‘Really?’
‘I never gave up on you, Rico,’ she said, rising from her seat and moving towards him at the same time as he reached out and pulled her astride him, ‘and I never will.’ He let out a shuddering breath and dropped his head to her chest. ‘I love you,’ she said against his hair. ‘You’ve shown me the life I want to live. And that life is with you. Although how we’d make it work when you live in Venice and I live in London I have no idea.’
‘I can work from anywhere,’ he said, lifting his head and shifting her closer. ‘I have an apartment here.’
‘But Venice is your home.’
‘My home is wherever you are,’ he said softly, taking her hand and placing it over his wildly thundering heart. ‘Show me your world, Carla. It’s so much brighter than mine. You’ve given me back hope. You’ve given me a future. Look.’ Easing back slightly, he took his phone out of his jacket pocket and she noted that his hand was shaking a little too. After a moment he held the device up to her and she gasped. The picture was of his fridge, and there stuck right in the middle of the door, like a beacon, was her magnet.
‘I assumed you’d have thrown it away,’ she said, her eyes stinging as emotion overwhelmed her.
‘I intended to. I couldn’t. I’m done with detachment and distance,’ he said gruffly. ‘I want to make memories with you, amore mio. I want to fill our life with clutter and light and love.’
‘God, I’ve missed you.’
‘You can’t have missed me as much as I’ve missed you,’ he said with the slightest of smiles that lit up her heart. ‘My life meant nothing before you crashed into it. Now it means everything. You mean everything. You are my anima gemella, my soulmate.’
‘And you’re mine,’ she said, everything she was feeling rocketing around inside her and making her giddy. ‘But it’s only been a couple of weeks. It’s madness.’
‘We have a whole lifetime to work on the details.’
‘A whole lifetime?’ she echoed as he took her in his arms and pulled her as close as he could. ‘I think I like the sound of that.’
‘We’ll figure it out together,’ he said, bending his head and pressing his mouth to the sensitive spot on her neck beneath her ear and making her shiver.
‘I think I like the sound of that too.’
‘Il mio cuore,’ he murmured, dotting a trail of kisses along her jaw.
‘And that.’
And a kiss at the corner of her mouth. ‘Ti amo.’
‘Especially that.’
And then he kissed her properly and carried her into her bedroom, and after that she gave up thinking at all.
EPILOGUE
Identical Strangers, 1.6 million views, a week ago
‘SO APART FROM LOOKS,’ came the voice of the interviewer off-screen, ‘how similar are the two of you?’
‘It’s early days,’ said Finn with an easy smile as he shifted in his seat and hooked the ankle of one leg over the knee of the other. ‘But I’d say pretty similar. We’re both great with numbers and mildly allergic to milk, so that’s a start.’
‘You’re married, is that right?’
Finn gave a nod, a smile spreading across his face. ‘That’s absolutely right.’
‘Any wedding bells on the horizon for you, Rico?’ said the interviewer.
‘I couldn’t possibly comment,’ said Rico with a smile half the size of Finn’s but which lit up his face twice as much. ‘All I will say is, watch this space.’
‘We certainly will. Do either of you have anything else to add? Any message for your missing brother?’
‘Just this,’ said Rico, leaning forwards and looking seriously and directly down the lens. ‘If you’re out there and able to, please get in touch. Contact Alex Osborne of Osborne Investigations. We want to hear from you. And I can absolutely guarantee it’ll be worth it.’
* * *