Page 98 of Sinful Promises

He nodded as if expecting as much. “Okay. I agree you look like Caterina.”

“No shit. We’re fucking twins.”

“Not quite. But, Dais, you are so much more than her. I admit, at first, I was attracted to you because you looked similar, but once I got to know you, you opened my eyes. I was attracted to her beauty, to your beauty. But I fell in love with your personality.”

Wait. What?

My galloping heart took on a different beat. One that was more pleasant.

“When I first saw you in Bruce’s office, I couldn’t believe it. You were like a gift and a curse at the same time. Caterina broke my heart, filled me with hatred. You may look like her, but that’s where the similarity ends.”

He twisted his hands and shifted closer to the edge of the bed. “That night at Moulin Rouge when you opened up to me, showing me that you too had a broken heart, I felt for you, Dais. What William did was rotten and hurtful and . . . and I wanted to make you better. I never expected to fall for you. Mainly because you did look like her. But I did. Almost straight away. And fell hard. But I had to fight it. I wasn’t ready.”

His words were as soothing as his voice, offering a gentle reprieve to the beating my heart had taken just moments ago. I wanted to believe him. God, I wanted it so bad. But things still didn’t add up.

I unfolded my arms, but my fists remained clenched, squeezing my simmering anger. “So, why did you freak out when we’d slept together? I mean, went to sleep, in the same bed,” I quickly clarified. “In Prague.”

He cocked his head and sighed. “Because I wanted the first time we made love to be special.”

Oh, wow. My shoulders relaxed, and my steely resolve eased with the movement.

“But . . .” I frowned at him. “You totally flipped when I told you that you’d said you loved me.”

“I do love you, Dais. I love you so much. But I wanted to tell you properly. I wanted it to be perfect. Not on a stupid pissy night where I didn’t remember it. I’m so mad at myself.”

Every last ounce of my anguish disappeared.

“When you left me, I was so angry because I should have chased after you.” He shook his head. “I should have.”

His gaze was intense. I saw honesty. And guilt. But there was something else that had my heart fluttering. Something . . . I’d never seen in my life.

Love.

Absolute, unconditional love.

My fingers were shaking. My heart was thumping. I wanted to believe, and I was oh so close.

“Daisy.” Roman eased onto one knee and reached for my hand. “You’re fun and funny and adventurous and amazing.” His honey eyes were pleading. His expression was desperate.

I squeezed his palm to mine. “Keep going.”

A smile crawled across his lips. “You’re really smart. And confident.”

“Confident?”

“Not when I first met you, but now.”

I pulled him to his feet, and he led me to the bed. We sat side by side, our thighs touching in that way I loved. But something didn’t add up and as much as I didn’t want to ruin this, I had to ask, “I don’t understand, Roman. You wanted me to . . . to be with those other guys.”

He drove his fingers through his hair. “Caterina left me because she’d only ever been with one man . . . me. At first, when you told me what dickwit had done to you, I wanted to help you get over him. But then as I began falling for you, I wanted—” Sighing, he turned his gaze toward the window, but it was dark outside, so the glass had become a mirror.

It seemed important for him to get his words right, and as I stared at our reflection, I waited for his reply. We looked good together. Him all suave, dark, and handsome. Me quirky and colorful. Opposites really did attract. I squeezed his hand. “What did you want?”

“This may sound crazy. But if there was ever a chance that we got together, then I wanted to make sure that you never wondered what else was out there.”

I cocked my head. “But what about you? You’ve only been with Caterina.”

He scrunched up his nose, acting all coy.

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