Page 70 of The Italian's Pregnant Enemy (A Diamond in the Rough)

Except... They felt more real now. More consequential.

They felt terrifying.

The stakes had never been higher. And none of the wedding guests even knew about the pregnancy.

“I don’t know what response you’re looking for,” he said.

“There is the usual response to that question, Dario.”

“I told you what love was to me. Or rather, what it wasn’t. I am not the person that you’re looking for. Not in this.”

“What if I told you I’m not actually looking for anything? What if I told you I was offering you love? And that is not an action item. You can take it, or you can simply let it sit there, but it doesn’t change the fact that I love you.”

He looked... Lost then. Sad and desperate. “Why? Why do you love me?”

It killed her. Because he didn’t know. She could see that. She could feel it, that emptiness in him echoing in her.

She put her hand on his chest.

“Because you have made me see parts of myself that I didn’t before. Because you are a good man, and I’ve seen it.”

She thought of all that good while she said it. The way he encouraged her. The way he believed in her.

“Because you are strong in the face of great adversity, and because you know when to be soft, too. You have been with me. Whether you realize it or not. Because no matter how hard I try, I seem to not be able to stay away from you. Because you have introduced me to new aspects of my body, but of my soul too. You have made me a deeper person.”

She didn’t even recognize the girl who had come to the chalet that had thought she had it all figured out. “You have made me a better person. I’m going to be a mother because of you. Because of us. It is really not overstating it to say that you’re the single most important person in my life. That you have been for a very long time. I was running from you. That day that I showed up to the chalet with a suitcase full of lingerie, waiting for another man. I was running from you. I knew that you were the one that I needed. But I also knew that you were never going to be easy. Because a man who fought as hard as you did to get above all of that was never going to be easy. So I’m not asking you for anything. I’m just giving.”

“I don’t understand,” he said, his voice rough. “Who loves someone without getting love in return?”

“That’s what love is. It’s not a transaction. It’s not conditional. It’s not yours to give when it’s easy. It’s not about convenience. And I know that you weren’t taught that. Not in your life. I know that your father betrayed you. That he betrayed your trust. And I am so, so very sorry. But I will not love you that way. I will not love you when it’s easy and convenient, and when I am getting enough out of it to call it sufficient. I love you because of everything that you are. You have already given enough to me. You are already enough.”

“How can that be?” he asked.

“You said it yourself,” she said, her heart breaking, just a bit. “I told you I wanted a summer rain kiss. You told me I needed a hurricane. This is the whole hurricane, Dario. I’m already in it. And I don’t want anything else.”

“I also told you, you wanted the villain. I’m the villain of the story,cara, not your hero.”

“No,” she said. “That was where you got it wrong. I never wanted the villain. But I wanted real. I wanted complicated. I didn’t want a man who existed to make me feel better about myself. I wanted a man who made me better. And that’s you.”

“You are very young,” he said.

It was so dismissive, and she knew he was doing it on purpose. Pushing her away. She wasn’t going to let him.

“So what? Maybe that’s what you need. Somebody young enough that they haven’t done this before and they aren’t afraid.” She put her hands on his face and stared at him. “Because I know that it’s going to take a lot of energy, but I have it. More than that, I need it. I can’t keep part of myself back from you while giving everything to our child. I know that I can’t. I have to open it all up. Slice into the vein and let it all just bleed out.”

“You don’t know what you’re asking for...”

“Maybe I do. So here we are. This is what I have to give, and I know that it’s good enough. And the reason I know it is good enough is because you have made me feel like I’m enough. So if you want to blame someone for this, blame yourself. A few months ago I would never have thought that this was a gift. My love. I would’ve laughed about that. Because what about my love could possibly be a gift? I just saw myself as a silly little rich girl. I know I see myself as a lot more. Because of you. I know that I deserve more. I know that we deserve more. We deserve everything. We don’t deserve to be defined by our hardships. By the things that we’ve lost. We simply don’t. We deserve everything. We deserve love.”

He was reeling, and she could see that.

“We are on our honeymoon. I promise you this isn’t conditional. I want to be on our honeymoon. I don’t want to push you away. All I’ve ever wanted is to bring you closer.”

“I don’t need love,” he said.

“You’re wrong. It’s the one thing that you need, more than anything. You have billions, and you’re still broken. You have billions and you still can’t face the boy that you were. It’s the one piece of yourself you haven’t yet repaired. Your heart, Dario. Let me.”

“Thank you, Lyssia,” he said. “You are offering something I simply don’t require. It isn’t you. It isn’t that you were wrong or insufficient. It is me. I simply don’t need it. And I won’t ask to hear it again. I can’t.”

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