Page 135 of His Two Hidden Masks

I discovered my voice and my desire. My body and soul wanted nothing more than to spend days and nights in Dylan’s arms.

“I know what I want,” I said.

“You do?” He looked at me, eyes wide.

“Yes, do you trust me?”

“I belong to you. I am yours and you are mine. If you choose to stay married to me, I will love you forever. If you choose to divorce me, I’ll still love you forever. I have something I’d like to give you.”

We reached San Marco Square and stood in front of Cafe Florian, in the spot where I’d first propositioned Dylan in the moonlight. “Stop here,” he said.

“Okay,” I said, unsure where this would lead.

“I am not going to get down on one knee because you have already said ‘yes.’”

My heartbeat pulsed through my whole body.

Dylan reached into his pocket and pulled out a black velvet box. “We thought of everything on our wedding day except the ring. And you are worthy of a ring, my love.”

He opened the box, revealing an enormous, emerald cut diamond. There were gems on either side of the stone, an emerald, a ruby, and a sapphire.

I gasped, my eyes filling with tears. “The colors of Carnival.”

“I don’t expect you to wear it,” he said, holding the box before me.

“Shhhhh,” I said. I took off my gloves and took the ring out of the box, holding it in the air. He looked at me, apprehension filling his eyes.

“It’s beautiful, Dylan.” I said. The ring looked blurry through my tears. “And I am not going to divorce you. I couldn’t bear to say we are broken. We are not broken. We are just beginning.”

“Thank God, woman,” he said, his head dropping in relief.

I held the ring up in the air and slid it onto my right ring finger. “I will wear your ring as a promise,” I said, “a promise that if, in one year, we feel the same, you will ask me again.”

“To marry you?”

“Yes.”

“I will ask you every day,” Dylan said.

I laughed as he wrapped his arms around me, twirling me in the air. He set me down, his eyes locked on mine.

I reached up and touched his face. “Dylan, I don’t know if we are insane. I don’t think there are instructions for people like us, but I know that I don’t want to do anything that hurts us, anything that puts pressure on us. I want to care for our love so it is with us forever.”

“Like a marriage,” he whispered.

“Well, we are married, so that ship has sailed.”

“We will protect our marriage with this promise,” he said, dropping to one knee.

“Oh, my God,” I gasped, laughing. “You said you wouldn’t do this. You are ridiculous.”

“Bella Uzano,” he said, looking up at me. “Will you promise to be my wife today?”

“Yes,” I whispered.

He pulled my hand to his lips and kissed the ring on my right hand. “I promise to ask you every day.”

He stood and pulled me into an embrace.

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