‘I wouldn’t... I didn’t.’
He shook his head. ‘I know. I condemned you for something that never happened. Something you tried to tell me you would never do. But I was so bitter and twisted I couldn’t see what was in front of me.’
‘What was that?’
‘The love I have for you and the probability that you could perhaps love me, too.’
Her breath caught. ‘W-what?’
‘I know I’ve blown all that now—’
‘You mean you don’t love me?’
He speared a hand through his hair and jumped up. ‘Of course I love you. That’s not the point here, I meant—’
‘I think you’ll find that’s the whole point, Narciso,’ she murmured, her heart racing.
He stopped. Stared down at her. Slowly his eyes widened. Ruby knew what he was seeing in her face. The love she’d tried for so long and so hard to smother was finally bursting out of her.
‘Dio mio,’ he breathed.
‘You can say that again.’
‘Dio mio,’ he repeated as he sank onto his knees in front of her. ‘Please tell me I’m not dreaming?’
‘I love you, Narciso. Despite you being a horrible pain in the ass. There, does that help?’
With a groan, he rose, took her face in his hands and kissed her long and deep. ‘I’ll dedicate every single moment of the rest of my life to making you forget that incident.’
‘That sounds like a great deal.’
‘Can I also convince you to let me back Dolce Italia in any way I can?’
Despite the guilt she saw in his face, she shook her head. ‘No. It’s now a mother-daughter venture. I want to keep it that way.’
‘What about your father?’ he asked.
‘He consults...from afar. We’ll never be close but he’s my blood. I can’t completely cut him off.’
‘Prezioso, you humble me with how giving you are.’
‘You should’ve remembered that before you pushed me away.’
‘I’ve relived the hell of it every single second since I lost you.’
‘Keep telling me that and I may allow you to earn some brownie points.’
He smiled. ‘Can we discuss accumulative points?’
‘I may be open to suggestions.’
He kissed her until her heart threatened to give out.
‘Wow, okay. That could work.’
‘How about this, too?’
He reached behind him and presented her with a large leather, velvet-trimmed box. It was far too large to contain a ring but her heart still thundered as she opened it.