* *
Serena stood in line for the gate in the first-class lounge. She was grateful for it, because there was enough space there for her to feel numb and not to have to deal with a crush of people around her.
She couldn’t let herself think of Luca, even though her circling thoughts kept coming back to him and that stark look on his face. I’m sorry.
She was sorry too. Now she knew how he’d felt when he’d told her that he wished he’d never set eyes on her.
She wanted to feel that way too—she actively encouraged it to come up. But it wouldn’t. Because she couldn’t regret knowing him. Or loving him. Even if he couldn’t love her back.
For a wild moment Serena thought of turning around and going back, telling him she’d settle for whatever he could give her... And then she saw herself in a few years...months...? Her soul shrivelled up from not being loved in return.
The man ahead of her moved forward and the airline steward was reaching for her boarding pass.
She was about to take it back and go through when she heard a sort of commotion, and then a familiar voice shouting, ‘I need to see her!’
She whirled around to see Luca being restrained by two staff members a few feet away, dishevelled and wild-looking in shirt and trousers.
‘What are you doing?’ she gasped in shock, stepping out of the way so that people could continue boarding.
She wouldn’t let her heart beat fast. She couldn’t. It didn’t mean anything.
His eyes were fierce. ‘Please don’t go. I need you to stay.’
A feeling of euphoria mixed with pain surged through her. ‘Why do you want me to stay, Luca?’
The men holding him kept a tight grip. Luca didn’t even seem to notice, though. He looked feverish, as if he was burning up.
His voice was rough with emotion. ‘When you told me you loved me...I couldn’t believe it. I was too afraid to believe. My mother said that to me right before she swapped me for my brother...as if we were nothing.’
Serena’s belly clenched. ‘Oh, Luca...’ She looked at the security men, beseeching, ‘Please let him go.’
They finally did, but stayed close by, ready to move in again. Serena didn’t care. She was oblivious.
He took her hand and held it to his chest, dragging her closer. She could feel his heart thudding against his chest.
‘You say you love me...but a part of me can’t trust it...can’t believe it. I’m terrified that you’ll turn around one day and walk away—confirm all my twisted suspicions that when people say they love you, they’ll annihilate you anyway.’
Serena felt an incredible welling of love and reached out her other hand to touch Luca’s face. She knew he was scared.
‘Do you love me?’
After a long moment—long enough for her to see how hard this was for him to admit—he said, ‘The thought of you leaving, of life without you...is more than I can bear. If that’s love then, yes, I love you more than I’ve loved anyone else.’
Serena’s heart overflowed. ‘Are you willing to let me prove how much I love you?’
Luca nodded. ‘The pain of letting you go is worse than the pain of facing my own pathetic fears. You’ve humbled me with your strength and grace.’
She shook her head, tears making her vision blurry. ‘They’re not pathetic fears, Luca. I’m just as scared as you are.’
He smiled, and it was shaky, all that arrogant bravado replaced by raw emotion. He joked, ‘You? Scared? Not possible. You’re the bravest person I know. And I have no intention of ever letting you out of my sight again.’
Serena smiled and fought back tears as Luca pulled her in to him and covered her mouth with his, kissing her with unrestrained passion.
When they separated, the crowd around them clapped and cheered. Giddy, Serena blushed and ducked her head against Luca’s neck.
He looked at her. ‘Will you come home with me?’
Home. Her own place—with him.
The ferocity and speed with which they’d found each other terrified her for a moment. Could she trust it? But she saw everything she felt mirrored in Luca’s eyes, and she reached out and snatched the dream before it could disappear.
‘Yes.’
* * *
The next day when Serena woke up she pulled on a big T-shirt and went looking for Luca in his house in Alto Gavea. She still felt a little dizzy from everything that had happened. She and Luca had come back here from the airport, and after making love they’d talked until dawn had broken. He’d promised to go to Athens with her to start the lengthy process of telling her family everything and pursuing her father.
She heard a noise as she passed his study and went in to see him sitting behind his desk in only jeans. Stubbled jaw. He looked up and smiled, and Serena couldn’t help smiling back goofily.
He held out a hand. ‘Come here.’
She went over and let him catch her, pulling her onto his lap. After some breathless kisses she moved back. ‘What are you doing?’
A glint of something came into his eyes and he said, ‘Catching up on local news.’
He indicated with his head to the computer and Serena turned to look. When she realised what she was seeing, she tensed in his arms. The internet was filled with photos of them kissing passionately in the airport—obviously taken by people’s mobile phones. One headline screamed: Has Fonseca tamed wild-child DePiero at last? Another one: Fonseca and DePiero rekindle their scandalous romance!
She felt sick and turned to Luca, who was watching her carefully. ‘I’m sorry. This is exactly what you were afraid of.’
But he just shrugged, eyes bright and clear. No shadows. ‘I couldn’t care less what they say. And they have it wrong—you tamed me.’
Serena let the past fall away and caressed Luca’s jaw, love rising to make her throat tight. ‘I love you just as you are.’
Luca said gruffly, ‘I want to take you to every beach in South America to watch the sunset—starting with the ones here in Rio.’
Serena felt breathless. ‘That could take some time.’
Luca kissed her and said, ‘At least a lifetime, I’m hoping.’
He deliberately lifted up her left hand then, and pressed a kiss to her ring finger, a question in his eyes and a new tension in his body. Serena’s heart ached that he might still doubt her love.
She nodded her head and said simply, ‘Yes. The answer will always be yes, my love.’
Three years later.
The
