Minutes passed before Lanza realized Stefano wasn’t going to follow her. She went into the bedroom, but before the door closed, she saw that the color in his face had turned ashen. She felt so sick and heartbroken, she wanted to die.

Heaven help her. What had she done? While he’d stood there begging her forgiveness, she’d cut him off.

In reality he had come home from Argentina much earlier than planned. Stefano had told her he’d missed her. He’d displayed a jealousy she couldn’t have imagined when he’d found her with Matteo. But she’d dismissed all that. She’d been angry with him and lashed out, but now she felt terrible for the way she must have hurt him. She’d seen the stricken look on his face as she’d left the room.

Lanza stood with her back against the door, burying her face in her hands while the tears gushed. How could she have let her pain turn her into someone she despised? What she needed to do was beg his forgiveness.

Without hesitation, she left the bedroom and hurried across the apartment to his bedroom, praying he hadn’t left the palace already. He would have had every right.

“Stefano?” When he didn’t answer, she knocked. There was no response so she opened the door. In the semidarkness she saw him sitting on the edge of the bed with his head bent and his arms clasped between his powerful legs.

She was so thankful he hadn’t gone, she hurried toward him. Standing in front of him she said, “Stefano? Can you ever forgive me for what I said to you? I didn’t mean any of it.” Her voice throbbed.

He lifted his dark head and looked up at her. “There isn’t a cruel bone in your beautiful body. You spoke the truth when you said I’m the one who deceived you. What frightens me is that you’ll never believe I’ve fallen in love with you. I love you, Lanza. So terribly in fact that I don’t know myself anymore.”

She knew those words had come straight from his heart and she launched herself at him.

“Darling—” She threw her arms around his shoulders. “Can you ever forget the awful things I said to you? I can’t believe I said them. I love you so much I can hardly breathe. By the time we took the carriage ride on our wedding day, I knew I loved you because I’d already had help from Alberto.”

“What do you mean?” he whispered against her throat.

“Your brother idolized you. When you asked what he and I talked about when we were together, most of the conversation was about you. He told me story after story and wished he could be half the man you were.”

“He said those things?” Stefano sounded incredulous.

“Yes, and much more. He made me fall for you long before I met you at the altar. But I fought my feelings with all my might because I never dreamed his brilliant, dashing elder brother could ever fall in love with me.”

“Lanza—”

Stefano didn’t give her a chance to say another word. He followed her down on the bed and began to devour her, kissing away her tears. She lost all sense of time and surroundings as they attempted to assuage their longing for each other. Being loved by her husband was absolute heaven.

Lanza had been convinced she’d never find love, or never know how it felt to be adored and ravished by a man like Stefano, who was worshipping her with his body.

The rapture he brought her was beyond anything she could have comprehended. They gave each other continual pleasure throughout the night and morning. In their euphoria, they forgot the world and only sought to bring each other joy.

“Have you really forgiven me, bellissima?” It was midmorning and he’d tangled his hands in her hair. “I was out of my mind to say and do what I did to you.”

She kissed his mouth hungrily, never able to get enough of him. “To be honest, I was shocked you would actually marry me after you’d given up the royal life for so many years. I still can’t believe you went through with the wedding. I’m the luckiest woman on earth.”

He cupped her face in his hands. “There’s something you need to know that will explain why I agreed to our marriage.” In the next breath he told her about Alberto’s sacrifice. As the story unfolded, tears welled in her eyes once more.

“Oh, Stefano—that explains the picture he sent me of you.”

His gorgeous dark eyes filmed over. “You were right, amore mio. There was no man more honorable and I was a coward for running away as long as I did. When I found out he never intended for me to know what he’d done for me, I knew I had to follow through in his place. But what I don’t understand is why you were willing to marry me.”

“I have a secret, too. One I hope won’t upset you too terribly.”

“Now that I know you love me, I’m too happy to be upset about anything.”

She covered his face with kisses, loving him to distraction. “When my parents told me you’d asked for my hand and that they wanted me to marry you, I rebelled until they told me my father had a health problem. They still haven’t explained exactly, but I’m pretty sure it’s his heart. Papà told me he needed a son-in-law to lean on.”

Stefano kissed her long and hard. “I already knew.”

“But you couldn’t! They didn’t tell anyone.”

“My father figured it out during a visit two months before our wedding and told me Victor was slowly fading. When I heard that admission, I thought that if the woman I was about to marry could love her father enough to make a sacrifice that earthshaking, then I had to have faith that we could eventually make a good marriage. But like you, I fought it hard in the beginning. The day my parents told me I had to marry you, I went to see Enzo and get his advice.”

An impish smile broke out on her succulent mouth. “What did he say?”

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