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And every time, he made love to her—whether tenderly or with a fierce passion that left her sore for hours later—Pia couldn’t stop the words of love tu from her mouth Because it was only there she found the Raphael she had fallen in love with Only there that he opened up to her Only there was he not a stranger

Three weeks later now, her period had started, and then stalled after a day Pia had no choice except to ask one of Raphael’s sisters to recohastly yeast infection to silence the instant speculation written on all four of his sisters’ faces as well as on Portia Mastrantino’s

Raphael was out of town He wasn’t flying in until a couple of hours before their engage the e to cry

No, not inexplicable anymore, if she were honest with herself

Soht at the opera Since Raphael had received that phone call? Since she’d agreed to marry him?

No, since she had told him that she had fallen in love with him

It clicked like theher up in knots

That was it, the un withdrawing from her

Why? She hadn’t de of him She had never said it with an expectation that he would reciprocate She had only said it because she loved hi in her and she wanted him to know it She wanted him to know that she appreciated him, that she understood why he would probably never say it back That she loved him just as he was

Had he lost interest in her because of that? Had her appeal dimmed as a result?

She had heard talk ara was back in Milan That he’d been seen with her at a new restaurant For a split second, Pia’s faith in him had wavered Even when she prodded, he barely said two sentences to her about Allegra

Did he want to be back with his ex? Had she paled in comparison to the famed beauty?

No, so in her whispered