His eyes locked on to hers. “And with no doubts of our future together, I fell in love with her.”
Victoria’s watery eyes searched his face and Stefan got down on one knee beside her chair. Taking her hand in his, he kissed her knuckles.
“I haven’t been honest with Victoria, or all of you. This marriage was a fake, but I do love you, Victoria. And if I can’t be your king, then so be it. I couldn’t live with myself if I let this woman out of my life.”
He took a deep breath as he continued to lay his heart on the line. “Victoria,” he said, softer now because nothing else mattered except her response, “I wasn’t respectful when I didn’t tell you the full truth, but I swear on my life if you let me back into that loving heart of yours, I’ll spend the rest of our lives making it up to you. Nothing else matters but you and us...if you’ll have me.”
She chewed on her bottom lip. “You don’t mean this.”
Stroking the back of her trembling hand, he smiled. “I’ve never meant anything more. I’m not sure when I fell in love with you. Maybe it was when I first met you or maybe it was when you were walking down the aisle to become my bride. Looking back, I think I’ve always been in love with you and I just couldn’t admit it to myself. At least I didn’t know the level of love I had. It’s so much deeper than I ever could’ve imagined.”
Victoria sighed, closed her eyes and let the tears fall.
“Can you say that again?” she asked, lifting her lids to meet his gaze.
Stefan searched her beautiful face. “Which part?”
“The part where you fell in love with me with no doubts of our future.”
He chuckled. “I’m a fool not to have realized that I’ve loved you for years. All this time I wanted to get closer to you, wanted more than a friendship, but I didn’t know what. Now I know that what I was searching for was love. And it was there all along.”
Her head dipped to her chest as she sniffed. “I’m scared,” she whispered. “What if you fall out of love?”
Tipping her chin up with his finger and thumb, he eased in for a gentle, simple kiss. “I’ve loved you most of my life, Tori. I just didn’t have the courage to admit it to myself. There’s no way I could ever fall out of love. I’ve been absolutely miserable without you. Nothing matters, not this title, crown or movie, if you aren’t in my life. I’d give it all up for another chance.”
“But if you step aside, Galini Isle will go back to Greece.”
He smiled. “I found a loophole, finally. When it mattered most, I found a way out.”
Her teary eyes searched his. “But how?”
“Mikos will step up if I need him to,” he told her.
“I didn’t think he could.”
He took her hand, kissed it and smiled. “I’ll explain later. Can you please put me out of my misery and tell me this marriage will be real from here on out?”
A beautiful, hopeful smile spread across her face. “I don’t want you to give up your title or the documentary...though my brothers are pretty upset, but I can talk to them.”
Stefan squeezed her hands. “I seriously don’t care about anything but being with you. If you’re in my future, I can handle whatever comes my way.”
She leaned toward him and kissed his lips before whispering in his ear, “Then let’s see if we can finish this coronation ceremony and we can celebrate alone wearing only our crowns.”
The archbishop stepped forward. “Are the two of you certain this marriage is legitimate now?”
Victoria smiled and nodded. “I’m certain.”
Stefan stared into her watery eyes. “Never been more sure of anything in my life.”
“Then I approve the continuation of this coronation ceremony,” the archbishop declared as the crowd began to clap and cheer.
* * *
Stefan hadn’t seen Victoria for several minutes and was starting to wonder if she’d changed her mind and run out the palace doors with their last guest.
Midnight had come and gone and the coronation celebration had just calmed down. Dancing, laughing and holding Victoria in his arms nearly the entire evening had been the best moments of his life.
When she could’ve chosen to turn her back on him, on his title and his beloved country, she hadn’t. She’d stood by his side, even when he’d hurt her.
And that gnawing ache would haunt him the rest of his life. Knowing he’d caused her even a second of grief made him ill. But the fact their love overcame his moments of idiocy proved they were meant to be.