The Moretti Heir (13 page)

Empty.

God, how had he not realized that he was letting himself become the same man Nonno had been?
He was letting racing and his public take precedence over his life.

He needed to do something, find a way to get Virginia back. But how?

He got his mobile out and called Keke.

“I need a favor,” he said before Keke could ask why he was calling.

“What?”

“I’m going to get Virginia back and…”

“Are you coming to me for woman advice?” Keke asked, laughing.

“No, I’m coming to you because I need someone to help me coordinate things in the U.S.”

“How can I help?” Keke asked.

Marco outlined his plan to his friend and a few hours later was on a commercial flight to the United States. Never before had he been so nervous. Not even when he got behind the wheel of his first F1 driving machine. And now he knew why. Racing was what he did, but Virginia was his life and his love, and he didn’t know if he could survive without her. If this was how Cassia had felt for Lorenzo, Marco understood why she’d cursed him when he’d chosen racing over her.

He also thought maybe it was time for a Festa and a Moretti to fall in love and right the wrongs of the past.

She avoided newspapers and television and anything that might show her a glimpse of Marco. She’d learned the hard way that seeing him even on a magazine stand was enough to trigger a deep sadness inside her. A part of her wanted to say to hell with pride and return to him.

She really missed him.

But she also had to live with herself, and somehow she knew that loving a man who thought of her as nothing but a mistress wasn’t a good thing.

It was a rainy Saturday in early November, and she was painting the nursery for the baby. She dreaded the thought of the upcoming holiday season—of spending another one all alone. But she rubbed her small pregnancy bump and realized that in a year’s time she wouldn’t be alone anymore.

She’d have her baby, and together the two of them would celebrate all the holidays. She was toying with naming the baby Lorenzo to appease the curse that Cassia had set. Maybe if she named her child for the man who’d originally been cursed, Fate would be happy with her and leave her be.

Her doorbell rang and she looked at her watch. That should be Elena. Her family lived in the Lake George area of New York and she and Keke had spent the last few months there.

Keke had recovered nicely from all his injuries and had decided to retire from racing. He’d taken up a new gig, as a male model and commentator for a European sports channel.

Today they had both promised to come and help her with her room renovation. She had been grateful for their friendship. She’d never realized how alone she was in the same small town she’d grown up in. But she was grateful that Elena and she had become fast friends in the months they’d spent together on the Formula One racing circuit.

The doorbell rang again, and she realized she was dawdling. She didn’t know if it was the pregnancy or what, but her mind tended to wander lately. Usually it wandered to Marco.

She opened the door. “Come on in.”

“
Grazie,
Virginia.”

It was Marco.
Marco was standing on her front porch, wearing a pair of wool trousers and a black turtleneck, as well as a long trench coat. The rain had wet his jet-black hair.

“What are you doing here?”

“I hope you don’t mind, but since you wouldn’t return any of my calls, I persuaded Elena and Keke to let me come and help you today.”

“That’s…why?”

“Because we need to talk. May I come in?”

She stepped back and let him enter her house. As he took off his coat and hung it on the coat rack she had by the front door, she realized how much she had missed him. He smelled just as good as she remembered and her arms were literally tingling with the need to wrap around him.

“You are staring at me,” he said.

“I’m sorry. Why are you here?”

“Because I realized that I can’t live without you. I don’t care if my brothers believe that love is the one thing that will doom Moretti Motors. I need you in my life.”

She wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly. “I don’t—”

“Don’t overthink this. I lied to you that day in Valencia, when I let you believe you were nothing more than a mistress to me. My life has been hollow and empty without you.”

She couldn’t say anything, but when he drew her into his arms she went to him, wrapped her arms around his lean waist and held on. “Marco, is this for real?”

“Sì, mi’angela, ti amo.”

She tipped her head up to look at him, to see if the love he’d just spoken of was reflected in his eyes. And it was. She saw the sincerity there.

“I know I have no right to hope that you still feel the same way about me.”

“I do still love you. It’s been agony living without you,” she said. “But I figured that was the only way to appease the Fates.”

Marco shook his head. “The only way to appease the Fates is for us to be together. To raise our son and give him brothers and sisters.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” he said. “Will you marry me, Virginia?”

“Yes!” She threw her arms around him and kissed him with all the passion and love she’d been storing up since they’d parted in August.

“What about your brothers?”

“I told them that we were all wealthy and that we would continue to focus on making our new production car very successful, and that was all we needed to do to break the curse.”

“And they were okay with that?” she asked, not wanting his brothers to dislike her.

“Not really. But I told them that, regardless of whether you are with me or not, you own my heart and soul.”

THE MORETTI HEIR

Copyright © 2009 by Katherine Garbera

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