“I don’t think you were ever a doormat, Theresa. I think you were trying to make the best of a bad situation and in the end when you no longer could, you showed me who you truly were. I was fascinated with you before but once I started seeing the real you, I fell hard and fast. I was appalled when I realised that you knew nothing about your father’s sick arrangement. I hated what I’d done to you, how I’d made you suffer for his mistakes. I tried to make it up to you but by then you clearly despised me and with good reason. I wanted get to know you, I wanted us to have a real marriage but you insisted that you wanted nothing to do with me… and Theresa, if you ever wanted revenge for the way I’d treated you, you got it in spades when it felt like nothing I was doing or saying was making any difference to the way you felt about me.
“And then when you told me you were pregnant,” he knelt on the bed and stared down into their sleeping baby’s face, before raising his eyes to hers. “Suddenly it felt like there was a ticking time bomb in the house. I didn’t have all the time in the world to make you love me again; I had only a few short months. The one thing I’d wanted above all else in the beginning was now a noose around my throat, tightening with every passing day. I loved the baby with everything in me but I feared it too because I was terrified that it would eventually take you away from me. I didn’t want you to exclude me from the pregnancy, I wanted to show you what we could like if we operated as a solid family unit but you were so depressingly obsessed with having a son that it felt like a constant uphill battle. I started praying for a girl because I knew a girl would buy me more time. A girl would keep you with me longer; it would also prove to you, once and for all that your father’s ridiculous contract meant nothing to me anymore. That I wanted our marriage to last forever.” He finally seemed to run out of words, taking in a deep breath of air and exhaling it shakily. His eyes searched hers desperately but she kept her expression neutral, despite the joy bubbling up inside of her. This vulnerable and naked passion was what she’d been waiting for. He’d finally bared his soul for her and it was almost blindingly beautiful.
“So you want our marriage to last forever?” She finally asked after a long silence.
“Yes.”
“And you love our baby?”
“Yes, of course.”
“And you love me?” Her voice shook a bit at the enormity of that realisation.
“God, yes!”
“Good.”
“Just good?” He asked in disbelief.
“Well, what else do you want from me?” She asked innocently and he growled. She laughed at the feral sound, before reaching up her free hand to cup his tense jaw. “Sandro, you gorgeous idiot… I never stopped loving you. I just got much better at hiding it from you. I was too afraid of being hurt again.”
“I’ll never hurt you again,” he promised vehemently.
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Alessandro” she warned direly.
“Okay, I’ll try my best not to inadvertently hurt you again,” he rephrased carefully and she smiled, the old affectionate smile that she used to shower him with in the beginning of their marriage. She heard Sandro’s breath catch at the sight.
“Much better,” she approved and he growled again, this time the sound was more a sexy purr than a warning. He swept both her and Lily up in a fierce hug but when Lily made a high-pitched sound of protest, he let them go reluctantly.
“I love you with all my heart, Theresa and I want to marry you,” he said huskily and she started.
“I love you too, Sandro but the last time I checked we were already married.”
“I want to give you the wedding you should have had, cara. I want to make my vows again and mean them with all my heart.”
“You don’t have to do that, Sandro,” she shook her head. “I know you love me. You don’t have to prove anything to me.”
“I don’t have to do it, Theresa… but I want to do it. I want my family there to see me marry the woman who holds my heart in her hands. Please marry me again, Theresa, and make me the happiest man in the world.”
She wound an arm around his neck and dragged his head down for a long kiss.
“Yes. With all my heart yes, Sandro.”
Epilogue
The weather on the late spring day in September was perfect. The sun was shining and the sky was a gorgeous shade of blue with not a single cloud marring its perfection. The string quartet struck up the bridal march and the small gathering of people who were seated on the wrought iron chairs in the beautiful garden all turned in unison, craning their necks to see the bride.
Theresa clung to the arm of her maid of honour as she regally made her way down the flower-strewn red carpet. Her eyes were fixed on the tall man standing beneath the rose bower, his hands were solemnly folded, one over the other, in front of him and his eyes were devouring her as she walked towards him. He looked gorgeous in his simple black suit, his hair had been cut close to his scalp and as she got even closer, she could see the nick on his jaw where he’d cut himself shaving that morning. She could see the appreciation in his gaze as he took in her simple ivory chiffon slip dress, with its lightly beaded sweetheart neckline, to its dropped waistline and the ankle length flowing skirt. Her gleaming hair was topped with a simple coronet of white roses and in her hands she held an equally simple bouquet of creamy white roses.
She stepped up beside him and Lisa, her maid of honour, offered Sandro his bride’s slender right hand. He smiled down at his wife’s cousin and dropped an appreciative kiss on her smooth cheek before focusing his attention on his beautiful bride. Theresa handed her bouquet over to Lisa, who stepped back to stand beside Gabriel Braddock, Sandro’s best man. Theresa had eyes only for her husband, who looked absolutely stunned at the sight of her.