‘Even for love?’
‘My loving you isn’t enough. You know that.’
‘What about the fact I love you, too? What about the fact I am terrified of what that means, but I’m here, saying it anyway, because I know one thing for certain—if I lose you, I will regret it for the rest of my life.’
Her lips parted in surprise.
He lifted up, curling a hand around her cheek. ‘I didn’t realise, until you called me an hour ago, and told me you loved me, that the reason I can’t bear the thought of you leaving our marriage as agreed is because I don’t want you to leave—ever.’
‘You said that last night,’ she groaned. ‘But it’s not enough to want me to stay. That’s not love, it’s convenience.’
He pressed a finger to her lips. ‘I asked you to stay, not because I want to continue our convenient arrangement, but because I don’t want to live without you. Because you have given meaning to my life, because you have made me smile again, cara, and because with you, not only do I feel complete, I feel, in here, after years of nothing.’ He tapped a hand to his heart. ‘Is there any part of you that wants to walk away from this?’
She squeezed her eyes shut, everything she’d ever known to be true in her life like an enormous impediment. ‘No,’ she whispered, finally. ‘But I’m scared.’
‘And I am terrified,’ he countered. ‘I thought I had been through the pits of hell when Jayne left me. I thought that was as bad as it got. But now, I imagine a life without you, I imagine you waking up and deciding you no longer want me in your life, and I know that it would be ten thousand times worse.’
She blinked, his passion obvious.
‘Yet, I am kneeling here now, asking you to stay with me regardless because, whatever I fear, a life with you is worth the risk.’
Her throat was too thick with unshed tears for Olivia to speak coherently. A muffled sob escaped.
‘I do not want you simply to stay,’ he said, after a moment. ‘I want you to marry me, for real. This time, in front of family, friends, the world. I want everyone to join in the celebration of our love, to witness our commitment, to understand that I am pledging myself to you, for the rest of my life. Love is a leap of faith, but what is the alternative, Olivia? To both run from our past, to keep ourselves closed off?’ He lifted closer to her, so their mouths were separated by only an inch. ‘To lose one another? This? For me to live each day without you, without what we share? Is there anything worse than that?’
Anguish tortured her, but it was pierced by hope and joy. She shook her head, tears rolling down her cheeks. ‘There is nothing worse than losing you,’ she confirmed.
‘And so you never shall,’ he promised. ‘Olivia, the last time we discussed marrying, it was with very carefully worded conditions in place. Now, I ask you this: Will you marry me? With no condition, no caution, no limitation on our joy, our future? Marry me, stand beside me—your own person, as independent as you seek to be—but with my companionship, my love, and always, always, my support.’
A smile cracked her face. She closed the rest of the distance between them, kissing him, and into the kiss, into his soul, she said the word ‘yes’, over and over and over again, because she felt it in every fibre of her being, every part of her own soul. She loved him, and always would. While it was true that love was a gamble, a leap of faith, the strength of their love had given them both wings to catch them, should they fall. She trusted Luca, and knew her heart to be safe with him—there was nothing she wanted more than to return to their life, as his wife, and to truly start living.
‘Luca?’
‘Mmm?’
‘Let’s go home.’
His eyes widened, the meaning of her statement not lost on him.
‘Sì,cara. Let’s go home.’
Luca loved his wife, and he loved her in a way that had expanded his soul, had expanded everything he knew about life. He’d learned that the fear he’d felt was actually excitement, that stepping into a life with Olivia gave him an adrenaline rush every day. A month after their airport reunion, they were married, and only one week later Olivia realised the reason for her changeable appetite and sudden aversion to cured meats and alcohol. A honeymoon baby, or close to, conceived during their first week together in Rome, when they had been making love and falling in love all at the same time. So that now, eight months after Olivia had told Luca she loved him, and he’d realised how he felt about her, he stared down at a little infant wrapped in pink, a new kind of love stealing through him, happiness making him feel as though he could take on the world.
‘She is perfect, cara.How clever you are.’
‘I think we can both take credit for her,’ Olivia said with a smile, head pressed back against the crisp white hospital pillow. Luca had never loved her more.
‘That is very kind of you.’
‘Would you hand her to me?’ Olivia asked, tired, but arms aching to once again hold their hours-old daughter.
‘Certo.’ He picked up their newborn, cradling her to his chest a moment before snuggling her into Olivia’s arms, and watching as their baby nestled against her. Completion wrapped around him. Everything in his life was perfect.
The sound of wheels on linoleum woke Olivia, and a moment later Luca appeared, pushing Pietra into the hospital room. Three days after giving birth, and Olivia was feeling somewhat normal, except for breasts that suddenly felt so enormous she wasn’t sure how she could stand without toppling over.
‘Ah, Nonna.’ Olivia smiled, pushing up to standing and wincing slightly.
‘Stay, stay,’ Pietra insisted, so much frailer than the last time they’d seen each other, but with eyes still sparkling with intelligence and wit, and a ready smile softening her slender face. Her continued wellness was, doctors kept saying, a ‘miracle’, but Olivia knew better. Pietra wasn’t finished yet—from the moment she’d learned of Olivia’s pregnancy, it had seemed to give her a new lease on life, a determination to stave off the ravages of her disease, or perhaps it was fate, being as kind to Pietra as it had been to Luca and Olivia, when it had delivered them into one another’s arms. ‘You do not need to get up.’