Epilogue
Applause reverberated around the packed room as Sonia joined Roberto and the models on the catwalk. Another wave of clapping hit and her smile became a grin. She’d been so nervous before the show, and so busy during it, that she’d barely had time to process the crowd’s approval of the new collection.
The collection in which her wedding design took centre place. The dress of champagne silk was styled to look almost severe till the model moved and the pearlescent silk flowed against her body, turning it into a celebration of female elegance.
Now, standing in the spotlights, Sonia’s ears rang with the audience’s enthusiasm and the last twist of nerves in her stomach disintegrated. Her face ached from smiling.
A standing ovation for her first show!
A beaming Roberto took her hand and led her forward to take another bow on her own. That was when she finally let herself look at the familiar faces grouped to one side of the catwalk. Her sister Ange and her husband, Matteo, both grinning. Beside them Renzo’s grandparents, nodding and smiling, and his cousin Carla who’d become such a good friend in the past eighteen months.
And finally Renzo, standing out from the rest with those broad shoulders and spectacular looks.
He caught her eye and the world narrowed to him. To the love Sonia saw in his expression, the blazing pride and sheer joy at her success. Heat swirled through her middle and settled in her heart.
During this last year and a half Renzo had become far more than a lover. He was her best friend. Her confidante, her cheerleader. He kept her going when she was exhausted in the lead-up to fashion week. On the rare occasions when the daunting demands of the job dampened her spirits, he was there at her side, supportive, encouraging, and unflagging.
Behind her ribs Sonia’s heart rolled over.
‘It’s okay. Go to him,’ Roberto urged.
‘But the press interviews. You wanted me with you for those.’ Sonia swung round to meet her mentor’s smiling eyes.
‘Join me when you’re ready. It won’t do any harm to make them wait a little to interview our rising star.’
Sonia didn’t need any more encouragement. She hurried down the catwalk, straight into Renzo’s arms.
Around them her family and his were full of congratulations and it struck Sonia how much her world had grown since coming to Italy. Instead of having no family save for her sister, Sonia now had a circle of family and friends who made her life richer. Renzo’s relatives, including his darling grandparents, treated her as one of their own, despite her initial fears.
And she had Renzo. The man she’d once doubted.
Sonia put her hand to that lovely, broad chest, feeling the steady thump of his heart beneath the impeccably tailored suit. She leaned up on tiptoe as Renzo bent his head to kiss her lingeringly.
When, finally, he pulled back, her pulse was racing and the gleam in his eyes told her he too couldn’t wait to be alone.
‘Sonia.’ The sound of her name in that black velvet voice was pure caress. ‘I’m so proud of you.’
For an instant longer their gazes held and Sonia felt as if she might burst from all the emotion welling inside. Then he gently stepped aside, wrapping one long arm around her as the others crowded close.
The collection was an enormous success. Shewas a success, on the way to achieving her career dreams.
Yet, despite the hard-won thrill of achievement, it wasn’t just her triumph that made the moment special. It was the love of those she cared for. Especially Renzo.
Predictably, he insisted on escorting her to the room where Roberto was meeting the press. But on the way he looped his arm around her waist and swept her into a small salon, now deserted. There he pulled her to him as he leaned back against the door, stopping anyone from entering.
‘Renzo! I promised I wouldn’t be long.’ But her protest was half-hearted. Already she leaned into him, her hands sliding up the warm fabric of his shirt and spreading wide under the lapels of his tailored jacket.
‘I’ve wanted to be alone with you all day.’ Renzo smiled the smile that always turned her insides to molten chocolate.
His dark eyes glowed with the expression she’d once believed was just lust and which she knew now was love. Real love.
The sort of love she’d been too scared to believe in because of her parents’ splintered marriage. Because of Eric. And because it just didn’t seem possible that love could be so easy, so real and so utterly wonderful as what she’d experienced with Renzo. She’d spent more than a year wondering if what they had could possibly last.
‘There’s something I need to ask you, Sonia.’ The smile still lingered on his lips but his eyes turned serious.