many reasons for our marriage,’ she heard him say, ‘but now I give you only one.’
She saw his expression change, felt his clasp on her hand tighten. Emotion welled within her, and her fingers tightened on his in return.
Dante’s eyes clung to hers. ‘The reason I’m asking you to make your life with me, for ever and for always, is purely one abiding, eternal reason. For love.’
