Lukas's gaze snapped back to lock onto hers. "You-?" There was green fire in his gaze now, and hope in his eyes. "Holly?" His voice seemed to break.
Holly wetted her lips and nodded, then said them again. "I love you, Lukas. I do. I...didn't want to. I was afraid to."
"Afraid?" He sounded aghast. "I would never hurt you!" Then he had the grace to look abashed. "Once I did," he admitted. "Probably more than once, but I swear I won't anymore. Not ever. Not if I can help it," he added wryly. "I'm not very good at this."
Holly shook her head. She took his hands in hers, felt his fingers tighten around them. "You're very good at it," she said, and meant it. Once she'd allowed herself to believe what Lukas had told her, she realized how much effort he had made on her behalf. "I'm the one who's not," she admitted. "I'm the one who didn't trust. I told myself it was because you couldn't be trusted-"
"Imagine that," Lukas said wryly, but he was smiling now.
"But it wasn't you. It was me. I didn't trust myself to believe. I didn't think I had enough to make you happy. To keep you."
"For God's sake, Hol'!" he protested. "You've had me from the day you fell out of that damn tree!"
She laughed. "You wanted to throttle me!"
"Because I was eleven. When you're eleven that's what you do."
"Really?"
He nodded. "I think deep down, I've loved you for years."
Holly lowered her eyes, looked at their clasped hands, then raised her gaze again to meet his. "I loved you, too." She swallowed, then tried to explain. "I loved both of you. You were so different. He was warm, steady, constant, responsible."
"And I was not," Lukas said frankly, giving a rough laugh.
"You were...scary." She loosed one of her hands, lifting it to touch his cheek. "I never knew where I stood with you."
"In my heart."
Holly blinked at the prompt certainty of his response. "You had a funny way of showing it. Pulling pigtails. Trying to run off. Teasing."
"Like I said, I was eleven. I didn't do hearts and flowers. And by the time I woke up to what I should be doing," he said ruefully, "Matt already was."
Holly nodded. Neither of them spoke for a long moment, both of them, she was sure, thinking about Matt. "He kept me safe," she told Lukas.
"I know. He was the better man."
"No," Holly said quickly. "He was no more perfect than you are, than I am. And," she admitted for the first time, "you might have been right that we were too young to get engaged-"
"I wanted you for myself," Lukas told her. "I didn't deliberately mean to hurt you that night. I wanted you to give him up, pick me instead." He shook his head. "Thank God you didn't. I wasn't mature enough to get married then. Matt was."
"He was the right man for me at that time."
Lukas nodded. "Yes." He took her hand. He ran his fingers over it, then clasped it in his, firm and strong. He didn't say a word, just looked at her. Holly knew what he was asking. She could see his heart in his eyes.
"I don't need a grant," she told him. "You've given me the courage. I'm still scared-not that you don't love me, but that I'll lose you, too."
"No! I promise-"
She touched his lips with her fingers. "You can only promise to love me, Lukas, as I promise to love you. That's all we can do." She gave him a tremulous smile. "So. If you're still offering, I'd love to marry you, Lukas Antonides."
He took her into his arms before the words were out of her mouth. His kiss was fierce and possessive, and Holly met him with a desperation all her own. He got brick dust all over her-on her clothes, on her face, in her hair. He might have got it in far more scandalous places, but as he was sliding his hands up under her shirt, she shifted to give him more access and accidentally kicked his injured foot.
Lukas winced.
Holly felt sanity returning, at least momentarily.
"Up," Holly insisted, standing, then hauling a limping Lukas to his feet. "You need ice, compression, rest, elevation."
"Bed," Lukas translated, grinning. He looped an arm over Holly's shoulders, then lifted a hopeful brow as she helped him hobble toward the stairs. "You are the best thing that ever happened to me, Hol'. I love you."
Holly went up on her toes and brushed her lips against Lukas's. "I love you, too." It still scared her. But not as much as being without him did. "And yes, my love," she said with an impish smile, "a bed sounds like a great idea. I think we can arrange that."
* * * * *
Keep reading for a bonus novella by Amanda Cinelli, CHRISTMAS AT THE CASTELLO!
'THERE'S STILL SOMETHING MISSING.'
Dara stood poised at the top of the staircase, looking over the Winter Wonderland theme that had transformed the opulent grand ballroom below her. Her assistant, Mia, waited patiently by her side. The younger woman had long ago got used to her boss's obsessive eye for detail. Devlin Events was about creating perfect Sicilian weddings for their high-profile clients. Over the past three years Dara had gained an army of the industry's most talented people and put them onto her payroll, but she still liked to oversee the final run-throughs at their most prominent venues. There was no one in the industry who could spot the little things better than she. And right now something was off.
Sweeping yet another glance around the room, she mentally checked off twenty-five tables, each adorned with a glittering crystal tree centrepiece. The overall effect was like a winter forest, with white and blue lighting completing the wintry theme. Her bride, a famous opera singer, had expressly forbidden any real flower arrangements on the tables. She had instead ordered hundreds of spherical arrangements of fresh white and pink roses, to be suspended from the ceiling in intricately symmetrical clusters.
Dara counted across the floating flower bombs-as she had so lovingly named them. She got as far as the third row before she noticed the problem.
She sighed. 'They've doubled up on the colours.'
Mia's head snapped up. 'Are you sure?'
'Right over here.'
She walked down the marble staircase, the click of her heels echoing on the hard surface. She came to a stop underneath the offending decoration. It wasn't a major issue, but it was damned irritating now she'd noticed it. Mia's quiet voice came from behind her.
'Should I fetch one of the guys from the ceremony room?'
Dara shook her head. 'The wedding is due to start in two hours-the ceremony room is priority.' She smoothed down the front of her sleek red pencil skirt, trying to focus on everything but the mismatched flowers above her. Her eyes drifted upwards again.
Mia laughed. 'I'll go and get somebody.'
She disappeared out through the door, leaving Dara alone in the glittering winter ballroom.
The rest of the room was perfect. Her team was talented, and very capable of doing most of the work unchaperoned. She could pick and choose which events to attend, leaving her plenty of time to travel with her jet-setting husband. But it had been three weeks since she and Leo had been together-his newest business expansion into Asia had kept him away much longer than usual.
The restlessness that had plagued her over the past months seemed to have intensified in the absence of her husband. Three weeks was the longest they had spent apart. She was unable to shake the feeling that something was wrong-or perhaps something was about to go wrong.
Their joint venture into charity work in Sicily kept her busy. The Valente Foundation was doing fantastic work in some of the most disadvantaged areas on the island. And with Christmas fast approaching there was lots of volunteer work to do. But, as busy as she kept herself, something still kept her wide awake at night and staring at the ceiling.
Making a snap decision, she grabbed a ladder from nearby and set it up, removing her heels in the process. She didn't need to stand here waiting for a big strong man to fix the problem. There was no reason why she couldn't do it herself.
She quickly reached the top, keeping both hands in front of her on the cold metal for balance. It was true: if you wanted a job done well, sometimes you had to do it yourself. She focused on the arrangement, unhooking it from its place and lowering it down. It was heavier than she had expected, and she gasped as the world unexpectedly tilted on its axis.
'Dio, what is it with you and ladders?' a deep voice shouted from below her as the ladder suddenly righted itself and she was entirely vertical again.