“What?” The question came from more than one of her relatives.
“He released her,” Gianna repeated. “And it worked.”
For the first time in her entire life she heard Primo swear. She was so shocked she could only sit and stare, openmouthed. Her grandfather spared Sev a brief, sorrowful look. “It pains me to say this about my own son, but Dominic lied.”
Gianna shook her head. “No. No, he didn’t. He left after that and Aunt Laura called a friend. She said that The Inferno was gone. She said she felt it leave when Uncle Dominic released her. And she was glad. Glad The Inferno couldn’t force her to love someone against her will any longer. Now she could go sailing with him in the morning while they discussed the divorce and it wouldn’t interfere with her decisions.” Gianna started to cry. “I’m sorry. I never wanted to tell any of you this because you were all so happy. Now I’ve ruined it for everyone.”
Constantine swept her into his arms and cradled her close. “Shh, piccola. You haven’t ruined anything.”
“Yes, I have. I released you. The Inferno is gone. You won’t love me now.”
“Is it gone?” he asked tenderly. “All this time I have been sitting here listening to your story and my palm has itched and throbbed just as it always has. Even more important…” He took a deep breath. “I have never in my life told a woman I loved her. I’ve even resisted saying it to you. Pride, I suppose. A last defense against something beyond my control.”
She fought to free herself from his hold, but he wouldn’t let her go. “You don’t want to love me, do you?”
“I don’t want to be controlled by love,” he corrected. “So much of my life was spent being controlled by others, by circumstance, by my family’s financial difficulties, that I fought what cannot be fought. What I wasn’t willing to admit until this moment is that love doesn’t mean surrendering control.” He looked at her then, his dark eyes filled with an emotion impossible to mistake. “It means surrendering your heart into the safekeeping of someone you love and trust more than anyone else in the world. And that I do freely. Ti amo, piccola. I love you.”
Helpless tears flowed down her cheeks. “I don’t understand. I took away The Inferno.”
He laced their hands together. “Stop and feel with your heart. Is it still there, or not?”
Her breath caught. Yes. Yes, it was. She didn’t understand it. She stared in wonder at their linked hands. “I still feel it. How is that possible? I released you.”
Sev crouched in front of her. “Gianna, you should have told us this long ago. We would have explained the truth.” Pain ripped through his gaze. “My parents never felt The Inferno for each other. My father married my mother for her fortune, not because he loved her. He loved another woman, Cara Moretti. She was his Inferno soul mate.”
“But Aunt Laura said she felt The Inferno.”
Sev’s mouth compressed. “I’m sure Mamma thought she did. Though Babbo never loved her, not the way she deserved. That didn’t change the fact that she adored him. I think she wanted to feel The Inferno. So she convinced herself she did. But it wasn’t true.”
In all the years since her thirteenth birthday, not once had Gianna ever considered the possibility that her uncle had lied to her aunt. That he could have done such an awful thing to his wife. But he had. Considering how hard the knowledge hit her, it had to be far worse for Sev. Impulsively she threw her arms around his neck and wrapped him up in a fierce hug.
“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”
He patted her back. “I already knew most of it,” he reassured her. “I didn’t realize he’d used The Inferno to convince my mother to marry him. But it isn’t that big of a surprise, considering some of the other things he’s done.”
The information had also hit Primo and Nonna hard, particularly her grandmother. But there had always been a steely strength buried beneath Nonna’s sweetness. “This is a happy occasion, not a sad one,” she informed her family. “We are finished here, yes? It is time for the wedding.”
“No,” Constantine said. His hands slid from Gianna’s shoulders and he stood, folding his arms across his chest. “We’re not getting married. Not yet.”
Gianna rose and spun to face him, panic flaring to life. “Constantine?”
“You released me. That suggests you wanted to be released, too.”
Her panic grew, breaking across her in great, messy waves. “No. No, that’s not true.”