Chapter 26

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

DARIO

“ I know you didn’t approve at first, Miss Santoro,” I say, sitting beside Rosa’s bed.

Over the past week, her health has taken a definite upward trajectory. No recovery will ever be miraculous, but watching my woman become more optimistic has been one of the greatest joys of my life. Just last night, when we were lying sweaty and content in bed, she said, “She’s becoming her old self. I don’t want to get my hopes up, but…” We both share that sentiment, not getting our hopes up, but we can’t help it. Our hopes are flying.

“Maybe you still don’t,” I say when the frail woman watches me silently. “I wouldn’t blame you. Elena has told me about the fire. I hope that’s okay.”

“It was always hers to tell,” she says, “and you can call me Rosa.”

I count that as a victory. “Rosa,” I say, “I need you to know I would never hurt your niece. Just the idea of causing her pain makes me sick. I can’t imagine it. All I want is for her to be happy. When this started, I was a cold, miserable bastard, but Elena woke something up in me. She changed me.”

“She’s a special young woman,” Rosa agrees. “However, something tells me you didn’t come all this way just to compliment my niece.”

I swallow, nerves hitting me. I can wade into a gunfight or a business deal and feel ice cold, but this is something else entirely. “I know you and Elena are still repairing your relationship, but she loves and forgives you. If anybody is her guardian, it’s you, Miss … Rosa. I’m asking for your niece’s hand in marriage.”

Rosa narrows her eyes at me. There’s a long pause, and then she lets out a wild, healthy laugh. It’s a full-throated and robust laugh, not the kind I’d expect from an unwell woman. She throws her head back and guffaws .

I lean back; a solid weight feels like it drops in my gut. Is this a no?

Once she’s finished, I wait for her to speak. Then I can’t take it anymore.

“I think I’ve missed the joke.”

“I’m sorry,” she says, wiping a tear from her eye, “but this whole thing started with a marriage.”

I chuckle. So that’s where she’s going with this. “Ah, yeah. I see the irony, but it was never supposed to be real. Your niece changed that. She changed me .”

“The choice isn’t mine.”

“I know,” I say, nodding. “You trust your niece to make her own decisions, but it would mean a great deal to me to have your blessing. You may disapprove of my lifestyle, but can you honestly look at me and say I don’t love Elena?” My voice grows husky.

“Even in my less lucid moments,” Rosa says, “I could’ve seen that. You’re genuinely in love with her, aren’t you? After just a few weeks?”

“It didn’t take weeks,” I say. “It took minutes. It just took me a while to admit the impossible. Or what I thought was impossible.”

Another pause, keeping me in suspense, and then a smile spreads across her lips. “You have my blessing, Mr. Moretti.”

“Please, call me Dario.”

Her smile widens. “I’ll only ask you one favor.”

“Anything.”

“Never stop trying to make her happy.”

“I promise.”