Turn Towards the Sun Book Two: After the Rain Read Online Free Page A

afraid. It’s just that–”
    Enzo cuts me off. “Don’t you think I know you by now? Don’t you think I can read those luscious caramel eyes of yours? I know when you’re thinking too much. I know when the doubt creeps in. I know I scare you sometimes, but I’m here to take care of you, and that’s what I’m going to do.” He strokes my legs, which surround him. “I nearly failed today, but you can trust that I never will again.”
    “You did not fail and I’m just worried that somehow I could get lost in you.” There, I said it.
    “What would be so wrong with that? I’m already lost in you, my love.”
    “No, you’re not. You’re still Enzo. You have the most commanding presence, and even more so now, actually. I don’t want to just be ‘Enzo Milano’s wife’ with no identity of my own.”
    His face falls, and his eyes fill with sadness.
    Shit. I wish I could suck those words back into my mouth.
    “Being my wife has nothing to do with your identity. It has everything to do with my love and commitment to you. It is not some burden you have to deal with.” His voice switches from sadness to coldness in a heartbeat.
    I realize this is not going as I planned and that I’m about to seriously mess up my wedding night. I need to fix this fast. Don’t open your smart mouth, Ava, until you can say the right thing. I sink down lower into the water, but my husband averts his eyes.
    “Enzo, please look at me.”
    He doesn’t, so I rise up, climb in between his legs and kiss his neck. “You know I love you more than anything, and being married to you is the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me. It’s not a burden to be your wife. I think you just don’t understand how incredible you are, how powerful your presence is, and how I feel absorbed by you. I think you don’t know the effect you have on me. I’m not even sure you understand how deep the depths of my love for you are. When I say these things, Enzo, I’m being honest. We must always be honest with each other.”
    He shifts his eyes to me briefly, but looks away again.
    I continue. “Just four months ago, I lived in a different state and was getting over a broken heart. I had a vision of how my future was going to be. I had a job and an apartment, and I was going to take care of myself. Then I met you, and my life was turned upside down in the best possible way. Your love healed me and opened me to possibilities I never imagined.”
    Enzo finally looks at me, his eyes softening with love.
    “But it’s a lot to take in.” Tears slide down my cheeks. I need him to understand how much I love him. “I love you so much, Enzo. I just want to make sure that I don’t lose the person that I am because of my desire to please you.”
    Finally, he pulls me to him and squeezes me tight. “I understand, amore, I do.”
    I look into his eyes. “Do you really, Enzo?”
    “Yes, I do. I can’t, and won’t, stop treating you like my princess. We’ll figure out how it will work for both of us. I can’t stop showing you the love I feel inside. I would burst if I tried.”
    He kisses me and I collapse in his arms. My body shudders with tears as the emotional release of the day’s events bubble to the surface. I cry and he soothes me, stroking my hair. I can’t begin to describe how I feel inside.
    “Bella, let’s go to bed now,” he says.
    Enzo pulls me from the water and dries my body. We climb into bed and I finally feel myself calming down. I lay my head on his chest and listen to his breathing. His heart beats against my cheek.
    “Ava, look at me.”
    I twist my face to look at his.
    “We’re the same person. My heart beats when yours does, remember?”
    I nod and rub the ring on my right hand.
    He smiles. “We have so much to learn about each other, but we have our entire lives to do it. You have all the freedom you need to be who you are, but you have to understand the way I show my love to you is what I have to do. It won’t