Dante's Unexpected Legacy(79)

                She had no desire to resurrect the past. ‘I’m here now, so do we talk or did you have something else in mind?’

                Dante’s laugh was so joyous that Rose laughed with him as his lips and hands told her exactly what he had in mind as he made love to her with patience which ended abruptly when for the first time she initiated some caresses of her own. Dante surrendered joyously to his hunger and took her to the very peak of physical rapture and held her there, gasping with her in the throes of it before they returned to earth.

                ‘If we get married—’ she said later, lying boneless in Dante’s arms.

                ‘When we get married,’ Dante corrected and turned her face up to his. ‘What were you going to say, amore?’

                ‘I wondered what kind of wedding you had with Elsa.’ So they could do something completely different—if her answer was yes. As it was going to be, she realised. There was no way she could deprive her child of the kind of life she’d experienced today.

                ‘Elsa was in such a hurry after I told her about you she changed her plans for the wedding of the year into a brief visit to the town hall—but with many photographers there to record the wedding of Elsa Marino, supermodel, naturalmente.’ Dante shrugged. ‘I was glad of a civil ceremony. It was easier to end our marriage later when she met Enrico and his money.’

                ‘But you must have been in love with her in the beginning, surely?’

                ‘I was attracted by the outer beautiful shell—also she was very skilled in bed,’ he said bluntly. ‘We knew each other for so short a time I did not discover the true Elsa until our wedding night, when she told me the pregnancy was a lie, and that she had no intention of having children ever.’

                ‘What on earth did you do?’ said Rose.

                He took a deep breath. ‘For the first time in my life I could have done violence to a woman. To avoid this I did something which injured her far more. I went into the salone of our suite and locked the door. She screamed and cursed me for rejecting her but, as I told you before, and I swear it is the truth, I never touched her again throughout the sham of our marriage.’ Dante shuddered and hugged her close. ‘No more talk of Elsa, per favore.’

                Rose agreed fervently. ‘I just asked so we could plan something completely different for our wedding.’ She felt the graceful, muscular body tense against hers as she turned her face up to his.

                ‘Finalmente! You will marry me?’

                ‘You said it’s what you want.’

                His eyes blazed with triumph. ‘More than anything in my life.’ He caught her close and kissed her passionately. ‘I promise you will never regret this, Rose.’

                ‘I’ll hold you to that.’ She kissed him back.

                Dante rubbed his cheek against hers. ‘Now you have said yes at last we must make plans. We could have the wedding at the Hermitage. Tony does these often. Then after the ceremony we have a party like the Vilari wedding.’ He reached out a hand to switch on the bedside lamp and looked down into Rose’s face. ‘But this time you will be the bride and I shall gain my heart’s desire of a child at last.’

                Tears welled in her eyes, and Dante caught her to him. ‘Do not cry, tesoro. If you do not like this idea—’

                ‘Oh, but I do, I do—I love it,’ she said thickly, and knuckled away the tears which had welled at the mention of a child. Not, she assured herself, ashamed, that she was jealous of Bea. She just wanted Dante’s heart’s desire to include her as well as Bea.