The Scorsolini Marriage Bargain (22 page)

Therese
looked at both brothers and wondered what had gotten into them. “You think the fact I am upset with my husband is a joke?” she asked with a puzzled frown.

They were both usually more sensitive than that. They were Scorsolini men, which meant they weren’t the most intuitive when it came to emotions, but this was odd even for them.

Danette bit her lip and then smiled with a shrug. “You’ve got to admit, it isn’t like you, hon.”

“The day your father and
Claudio
grilled me, you were really annoyed with them, but you were so subtle about it. The classic princess.”
Maggie
grimaced. “I was sort of awed by you, to tell the truth.”

Therese
didn’t know what to say. They were all right…she was not hiding her emotions as well as she used to. But why should they find that funny?

“When you are annoyed with my brother, you do not hide that fact,”
Claudio
said to
Maggie
.

“Not in front of family, no,”
Maggie
agreed with a rueful smile.

“You can say that again,” Tomasso said with a laugh and promptly received another playful elbow to his ribs.

Ignoring the byplay,
Claudio
turned to look down at
Therese
. “Our marriage is not so different from theirs.”

In that moment, when he was behaving toward her very much the way his brothers were toward their wives, she wasn’t sure what to say…if anything to refute that statement.

“No, I do not think your marriage is so different,” Flavia said, her expression stern. “But I had wondered when you would wake up to that fact, my son.”

“I assure you, I am very awake to it now,”
Claudio
replied allowing his gaze to flick momentarily to his stepmother, apparently not in the least offended by her censure.

It almost seemed as if there was another level of silent communication going on between them. Like this discussion was not entirely new to them.

But
Therese
gasped. Was he trying to imply he loved her?

His focus returned to her, his eyes filled with wary vulnerability. “What? You have not noticed the similarities?”

“No…um…I hadn’t.”

Flavia shook her head. “That is not surprising after your upbringing, but child, you must stop looking at our
Claudio
through the eyes of a diplomat’s daughter and begin to see him with the eyes of a woman who is willing to trust his heart and her own.”

Flavia had her full attention now. “What do you mean, considering my upbringing?”

“You have not known unconditional love…I think in fact, you have known very little love at all. You are used to assuming it is not there, when in fact, it is.”

For no reason she could discern,
Therese
’s chest tightened with emotion. “I don’t understand.”

“We all love you, that is all I am saying.” Flavia squeezed
Therese
’s hand.

Tomasso smiled. “Yes, and while I would be honored to have my son one day sit on the Scorsolini throne, I cannot help hoping IVF works for you two.”

“Because you don’t want him to know the pressure of ruling a kingdom?”
Therese
asked, painfully uncertain of the rightness of staying married to
Claudio
.

“Because any child born to you and my brother will be very blessed and a beautiful addition to this world.”

“That is a lovely thing to say and quite true besides.” Flavia smiled her approval on Tomasso and then turned to adjust the blanket covering King
Vincente
’s legs.

“Stop fussing, amore. I am fine.” The king reached out and brushed a finger down Flavia’s cheek. “So long as you stay with me, I am fine.”

Flavia smiled, her eyes filled with obvious love, but said nothing.

“Is this where you two announce you are getting married again?” Danette asked, her hazel eyes alight with pleased speculation.

Incredibly, Flavia blushed and sent an uncertain look at each of her sons. The king just grinned. “Yes, my children that is exactly what happens next.”

“That is wonderful! When is the wedding?”
Marcello
asked.

“In three month’s time…when it is safe to have a wedding night,” King
Vincente
replied with a roguish look at Flavia. “Though I tried to convince your mother six weeks was sufficient, she was adamant.”

A real blush now staining her cheeks, she slapped his arm gently. “We have waited more than two decades to be together that way again, we can wait a few additional weeks so my worries are set at rest.”

After that, hugs and kisses of congratulations ensued. The attention was firmly removed from
Therese
and
Claudio
, for which she was eternally grateful.

Later, she was lying awake in the dark, her mind spinning with what Flavia had implied and the strange way
Claudio
had been behaving. Even now, he slept facing her, his head above hers on the pillow, one hand on her shoulder, the other resting lightly on her hip and his calf slung over hers. She was wrapped up as if he was afraid she would get away.

“Explain to me how you believe a Scorsolini man in love behaves.” His deep voice coming out of the dark startled her.

“I thought you were asleep.”

“I am not.”

“Apparently.”

“So, tell me.”

“Why?”

“Please, tesoro mio, do not play games with me.”

“I’m not trying to, but I don’t understand where this is coming from.”

“You told me you were sure I did not love you because I am not the husband to you that my brothers are to the women they love. I want to know how in specific terms I have failed.”

She felt like she couldn’t breathe. “Why?”

“So I can fix it.”

“You want me to believe you love me?” she asked softly.

“Is that not obvious?”

“Maybe it should be, but no…it’s not really.”

“It is as Flavia said…you are so unused to receiving love, you do not recognize it when it is around you.”

