‘I think you need to read this,’ he said, handing it to Tilda.
Dear both,
Ezio is not so stupid so I’m assuming you found this... I just thought you needed a bit of wake-up call. I don’t know much, but I do know you are both crazy about each other. So get real, guys, kiss and make up. I don’t want to be the kid from a broken home.
Theo’s mum and dad are away, so he gave me the house keys. I’ll head back to school for double physics.
Oh, and by the way, I didn’t shoplift it, Tilda. Theo’s mum bought the champagnefor me. She thought I wanted to buy you two a present. She thinks I’m very sweet. Also, it cost an arm and a leg, so you owe me.
Love, Sam
By the time she had finished, the tears were pouring down Tilda’s cheeks. ‘I will kill him stone-dead.’
‘Not if I get there before you. Manipulated by a fourteen-year-old. It makes you wonder how scary he is going to be in ten years’ time.’
‘I’m so sorry.’
‘It’s OK. That’s what family is for, or so I understand.’
Heart beating fast, she stared up at him, not daring to believe... Saying nothing, she locked her eyes on his, not able to believe that anything she could say could bridge the gap that he had built over years of isolating himself.
‘Have you moved on, Tilda?’
She shook her head. ‘I’m a work in progress.’ She sniffed.
‘Your brother is right. I am crazy about you, Tilda. I can’t believe it took a fourteen-year-old, even if he is a genius, to bring me to my senses. I have never in my life felt about any woman the way I do you... It terrified me...the thought of hurting youterrifiedme... The thought of being a bad father terrifies me still. I couldn’t protect my mother, but I thought by pushing you away I could protect you.’ He took her chin in his fingers and with his thumb brushed away the tears running down her face.
‘I spent a day sitting there, feeling noble and self-sacrificing, then I spent the next day trying to figure out how to get you back. I am such a coward... I was scared of giving you the power to hurt me.’
He moved in closer, taking both her hands in his and raising them to his lips. ‘But, Tilda Raven, I give you my heart—it is yours, and you have the power to crush it in your little hand. I want a real marriage. I want a real wife...a family.’
She fell into his kiss, tears streaming down her face. ‘I love you so much...it hurts,’ she said, pressing a hand to her chest.
‘You know that I will never betray you...’ He could say that finally, knowing it was true that Tilda was the love of his life.
‘I trust you, Ezio, with my life and my heart.’
‘You realise that Sam is going to be very smug,’ he said, stroking her cheek lovingly.
‘Shall we pretend to hate one another?’
Ezio shook his head, his expression darkening. ‘I have had enough pretending to last me a lifetime. There is some champagne there with our names on it.’
‘Afterwards, I think.’ Being loved by Ezio would put more fizz in her veins than a crate of champagne.
She sighed her happiness as his lips claimed hers.
EPILOGUE
‘IONLYASKEDfor a new laptop...you had no need to go to this much trouble.’
Sam stroked the beard he was trying to grow with limited success as he looked down at the red-headed baby sleeping in the crib. In the past six months he had grown and now topped six feet, gangly but filling out, as he had started training when he’d got on the school swimming team.
‘I think it’s really handy. Joint birthday parties with Olivia for ever? Balloons and cake...?’
Sam rolled his eyes and tried and failed not to look enchanted as the baby opened her big, dark eyes and wrapped her hand tightly around his finger.
‘Wow, my niece is super-strong! Do you suppose she has super-powers?’