‘Yes, I was hurting, but I should never have taken it out on you.’ He breathed in deeply, inhaling her scent. ‘I was scared. I’ve spent so many years believing myself to be unworthy of love that I couldn’t see past it. That letter you sent to my mother—I can’t tell you how that made me feel, knowing you had done that for me. If I could capture that moment I would cherish it for ever.’ Now his eyes burned into hers, searching. ‘You said on my yacht that if you loved someone you would cherish them for what they could give you and not what they couldn’t.’
‘I love you, Pascha. Sterile or fertile, it makes no difference to me.’
‘I know you do. If there’s one thing you’ve taught me, it’s that love is infinite. Andrei loved me, truly loved me. And if you and he can love this stubborn fool of a man then I know I can love a vulnerable child who’s desperate for a home.’
Pascha couldn’t hold himself back any more. He needed to kiss her. Properly. He crashed his lips onto hers, holding her so tightly, kissing her so thoroughly, being so thoroughly kissed in return that all the tightness inside him loosened.
‘Please, say you’ll marry me? Will you become Emily Plushenko?’
‘Of course I will...’ That familiar groove formed in her brow. ‘Emily Plushenko?’
He smiled sadly. ‘I kept thinking of the butterfly tattoo in the small of your back and what a personal memorial to your mother it was. It made me think. If I can’t restore Andrei’s legacy, then I can honour him personally. I’ve changed my name back to Andrei’s. I should never have turned away from it in the first place. But one thing I don’t want to change is you. I love you for who you are, exactly as you are.’
‘And I love you exactly as you are too.’
Suddenly it dawned on him, really dawned on him, that this passionate, crazy, loyal woman loved him. She loved him. She belonged to him just as he belonged to her. The only thing that bound them together was love.
And as he smothered her mouth in a kiss full of all the emotion pouring out of him, he knew their love would last a lifetime.