Page 39 of Ruined in Vows

It’s only then I remember that he is not actually supposed to be here. In my bedroom. Alone. I swallow.

“Where are Papà and Nico?” I whisper, my eyes wide as I glance down the hall.

Pushing me back, Dante steps inside after me, closing the door behind him. “Downstairs. Your papà wanted to talk to Nic privately. I told them I was going to bed,” he smirks, stepping closer.

My heart rate kicks up, hammering against my rib cage so hard, I’m surprised it doesn’t break through. “You shouldn’t be in here,” I say dumbly.

Dante chuckles. “You wanted to see me. Alone.” he adds, throwing my message back at me.

I nod, feeling a little dazed. I’m not sure whether it’s Dante’s presence and his unique smell or the fact I just woke up.Maybe it’s a bit of both. Or maybe, I’m still asleep and this is all a dream.

Reaching down, I pinch my bare thigh, flinching at the sting and confirming that I am very much wide awake.

“What if Nico catches you in here. Or worse, Papà.” I don’t know why I am trying to get rid of him when all I have wanted for as long as I can remember is this moment alone with him.

“They won’t. Now tell me what you wanted to talk about,” he prompts.

My throat suddenly feels dry. Can I do this? Tell Dante how I feel? I have to. I may never get another chance to do this.

“I love you,” I blurt out before I can stop myself, my eyes widening in pure shock that I just said those three words out loud.

Dante’s eyes round and he stills. His chest rising and falling is the only indication that he is still breathing. I wring my hands together. Fuck. Maybe I should have eased him into this. When he still doesn’t move or say anything after a good five minutes, I speak again, wanting to break the silence.

“Say something?” I whisper hoarsely.

That snaps him out of whatever trance he was in. He searches my face, raking a hand through his hair as he exhales a weary breath.

“Fuck, principessa,” he mutters.

“I know,” I say lamely.

He steps forward cupping my face and pressing a kiss to my forehead. The smell of whiskey tickles my nostrils as I breathe him in, then he pulls back to look at me. “You’re so young. Beautiful. Innocent. I don’t deserve your love.”

I shake my head. “You do. And you have it. Always.”

He blows out a breath, releasing my cheeks and taking a step back. My face falls, panic gripping me. “I need to go. But we will have this conversation again. When I am sober.”

And with that, he turns, pulls the door open and leaves.

All the while, I stand there, frozen to the spot and wondering what the hell just happened. He didn’t respond to my declaration of love, but he didn’t reject me either.

That is surely a good thing.

Right?

Chapter 26

Luca

All the air left my lungs, heat engulfing my body as I struggled to breath. I sucked in a harsh breath, then another, trying to drag air into my body, while concentrating hard. A flicker of a memory, just out of reach, pulsed at the back of my mind. Squeezing my eyes closed, I tried to grab ahold of it, willing it to materialize, praying that I would remember something…

“Dante?” Allegra calls out my name, her voice filled with alarm. Without opening my eyes, I hold up a finger, silently asking her to wait. Blocking out everyone in this room, all of the outside influences, I focus on the shadows dancing across my vision.

In my mind's eye, the image of two people appears. They look to be a man and a woman. Laughing, embracing, loving each other. My chest tightens. Even in my mind, the love between them is so tangible that if I weren’t sitting down right now, then I am sure I would fall to my knees. Emotion tightens my throat, pulse jumping when a memory presents itself.

I shouldn’t be here. I know I shouldn’t. But I just can’t help myself. Though my feelings for my best friend’s little sister have always been familial, and I never looked at her in a way thatcould be considered inappropriate, I can’t deny that I have been seeing her differently.

And though she was still only seventeen, and I would have never crossed that line with her, I started looking at her in a different way around a year ago. I remember the moment I saw her as more than Nico’s sister like it was yesterday.

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