Secrets of a Powerful Man(61)

Darcey’s heart thudded as his words slowly sank in. ‘Do you mean you would leave Sicily for me?’

‘I would follow you to the ends of the earth if you asked me to.’ Salvatore drew a ragged breath. ‘Haven’t you worked it out by now, sweet Darcey? I love you. Nothing means more to me than your happiness. I don’t care where we live so long as your beautiful smile is the first thing I see every morning and I can hold you in my arms every night and make love to you with all the love that is in my heart.’

His mouth twisted when he saw her stunned expression.

‘I never knew I could feel like this. I didn’t believe I could fall in love. But within five minutes of walking into your office I was determined to take you to Sicily, and even back then I sensed that I would never want to let you go.’

Her silence filled Salvatore with black despair.

‘I appreciate your offer to leave Torre d’Aquila—’ she began.

He could not bear to hear the rest of her sentence. ‘But you don’t feel the same way about me—that’s what you’re going to say, isn’t it?’ His throat ached and he had to force the words out. ‘I should have expected it. I am not an easy man to love.’

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ she said softly. ‘I fell in love with you very easily about twenty seconds after you strolled into my office and immediately reorganised my life.’

‘Darcey?’ Salvatore closed his eyes briefly and when he opened them again his lashes were wet. ‘Tesoro...do you really love me?’

She heard the lonely boy he had once been and her heart cracked open.

‘You are everything...my world, the love of my life.’ Lost for words to tell him what he meant to her, she framed his face with her hands and drew his mouth down to hers.

It was a kiss unlike any they had shared before. Almost tentative at first, and achingly tender, a silent vow of unending love and the promise of passion as Salvatore took control and kissed her with fierce desire.

‘I left because I was scared of how much I love you,’ she admitted painfully. ‘I thought that if we were apart for a while I would be able to control my feelings for you.’ Her voice wobbled. ‘But I have missed you so much.’

‘Carissima, I have missed you desperately, but I wanted you to be able to concentrate on the play and I told myself I must be patient and wait for you. But I can’t wait any longer. Will you marry me?’ he said urgently. ‘We’ll need to discuss where we will live, and if you take film roles you’ll probably have to go away on location, but I know we can work things out. I love you, and all I want is to make you happy.’

Darcey stood on tiptoe and linked her arms around his neck. ‘Then take me home to your castle. I’m pleased to have done this play, but when it finishes I have no intention of taking any more roles. You belong at Torre d’Aquila and I belong with you,’ she told him softly. ‘What I want more than anything is to be your wife and Rosa’s mother. She is going to need speech therapy for a while yet, and I love her as if she were my own child.’

Her smile made Salvatore catch his breath.

‘My answer to your question is yes, I’d love to marry you. I hope we’ll fill the castle with our children, who will never doubt that we love them as deeply as we love each other.’

Salvatore drew Darcey into his arms and held her close, wondering if she could feel the thunderous beat of his heart. ‘Ti amo,’ he said, in a voice choked with emotion.

After a lifetime of burying his feelings he did not find it easy to express how he felt. But he showed her as he claimed her mouth and kissed her with all the love in his heart.

* * *

The play finished its run two days before Christmas. Salvatore and Rosa had moved into Darcey’s tiny house in London with her and they had lived together as a family. On Christmas Eve they woke to find a thick layer of snow on the ground. It was the first time Rosa had seen snow, and she was wide-eyed with excitement as the car taking her and Darcey to the church drove through the white streets.

Being a bridesmaid was a big responsibility, and the little girl clutched her basket of white rosebuds tightly as she followed Darcey down the aisle to where Papa was waiting. Papa had said that today Darcey was going to become his wife and Rosa’s mamma. Rosa felt so happy that she gave a little skip and waved to her cousin Nico, who was watching the proceedings with his parents and baby brother.

At the altar Salvatore could not resist turning his head to watch the two people he loved more than anything in the world walk towards him. Rosa looked adorable in her red velvet cloak, but his eyes were drawn to the woman who had stolen his heart. Darcey was breathtaking in a white silk bridal gown edged with pearls at the neckline and the hems of the long sleeves. In her hands she carried a bouquet of red roses, and her only jewellery was the heart-shaped diamond pendant he had given to her, which sparkled in the rays of the winter sunshine.