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“Did Gio ask you here?” Fury flared in her gaze at the thought “Christ, I told hiain I told him he wasn’t to breathe a word to you and he swore…”

Raphael pulled her roughly into his ar so hard he could hear it in his ears “Dio mio, calm yourself Gio didn’t ask me I came of my own accord I came to ask him about you I came because I couldn’t…” He drank her in “Pia, are you sure you’re not ill?”

“Stop saying that You don’t have to ht…”

“Get over yourself, will you? You are beautiful to me Always But it’s true that you look like you’ll break apart if I press hard”

Sohed A wariness entered her eyes Still, she stepped back fro and she looked away “What are you doing here? Please Raphael, just for once, respect h to leaveyou like this…you have no idea how hard it is for h, some decisions to make Then we can talk, si?”

He inclined his head A lead weight sat on his chest “But I have so to say to you Will you hear me out?”

“Si As long as you give your word that you won’t touch me”

He sed the punch it was to his chest and nodded “Bene”

Taking her hands in his, he pulled her to a sofa, then released them Then went on his knees in front of her The tears she had valiantly tried to hold back fell over onto her cheeks And she sniffled

“Please, bella Do not cry That I did this to you…” Even his throat was burning now “Pia, I adore you from the bottom of my heart”

She shook her head and he said, “Just one chance, Pia Let me finish I…yes, it was Gio who… I wanted in front ofas I could and it was hell for ht of his heart attack, I just couldn’t deny it anyht of your responsibility onlike he did… I couldn’t walk away anymore

“Everything you said about it is true But Pia, even if he hadn’t, there was a connection between us fro that went deeper than that Even with my jaded view of the world, I kne incredible you were, how giving Giovanni was right when he said I needed you in my life, just not the other way around Only I didn’t want to acknowledge the connection I didn’t want to see anything deeper at that time How could I? I have never known a connection like that before

“Given enough time, I would like to believe that I’d have come around to the sanized how precious you are Seen how ht into my life Your love humbles me, cara mia, re froer And I would spend the entirety of our lives, an eternity, ive me another chance”

Breaking his word, he kissed her knuckles He buried his face in her chest Her heart thudded near hisdeep in his pores With Pia, he was ho about you, cara mia Every inch of you Every smile of yours”

“I want to believe you, Raphael I missed you so much too”

It was as if a weight lifted from his chest He pressed kisses from her wrists to her shoulders and then across her neck, joy filling hio another day without seeing you, without holding you, without kissing you Marry me because I want to be yours Pia’s Raphael—when I’m with you, I’m the best of myself”

When her tears gave way to sobs and she fell into his arht and uttered useless phrases for he could not bear her pain

“You made me doubt myself You made me hate myself Love should not do that,” she whispered, between hiccups