Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 30098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 150(@200wpm)___ 120(@250wpm)___ 100(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 150(@200wpm)___ 120(@250wpm)___ 100(@300wpm)
“You … but you want a divorce?” She felt her heart breaking as she said the words.
“No, I don’t want a divorce. In fact, it’s the very last thing I want. You see, in the beginning, I hated you. It was easier to hate you because you were Phillip’s daughter. Only, you’re not like Phillip, and I don’t know what you did, Aria, but you’ve done something to me, you see, I’ve never felt like this, and I know I’m never going to feel this way about anyone ever again.”
Aria was confused and then Dante reached across the table and took hold of her hand. “I am in love with you.”
Her mouth dropped open.
“Don’t ask me how it happened. It just did, and now that I am in love with you, there is no one else I want more than you. You’re the woman I love, Aria. I don’t give a shit what your dad did before. It doesn’t change the way I feel about you. I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to grow old with you. I don’t expect you to love me—”
Aria pushed her chair back, and then went to him, cupping his face. “I do love you.” And with that, she kissed him, hard.
For the first time in the last week, Dante wrapped his arms around her, and in that moment, Aria knew everything was going to be okay. She had Dante. He loved her. She wasn’t expecting his love, but she would gladly take it.
“I love you,” she said in between kisses, and then she realized she had to tell him the truth. Pulling back, she looked him in the eye. “I’m pregnant.”
She didn’t know if that was going to change anything, but the smile on his face told her this was good news. “I’ve not taken a test or anything, but I have morning sickness. We’re going to have a baby,” she said.
“We’re going to have lots of babies,” Dante said.
“You know, people are going to talk … are you sure you can handle that?”
“I don’t give a fuck what other people say or think, Aria, and neither should you. You’re my wife, and no one is going to take you away from me.”
Epilogue
Ten Years Later
“I heard she arranged it, to have her father killed.”
“Dante tried to trap her.”
“There is all kinds of speculation. Her father was killed and then Dante and Aria announced her first pregnancy. Before then, they had been married for a year, and nothing to show for it.”
“He was blackmailed into the marriage.”
“He fell in love.”
Aria stood, holding her glass of water Dante had given her, and listened to the whispers. It had been ten years, and it was always the same at different social functions. It didn’t matter which ones she attended, the whispers and gossip always followed. At first, she found it disheartening. She hated to be the topic of gossip, but now she had grown used to it. There had been many different scandals within the Pesci family, but it would seem her and Dante’s marriage was still a hot topic.
It always circulated around another pregnancy, and she had five of them so far, and their sixth child was on the way. Aria couldn’t even believe that for a whole year, she couldn’t get pregnant. She was even considered a failure in performing her duties.
Even still, after Dante told her he loved her, and they were not getting divorced, her life had changed, even more than she thought was possible.
Dante had insisted on her becoming better acquainted with his parents, which she had done.
His father no longer looked at her with disgust, but instead often embraced her. Their children loved their grandparents, and would often stay with them on weekends.
Aria didn’t know what to expect of her marriage, but it certainly hadn’t been to fall in love, to relish and enjoy every second with the man she had married. In the beginning, ten years ago, their marriage had been brutal, verging on a nightmare. She knew other women had it far worse.
Against all the odds, she had found happiness and love.
She watched as Dante excused himself from the circle of men he’d been talking with, and came toward her.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, placing a hand on her stomach.
That would get the gossips talking. They hadn’t announced her latest pregnancy.
“I am fine. You said you needed to conduct business.”
“And that is done. Everything else can wait until morning. I am going to spend time loving my wife.” He pulled her into his arms, and Aria looked up into his eyes.
She’d gotten lucky.
“I love you,” he said.
This is what she loved about him, along with so many other things. He never asked the question when he last told her that he loved her. Dante always told her. He never hesitated.