“I want to be loved,” she admitted with a vulnerability she would never have shown him before the watershed of events in the past two weeks.

“I do love you,
Therese
, and one day you will know it.”

No, it wasn’t possible, but why was he saying it? Guilt could prompt a lot of things, but not a false confession of love from him. She didn’t think. “Are you saying you love me because you think you have to…are you trying to make up for something?”

“No.” That was all. A simple no. He didn’t get all offended, or cranky, or try to convince her with more words.

And there was something incredibly convincing about that simplicity.

“I…”

“You are unsure. I understand this. I did not realize I loved you when I married you. You can be forgiven for not being aware of it as well. Flavia noticed, but she also saw that I was fighting it. Porca miseria…I was so foolish, I did not even see your love for me, but I noticed when it was gone.”

“Gone?” she asked faintly, tipping her head back so she could see his face.

Or at least the shadow of it in the darkness of the room.

She could feel his gaze burning into her even though he could not see her any better in the dark than she could see him. “Yes, gone. Did you think I would not notice? I assure you, I am not quite that unobservant. The way you used to look at me as if I was all you could ever want…the way you lit up when I came into a room. It is gone.” His voice was laced with a pain she understood only too well. “I only pray that with God’s help and the advice of my family, I will be able to earn it back again.”

“You’ve asked your family…your brothers for advice…on winning my love?” she asked in total shock.

“Yes, though neither seems particularly smart on the subject.”
Claudio
sounded very disgruntled by that truth.

“What did they say?”

“Tomasso suggested I woo you in bed, but that is not an option and I do not want to wait until it is to convince you.”

“Oh…”

“
Marcello
suggested I talk honestly with you, but I have been doing that for days now and it does no good.”

“Honest communication is necessary to a strong relationship.” But the person you were communicating with had to believe you and not second-guess your motives…like she had been doing with his.

Could it be true? Did he love her? She’d been wrong about so many things and so had he, but he apparently wanted to fix his shortcomings. He wanted her to feel loved.

“That is what Flavia said, but Papa thinks you need proof. Again, I did not find that very useful. I do not know what proof to give you.”

She actually smiled at the disgruntled tone in his voice. “Your brothers had no suggestions for that?”

“As I said, nothing I could use.”

“Bed is not the only place to express love.” But she saw now that it had been the place he had been most comfortable doing so.

“I know this. I reserved all my affection and the release of my emotions for the bedroom, but that only convinced you your primary use to me was as a bedmate. And it isn’t, amore. Please believe that you have always mattered to me on every level a woman can impact a man. I could slice out my own tongue for some of the things I said after you told me you thought we needed a divorce. You believed every one of them too easily, but then you could not believe me when I told you they were prompted by temper and hurt, not truth. I had been too negligent as a husband and had convinced you too strongly of my lack of feelings for you to easily believe I have them for you now. I did not realize any of this until it was too late.”

“Too late?”

“I woke up to many things too late.” The sadness in his voice was too real, too deep to ignore.

He really did love her. He hadn’t realized it and in typical
Claudio
fashion, had been intent on not being controlled by his emotions. But he realized it now and he was hurting.

Just as she had been hurting.

She felt like his agony was inside her own heart. And conversely, she thought that if she asked…he would say he could also feel the pain that had been causing more internal hemorrhaging inside her than the endometriosis. Because he loved her and her pain was his pain.

The evidence had been there all along, but she’d attributed every motive under the sun except the true one…that he loved her.

She turned on her side to face him fully and reached up to press the button above their bed that turned on dim lights. They cast a golden glow over his features, revealing glittery dark orbs and telltale wetness on his temple.

She reached out and touched it, unable to believe that he was crying for her. Men like Claudio did not cry. Not ever.

“It isn’t too late,” she whispered.

The big body curled so protectively around hers went rigid, his gorgeous face contorted with a hope it was painful for her to see. “It is not?”

“No.”

“Wha…” He swallowed and took a deep breath and then let it out. “What exactly are you trying to say here?”

“I wondered what made Danette so special…why she could be loved by her parents, by
Marcello
, but I was destined not to be loved by the people that mattered most to me.”

“Danette is special, but,
Therese
…to me you are infinitely more precious. I do love you and I will spend the rest of my life proving it. Your parents are two rather stupid people.”

“They aren’t. They’re both very smart.”

“Not when it comes to love. You are incredible and to have you in my life is my greatest blessing. That they could not recognize that very thing makes them idiots.”

“You didn’t recognize it as first…”

“I did, but I did not label the feelings you evoked in me love because to my mind that made me dangerously vulnerable.”

“Like your father.”

“Sì.”

“We all learn things from our parents.”

“But we can unlearn them, too. I have. I love you,
Therese
, and that does not make me a fool or weak. It gives me strength and it fills me with pleasure when I think of one day sharing that love with you. And we will,
Therese
. Because even if you won’t tell me what it is my brothers do, I will figure it out and I will do it and you will know you are loved.”