“She was talking about my grandfather, and how hard it’s been since he died. And then she said that she’d do it all again. That loss was a part of life, of love, and her deep sense of loss was proof of how much she’d loved and been loved. And I realised.”
“You realised?”
“That one way or another, we lose the people we love. I pushed you away because I somehow thought I could control that, that I could limit how much it would hurt, but it didn’t. And I risked losing a lifetime with the woman I love because I was too terrified to admit how I feel, even to myself, certainly to you.”
A small sob emerged from her lips. She couldn’t speak.
“So I’m telling you now with no idea if even you, with your beautiful kind heart and your goodness and grace, will be able to forgive me for what I put you through. I have no idea if you still want me as you did then. But I’m standing here offering myself to you in every way and I’m begging you not to send me away yet. Just to think and see if maybe you can forget the last few months.”
She bit down on her lower lip, emotions exploding through her. “I can’t.”
His expression darkened. His eyes swept shut, and a breath hissed from between his teeth.
“I thought I’d known pain, but walking away from you was the hardest thing I’ve ever done Nico.” She lifted a hand, tucking her hair behind her ear then remembering she was wearing the paper crown. She dislodged it carefully, folding it between fingertips that were numb.
“I know you didn’t want to hurt me, but leaving you, leaving Dante and Ondechiara…I haven’t felt the same. All these last few months have taught me are that I was right about you.”
His eyes pierced hers. Something flared in their depths.
“I loved you. I loved you in a way I’d never felt for anyone, ever. It broke me in two, and yet I’m stronger than I’ve ever been as well, because you changed me. Because of you, pieces of me that I thought were lost came back together. I don’t want to forget the last few months because they’re something else I’ve weathered and I’m proud of that.” She tilted her chin, angling her face to his. “I didn’t weaken. I didn’t call you even when I thought about doing it a thousand times over. I didn’t show up at Ondechiara and beg you to take me back for that one last week, no matter how tempted I was. I know how strong I am, Nico and I don’t want to forget that.”
“You are the strongest person I’ve ever known.” The words rang with pride. “And I will never let you forget it.” He reached for her free hand, lacing their fingers together. “Before I met you, I thought I had everything I could ever want in life. You showed me that without you, there is nothing. I am so in love with you, Maddie, and if you let me, I’ll show you that, I’ll show you how I feel.”
She dipped her head forward, her heart in her throat, her head ringing from the thousands of things she was thinking and wanting.
“Michael taught me not to give second chances,” she said softly, the words falling like snow to their feet. She didn’t see his reaction; she didn’t see the way his face looked tortured, as though he’d been knifed in the side.
“I promised I wouldn’t hurt you and I did. I did that, and I’m sorry. Cara, I’m so sorry, but I’m not Michael. When I say ‘sorry’, I mean it. When I tell you I will spend my lifetime making sure I never hurt you again, making sure you are deliriously happy, I mean it. You are my reason for all things, Maddie Gray.”
Her heart turned over in her chest. She lifted a finger and pressed it to his lips. “I wasn’t finished.”
His lips were warm. She almost groaned, but didn’t.
“You taught me to trust my instincts. You taught me that great things can happen when you take a chance. And most of all, you already did show me – every single day we were together – in myriad ways, that you are nothing like Michael, and never could be.” She moved her hand so she could cup his cheek, her eyes showing her love, her fingertips light on his stubbled skin. “You taught me to trust again, and you taught me to love even if you didn’t realise it, and I will always, always love you for that, Nico.”
His groan was so soft, and then a moment later his head was dropping, his lips searching for hers, his kiss a desperate, hungry possession.
“Ti amo,” he pressed the words into her mouth and she laughed, nodding, lifting her hands and wrapping her fingers into his hair so the paper crown fell loose and blew down the street without her realising it.
“I know.” And she did. With complete and utter certainty, she knew that he loved her, and that he always would. She smiled against his lips, and there, in the middle of a street, miles from her place and his, Maddie felt as though she’d truly come home. And it really was where the heart was.
Epilogue
“HE HAD A NOSE ring, and a patch, and he limped.”
“Really?” Maddie met Nico’s eyes over Jack’s head, her smile twinkling, digging dimples deep into her cheeks.
“Oh, yes. And he said, ‘arghhh, walk the plank!’”
“And did you?”
“Does it look like I did?” Jack returned with a grin and an attempt at a wink. “I told him to walk the plank himself. I grabbed his sword and held it at his back until he fell into the sea and was eaten by a shark.”
“Oh, dear.” Maddie laughed, tousling Jack’s hair.
“Jack?” Elodie’s voice carried across Villa Fortune. “Come and help light the candles.”
He pushed up from his chair, no longer Bucanneer Jack, now, just regular Jack Montebello. “Gotta go. The twins need me.”