Page 36 of Bound by a One-Night Vow

A couple of days later Andrea received a package delivery by courier from Izzy containing the wedding and engagement rings and the jewellery he’d bought her. He sat in his office in Positano and stared at the diamonds and sapphires and wondered why she’d sent them back when she could have sold them. At least then she could have raised some funds to compensate for what she’d lost by bailing on their marriage. He searched through the packaging and found a handwritten note.

Dear Andrea,

I didn’t feel comfortable keeping these any longer. I’ll leave it to you to make the divorce arrangements. Please say hello to Gianna for me and apologise for how I left without saying goodbye. I hope she understands.

By the way, my grandparents’ house was sold but I’m okay about it. It needs a lot of work and I would never have been able to afford it.

Izzy

Andrea stared at the note for a long moment. Why was she leaving the divorce arrangements to him? He picked up her wedding ring and suddenly realised he was still wearing his. Why hadn’t he taken it off? He let out a sigh that scraped at his throat like a crab claw. He knew exactly why. It was the same reason he’d gone to such trouble to buy her grandparents’ property even though it would need hundreds of thousands of pounds thrown at it to restore it. As white elephants went it was a big one. It had gone against every business principle he prided himself on but he’d felt compelled to at least make sure she had something she wanted, even if it wasn’t all she’d hoped for. He’d been waiting for all the legal work to be cleared up before he sent the deeds to her. Maybe he should have contacted her before now but he didn’t want her to think he was blackmailing her into coming back to him. The house was a gift. Wasn’t it? Why else had he bought such a run-down sad excuse for a place?

But she didn’t want possessions. She wanted love. Wasn’t that what everyone wanted?

And yes, even him.

He’d been such a fool to let her go without a fight. He’d let her walk away because he hadn’t had the guts to ask her to stay. He hadn’t had the courage to admit to how he felt about her. He hadn’t even recognised his feelings because for most of his life he’d been shut down emotionally. He had done the same thing to his mother. She had rejected him and he’d walked away without trying to understand what was going on for her. But he had already taken steps to fix things with his mother. He had Izzy to thank for showing him how blind he had been to his mother’s point of view. It shamed him to think he had wasted all those years resenting his mother when he could have been helping her, protecting her.

But for now Izzy was his top priority—his only priority.

He had locked away his heart for fear of getting hurt and yet he had hurt Izzy. She hadn’t told him she loved him but the signs were all there. He had to see her to tell her how he felt. He had to prove he was worthy of a second chance because he couldn’t bear to live his life without her at the centre of it.

* * *

Izzy was in her bedsit, mindlessly watching a movie on her phone, when the doorbell rang. She used the term ‘doorbell’ loosely for it sounded more like a cat being slowly strangled than anything else. She clicked off her phone and answered the door, to find Andrea standing there carrying a package and a business-sized envelope. A sinkhole formed in her stomach. The divorce papers. He was bringing her the divorce papers to sign to activate proceedings. ‘Hi,’ she said, surprised her voice got past the lump in her throat. ‘Won’t you come in?’

He stepped through the doorway and closed the door behind him. ‘How are you?’ His voice had a gruff sound to it as if he’d swallowed something rough.

Izzy tried to smile but it didn’t quite work. ‘I’m fine. You?’ Oh, God, how polite they both sounded. Like strangers. She glanced at the envelope in his hand and swallowed. ‘Are those what I think they are?’

‘What do you think they are?’ Something about his expression made her wonder if he was smiling behind the screen of his shuttered gaze. How cruel of him to be amused at the end of their relationship. But then, why wouldn’t he be amused? He wasn’t the one who would lose everything once they divorced.

‘The divorce papers.’ How it hurt for her to actually say those words out loud.

He passed the envelope to her. ‘Why don’t you open it and see if you’re right?’

Izzy took the envelope with fingers that trembled. She broke the seal and pulled out the document, but it took her a moment to work out what it was. It was a legal document but it had nothing to do with a divorce. It was a property deed. The deed to her grandparents’ property. She looked up at Andrea in puzzlement. ‘I don’t understand... Why are you giving me these?’

‘It’s yours, Izzy. The property is yours. I bought it for you.’

Izzy wasn’t sure what had surprised her more—the fact he’d called her Izzy or his purchase of the property. ‘I don’t know what to say... I’m completely gobsmacked as to why you would do something like that.’

‘Do you have no idea?’ His eyes began to twinkle. ‘No idea at all, cara?’

Izzy moistened her lips, which were suddenly drier than the document she was holding. She put the document down and looked at the other package he was carrying. ‘W-what’s in there?’ Her voice stumbled over a budding hope.

He handed her the jewellery she’d sent back to him only a few days ago. ‘I want you to put those rings back on, cara. I love you and I can’t spend another day without you.’

Izzy opened and closed her mouth, her heart beating so fast she could almost hear it. ‘You love me?’

He took her by the upper arms, his smile so tender it made her heart beat all the faster. ‘I’ve been such a fool, tesoro mio. I can’t believe I let you walk out of my life like that. I was so angry that you’d ended things that it took me a while to realise how I really felt. I love you so much. My life is so empty without you. All I do is work and mope around the place. Gianna is sick of me. She’s threatening to resign. You have to put me out of my misery—and hers—and come back to me. Please? Forgive me for being a heartless brute in not telling you how I feel before now. I love you desperately.’

Izzy threw her arms around him and hugged him so tightly he grunted in pain. ‘Oh, Andrea, I love you so much too. I can’t believe how lonely and miserable I’ve been.’

He lifted her face so his gaze meshed with hers. ‘You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You make me feel alive in a way I’ve never felt before. I’m sorry we fought so much over the years. What were we thinking, wasting so much time?’

Relief at knowing he loved her as she loved him flooded Izzy like a powerful drug. A calming, healing drug that took away all the pain and sadness of the past. ‘We’ll make up for it in the future. No more fighting, only loving.’

He stroked his fingers across her cheek. ‘The last few days have been torture, coming home to an empty house. Not seeing you. Not hearing your voice. Not sleeping beside you. I’ve missed you so much.’

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