possessions.”
She eased away from him and sat up, smoothing the hair off her forehead. “You say that now.”
“I’ll say it now and until the end of our days together.”
“Vincenzo—” A sob escaped. “You just don’t understand.”
“Then help me.” He tugged on her hand so she couldn’t get off the bed. She’d never heard him sound so dark.
“You’re the most wonderful, remarkable man I’ve ever known. But you were born with a special destiny.”
“No. I happened to be born the son of a duca. That’s not destiny. It’s an accident of birth.”
“Please listen. I’m going to tell you something you never knew. One time when your grandfather was out in the back courtyard in his wheelchair, I was sent out to take him a sweet. He loved Mamma’s zeppole. I gave them to him.
“After he thanked me, I started to hurry away, but he called to me. ‘Come back here, piccola,’ he said and reached for my hand. ‘I’ve seen you with my grandson. You’ve been a good friend to him and I can tell you like him. And I know why. Can you keep a secret?’ I nodded.
“‘There’s a reason everyone likes him. One day he’ll grow up to be the finest duca of us all. With his princess he’ll raise future duchi, who will have a wonderful father to look up to. But I’m afraid I won’t live to see it.’ He kept hold of my hand and wept.
“Even though I was young, I realized that he was letting me know how lucky I was to be in your company. When I ran back to Mamma and told her, she said it was a sign from heaven that I should always respect my friendship with you. To think of wanting anything more would be sacrilege.”
* * *
“Santa Madre di Dio!” Vincenzo got off the bed, putting his hands on his hips in a totally male stance. “So that’s the reason for all this talk! Gemma—if it will ease your mind, I’ve heard your opinion on the subject before. Your mother shared her beliefs because she loves you and wants to protect you.”
“Still, my temper sometimes gets the best of me.”
“I remember,” he murmured. “That time you and Bianca went swimming in the lake without your clothes. You thought Dimi and I had been spying on you and had taken them. I confess we did spy with my binoculars from a tree at the edge of the forest.”
“Vincenzo—”
“But it turned out we weren’t the culprits. The dog of one of the guards ran off with your clothes. We chased it down and brought your things back to you, but I don’t recall you thanking us.”
She shook her head. “We were too embarrassed to talk. That was so humiliating, you can’t imagine.”
“You were our wood nymphs come to life. Dimi and I thought it was the most wonderful day we’d ever spent.”
“You would!” But even across the expanse separating them he detected a half smile.
“I’ll tell you another secret. My mother was very fond of you. But because she was a princess, she believed any feelings I had for you would come to grief. Like your mother, Mamma had also been raised in a different world of rigidity within the titled class.”
Gemma sat on the edge of the bed. “Her words were prophetic.”
“Not completely. Dimi and I broke rules all over the place. It’s a new world now. Because of a reaction to the misuse of noble titles in our country, you’ll notice a trend among legitimate aristocracy in this last decade to refrain from making use of their titles.”
“I didn’t realize.”
“What’s important is that you and I have found each other again and I’m no longer in danger from my father or uncle. The powers that be are gone.”
“Thank heaven for that, Vincenzo. But what did you mean when you said you wouldn’t be a duca much longer?”
He hadn’t meant to tell her this soon, but right now he was desperate to get closer to her. “Since my return to Italy, there are men in the government who know of my business interests in the US and here. I’m not blind. Because of my title they want me to get on board with them to play an economic role in the region’s future. It’s all political, Gemma. The title corrupted my father and uncle. It turned their souls dark. I refuse to let that happen to me.”
“You don’t know if the title did that to them, Vincenzo. I watched you grow up titled, remember? I never once saw you do an unkind thing in your whole life.” She stared hard at him. “You can’t change who you are.”
“Oh, but I can.”
“How?”
“By renouncing my title. Once that’s done, it’s permanent. If I have a son or sons, they won’t inherit it, and any daughters I might have can’t inherit it anyway. The beauty of it is that an Italian title of nobility cannot be sold or transferred. In other words, the abuse stops with me. My male children and their children and the children after them won’t be burdened.”
Her eyes widened. “If you do that, won’t the title fall on Dimi through his father?”
“Yes, but he’s taking the same steps.”
“You’d both stop the title from progressing after centuries of succession?”
Vincenzo nodded. “There are so many dreadful things my father and uncle did in the name of that title, seen not only in the scars that Dimi and I carry. You know the head gardener who was introduced at the orientation meeting?”
“Yes. I met him out in back the first day.”
“Years ago, my father got angry at him for planting some flowers Mamma wanted. He told him to get out and never come back. He didn’t give him a reference or any severance pay. While Dimi and I were looking up old employees, we found him.
“That’s just one of a hundred stories I could tell you of my father’s cruelty. If he and my uncle hadn’t been born to a duca, they wouldn’t have felt they had the right to treat people like animals. The only way to end the corruption is to rid ourselves of the title and restore the honor of those noble Gagliardis from the past by preserving the castello.”
“That’s why you turned it into a resort,” she whispered.
“What better way to make restitution than by allowing the public to enjoy its heritage, thereby giving back something good and decent to the region.”
Her features sobered. “You loved your grandfather Emanuele. He was a great duca. How would he feel about this?”
“I can’t speak for him, but if he’s looking down on us now, he couldn’t be pleased with what his sons did while he was dying. Being born with a title gives some men dangerous ideas.”
“But not you, Vincenzo. Emanuele adored you. I don’t think he’d want you to do this.”
He frowned and got to his feet. “For someone who came close to bearing the brunt of my father’s dark side, I’m surprised to hear this coming from you. I thought you of all people would be happy to see this kind of inequality come to an end.”
“But you’re a different breed of man and shouldn’t have to give up what is part of you.”
“I’m a man, pure and simple. Don’t endow me with anything else. This isn’t an idea I just came up with on a whim. When I was five, maybe six, I saw my father kick one of the young stable hands to the ground because he didn’t call him Your Highness. It sickened me. That was the day my plan was born. Now I can see it through to fruition.”
The way she shook her head filled him with consternation. What could he say to get through to her?
“Years ago I told you I’d find a way for us to be married. A few days ago I asked you to