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“If it is easier for you to be angry with me, then so be it I only want your happiness, Mari”

And for the first time in his life, he kneas true He wanted her happiness ahead of his own And a flash of fear: never did he want to become his father Papa had dedicated his life to his wife’s happiness only to have itLuca had seen how Papa had been destroyed when his mother left them all He also remembered the exact s was so cruelly broken And he kne that it was nothing compared to the power Mari could have over his heart

She turned away and wiped a finger beneath her lashes, catching the tear before it could trickle down her cheek How could she explain that soht about everything! How they had both known this ti held in his ar safe and loved All that would go with him when he went away She’d utterly despised hi to have him stay

“And I want yours,” she replied She looked up into his eyes, wishing she were in his arms once more It suddenly struck her that she wouldn’t kiss hiulfed her All this tio back to her old life And faced with it now, it seemed cold and pointless

“Luca?”

His fingers were gripping hers so tightly they pained

“Will you kiss me one more time?”

She heard the plea in her voice but for once didn’t care She stood and walked into his erazed her temple

She barely breathed, her chest rising and falling in shallow breaths as hisher like precious china Her lids drifted closed as the soft skin of his lips touched the crest of her cheek, her forehead, her lashes before tentatively settling on her mouth The kiss there shattered her with its innocence and purity Her wrap floated to the floor but she didn’t care Three little words hovered on her lips but she held theile between the protestations of love Instead she kept the words treasured in her heart until it hurt sodown completely

“I need to go,” she gasped, pulling back and grappling for her purse “I’m sorry I can’t do this”

She rushed out of the alcove before Luca could utter a single word