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“This is different.” I winked. “A surprise.”
Alex placed her hand in mine, and I helped her to her feet. “Do I get a hint?”
“Nope.”
I led her across the room, my hand on her lower back.
“You’re making me nervous,” she muttered.
“This is a good surprise, baby. You have nothing to worry about.”
We climbed the stairs to the fourth floor. Marcello and my father had rooms at opposite ends. I had saved one room for Alex a long time ago, waiting until the day she became my wife.
At the end of the hallway, I stopped at a set of double doors and handed Alex a gold skeleton key dangling from a silky red string.
Alex’s eyes widened as she grabbed it. “What’s inside?”
I tipped my head toward the doors. “See for yourself.”
Apprehensive, she turned her back to me and shoved the key into the lock. I hit the light switch on the wall, and Alex gasped.
Her hand flew to her mouth. “Oh, my God, Luca.” She spoke between her fingers. “You did this for me?”
I guided her into the room by her hip. “Everything I do is for you. Don’t you know that by now?”
She angled her body to look at me. “I knew you bought the paintings from my first exhibit. But I made sure no one could ever buy my paintings anonymously. How did you get these?”
“Please, I have my ways. I made deals with art collectors to get the rest of your pieces.”
Her eyes darted around the expanse of the room. It was a replica of my mother’s studio with hardwood floors and the same domed ceiling. Except this one was free of my mother’s influence. This studio belonged to Alex. Every painting in the Many Faces of the Devil series hung on the walls, and photos of Alex from every exhibit and her sketches were framed.
“You can paint your own fresco.” I waved my hand around the room. “The walls and ceiling are your canvas.”
Her eyes watered as she looked at me. “I can’t believe you’ve kept this from me for all these years.”
“I was waiting for the perfect moment.”
She wiped away her happy tears and sighed. “You are such a psycho, Luca.”
I inched toward her like a hunter sizing up his prey. “A psycho in love is more dangerous than a man in love. Remember that the next time you test me.”
“No kidding,” she quipped. “I wish I could say I’m surprised you went to such lengths to keep tabs on me. But I always knew you were never far. I could always sense your presence, even when we were apart.”
“I have everything you ever painted.” I pointed at the drawings on the wall. “Even the sketches you threw out.”
Her mouth widened. “You went through my trash?”
“There was never a time I didn’t have someone watch over you. You are too important to me.” I motioned toward the framed papers on the wall. “I asked your brother to make a collage of your scrapped designs. I thought maybe one day you could use them as inspiration.”
She laughed. “You’re anything but predictable, Luca.”
“Do you like your new studio?”
The corners of her mouth turned up into a smile. “No, I love it.”
I slipped my fingers through her curls. “This room is yours to do with as you wish. You’re going to be my wife. It’s not right that you have to live in my mother’s shadow. This house is yours, too. Whatever you want, it’s yours.”
She threw her arms around my neck and kissed my lips. “I love you so much, you crazy lunatic. Thank you, Luca. Thank you for protecting me, even when I didn’t know I needed your protection. For loving me in your way.”