Chapter 17

LOVE?

Gina's mind struggled through the morass of thoughts that had kept her in torment since... since Alex had presented her with the red roses.

Red roses for love?

The wild hope that had hit her then...Dear God, could it be true?

Please...?

With the helpless sense of surrendering her soul, she lifted her gaze to the man whose love she yearned for with all her heart.

A vivid blue blaze instantly seared away any doubts about his holding anything she'd said against her. An intense caring came at her like a tidal wave, crashing through the apprehensions and uncertainties that had been clinging on, fretting at a truth he was forcefully laying bare to her.

"What are you saying, Alex?" she whispered, not quite daring to believe.

"I'm saying I love you, Gina Terlizzi. And that definitely changes everything you've said against being with me."

Her whole body tingled with the energy he poured at her, carrying with it the determination to heal any breach, to prove the way was clear for them, no barriers, not even shadows of barriers.

Did it change...everything?

"I'm sorry I...I listened to Michelle," she choked out, shamed by the strength of his feeling for her.

"I'm sorry I ever became entangled with her in the first place. It was never right. Not right..." He lifted a hand to her face, stroking her cheek tenderly as he softly added, "...as it is with you, Gina."

She took a deep breath and asked, "How do you know it's right this time, Alex?"

No hesitation for thought. "I guess you could say I knew it in my bones the day we met. And the recognition just keeps getting stronger."

Instinct? Chemistry?

"I've never been hit like this before," he went on. "There have been other women I've found very attractive—obviously." An ironic edge there. "But what I feel with you goes much deeper. It's like you're in my blood, Gina, and you make it sing."

Yes, she thought, it was like music...big and overwhelming at times, soft and sweet, always emotional, passionate, tender, joyful, stormy and sad, as well.

"One thing I'm sure of...it's not going to burn itself out," he said very emphatically. "This isn't some brief candle. It's something essential— elemental—that goes right to the core of the man I am- Call it the fire of life. That's what you've lit in me, Gina. You are the woman it revolves around. And I'm not about to let it go out."

The fire of life... It seemed to Gina a perfect description of love—the magic spark that brought a man and woman together, making the heat that eventually gave birth to children, the source of heart-warmth that made life so much worth living. Yesterday, it was as though she'd been left with dead ashes, cold chilling ashes, and singing could never really take the place of the fire. All it did was reflect it in music. It could never match living it.

"I don't want it to go out either, Alex. I more or less plunged into a deal with Peter Owen because...because I was frightened of the emptiness... with you gone."

"I'm right here. I'll always be here for you."

Tears pricked her eyes. "I'm sorry I didn't believe. Michelle said things...things that struck true to me...like our lives were at odds with you being who you are and me being..."

"Perfect! You are everything I want, Gina. Everything! And don't ever let anyone tell you any different. Their vision might be messed up by things that are totally irrelevant to me, but my vision is very, very clear on what counts in my life. And you count one hundred percent. Have you got that?"

She nodded, the joy and the wonder of it momentarily robbing her of speech.

"As for the deal you've made with Peter Owen..."

"I don't know that I want to go far with it," she rushed out, not wanting anything between them spoiled. She heaved a long shaky sigh and laid out the dearest dream of her life. "The truth is...I mostly wanted to sing to my babies. Angelo and I had planned a big family."

Alex's hands slid around her waist, drawing her closer. "We'll have as big a family as you want. And I will have Marco as my son if you'll allow me to adopt him. I want to. I may not be the father Angelo would have been to him, but I'll do my best to fill that role, Gina. He makes me feel..." His smile held a whimsical appeal. "...I wish he was mine."

Her heart turned over. "You're...you're thinking of marriage?"

Burning certainty in his eyes. "I want you as my wife and the mother of my children. That's where we're going, Gina, if you're happy to come with me."

A fountain of happiness exploded inside her.

"But that doesn't mean I want you to give up professional singing," he went on seriously. "Your voice is such a powerful gift, I think the world should hear it. Owen's right about that. And I was wrong about him. I have no doubt now he'll do the best he can for you, Gina."

"I don't want it to interfere..." "It won't. We'll fit around it."

His confidence, his absolute self-assurance about handling anything where she was concerned, held Gina in silent awe. Was it possible for every dream to come true? It seemed the brightest of bright futures was shimmering before her eyes and it was difficult to take it in, difficult to believe that the groundwork for it was being laid right now...with Alex.

Alex King!

She felt such a huge swell of love for him, it lifted her onto tip-toe and her hands flew up to curl around his neck. "I was afraid," she confessed. "I thought you were bulldozing everything in your way, just to have your way. Even using my family..."

"I was glad to meet your family. I wanted them to know. Mine, as well."

"I love you, Alex King."

His eyes glowed with blue fire. "There is a place for us. I promise you we'll make it together, Gina."

"Yes," she breathed ecstatically.

And that place—somewhere—was suddenly here and now as they kissed, pouring out all the passion in their hearts, touching, holding, hugging the fire they'd lit in each other, determined on nurturing it through all the years of their lives.