The American Contessa (19 page)

“I
discovered a lot about myself in the last three months,” he spoke quietly.
“When I found out that the anger I felt was completely unwarranted and
unjustified against my mother …, it was like a giant weight was lifted off my
heart.”

Keeping
her back to him, she responded, “What about your Grandmother?
 
You harbour no ill will against
her
?”

“How
can I be angry with someone who is so obviously
sick.
 
Let’s just say that I
can forgive her, but I’ll never forget that she tore my family apart.”

Gaby
finally turned and faced him.
 
“Sounds
like you’ve made progress in the forgiveness department.”

“
Si.
I have.”

“Pity
you didn’t have it in you back in Italy when I was there,” she noted with
regret.
 
“I could have done with some of
it myself.”

“Believe
me, if I could change anything, it would be how it ended between us in Italy.
 
I’m so sorry Gaby.”

Nervously
biting her lip, Gaby reminded herself how devastated she’d been by his
treatment.
 
How hard she’d tried to
forget him since then.
 
And now?
 
Now here he was, dredging it all up
again.
 
Making her feel things she didn’t
want to feel; making her wish they could try again.
 
Her eyes started to sting and she could feel
the beginnings of tears.
 
Keep it
together, she told herself, keep it together.

“I’m
sorry too.
 
I should never have listened
to my Grandfather. What I planned to do was wrong.
 
And
I knew it.
 
And I still went there to
steal from you.
 
I’m sorry for that.
 
I’m so very sorry I hurt you too.
 
I don’t blame you for hating me.”

“You’ve
been thinking I
hated
you all this
time?”

“Well
if you don’t, you’ve been doing a pretty good imitation of it,” she answered
with a frown.

He
ran an agitated hand through his hair.
 
“Sure,
I was angry and I did try to make myself hate you at first.
 
But I found I couldn’t do it; no matter how
much I wanted to.
 
The more I tried, the
more I failed.”
 
 

“Really?”
she asked hopefully.

“Really.”
 
Luca held her eyes captive and stepped one
step closer, “I could never hate you Gaby.
 
Quite the opposite, in fact.”
 
He
exhaled a long breath, “Look, I know I’m not perfect by any means.
 
Hell, I don’t even know if I’ll ever be
completely free from my demons.
 
But my
therapist says that even though I still have a long way to go, I’ll get better
eventually.”

“Therapist?
 
You’re seeing a Therapist?”

“Yes.
 
I started going after my Grandmother admitted
the truth.
 
And you should have seen
me.
 
Crying like a baby the first month
of sessions.
 
It seems I had years of
unshed tears in me.”
 
He blushed as if
embarrassed and Gaby’s heart skipped a beat.
 

“I’m
glad Luca,” she said softly.
 
“I’m glad
that you had the courage to seek help.”

He
bit his lip anxiously.
 
“When I said
before that it felt like a giant weight was lifted off my heart, I neglected to
mention what else I found when I started peeling back the layers.”

“What
did you find?” she asked in a whisper.

“I
found a giant hole.
 
A hole in my heart
that only you can fill.”
 
Luca stepped
closer still and she held her breath.
 
He
was now so close her fingers itched to reach out to him.
 
“I’ve been so lost without you.
 
So empty inside.
 
I still love you Gaby.”

His
eyes were hopeful as he awaited her response.
 
A knock at the door interrupted the tense moment.
 
Sean Bradley, a fellow teacher, poked his
head in, “You ready to go Gaby?”

“In
a minute Sean.
 
I’ll meet you there,
okay,” she stammered.
 
The Friday staff
get together at the local watering hole would just have to wait.
 
This was far more important.
 

Luca’s
head spun from Gaby’s face to Sean’s and back to hers in quick succession.
 
Gaby couldn’t help but notice.
 
She wondered if he would get angry like he
had with David Whittaker.

“I’m
too late, aren’t I?” he said, his face stricken with heartbreak. “I wanted to
see you earlier but I wanted to make some head way with my therapy before I
did.
 
I wanted to come to you as a whole
man –and offer you my whole heart.
 
But I
can see now…,” he looked back towards the door, “that I’m too late.”

Abruptly,
he turned from her but Gaby caught his arm, “Luca.
 
No.
 
You’re
not too late.
 
You could never be too
late.
 
And if you were …, I’d wait.
 
I’d wait for you forever.”

“You
would?” he exclaimed in surprise.

“You
idiot.
 
Don’t you know I still love you too,”
she replied with shake of her head.

And
then his lips were upon hers.
 
Taking
possession as they never had before.
 
This was right, Gaby thought as she kissed him back with abandon.
 
His arms tightly gripped her as if he were
afraid to let her go now that he had her at last.
 

“I
love you so much my
Contessa
,” he
murmured with a smile.

Gaby
quickly pulled away.
 
“What did you say?”

Luca
chuckled; he was almost giddy with happiness.
 
“I said
Contessa
.
 
You’ll marry me of course.”

Taken
aback by the sudden notion of what marrying Luca would entail, Gaby cringed
with the prospect.
 
“Oh, I didn’t think
about that.
 
Contessa
?
 
Luca, I’m not sure
I can be a
Contessa.
”

He
smiled and waved it away, “You’re not going to let a little thing like a title
keep us from being together, are you?”

“But
what about your family name?
 
How could
you possibly marry someone who’s Grandfather was a thief?”

He
pulled her back into his arms and kissed her deeply in response, then lifted
his head and muttered against her lips, “But you’re no thief.”

“Until
recently your opinion wasn’t so stellar of me,” she remarked with a raised
brow.

Luca
kissed her again.
 
“Oh Gaby.
 
The only thing you’ve stolen from me is my
heart.
 
Nothing matters except you and
me.
 
I was wrong not to believe in
you.
 
Not to believe in us.
 
And I’m so sorry about the things I said and
did to hurt you.”
 
He gave her a lopsided
grin, “But I plan to spend my whole life making it up to you.”

Gaby
ran her fingers along his jaw, “You make it sound so easy ..., and might I add,
irresistible.”

“It
is easy.
 
Marry me and become my
Contessa.
 
I know that Carmina would be
thrilled to have you for a sister-in-law.
 
And as for myself –why you’d make me the happiest man on earth.”

A
beam broke out across her face, “Well, when you put it like that, how can I
refuse.”