The Billionaire's Island Romance (The Romero Brothers, Book 3.5) by Shadonna Richards

desires. Arianna had that
effect on him. He felt so connected to her in a way that he’d never been with
anyone else. That was something, wasn’t it? Fate. Kismet. Love. Connection. All those things.
    “You know,” he said, changing the subject
slightly. “Uncle Toni always told us that there are three things in life that
are important. He got it from some old saying.”
    “What’s that?” she probed eagerly. Looking
up at him admiringly. He was glad that at least she wasn’t fearful of the water falls right now. That was a good thing, wasn’t it?
    “One: To love someone. Two: To have someone
love you,” he said, smiling.
    “And…? What’s the third thing?”
    “And three: To have one and two happen at
the same time.”
    She melted into a soft laughter that warmed
his insides. There was something so innocent and heartfelt about her laughter.
He didn’t know what it was exactly but he loved it. A lot. Christian pulled her
closer to him. “I have to look up that saying. Even though Uncle always tells
us these things, he always gets them from these books he reads. Quoting famous
people and such.”
    Ari giggled. “Uncle Toni rocks!”
    “I know. Anyway, I changed the subject but
you wanted to know why I’m afraid of losing you and being alone?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Well, I told you about my Uncle Everton on
my mother’s side.”
    “Oh, right. The one who passed away a
couple years ago. You spoke about him a lot.”
    “I know. He was always good for a laugh. We
used to hang out at the bar sometimes, play a few games of pool. In fact, he
was the one who taught me about shooting pool.”
    “And women,” she said smiling. “I remember
you telling me that he taught you about women, right?”
    “Yeah. Whatever. Anyway, he always told me
to do everything to make the one I love feel special. He told me I would know
when I found that one. That special one. You feel
different. You can’t stop thinking about them. They make you feel on top of the
world, comfortable, and connected to. Alive.”
    “That’s very nice.”
    “Yeah.”
    “But what happened to him? He died alone,
right?”
    “Yeah, he did.” The pain of that memory was
unbearable. Yet Christian felt he needed to finish that story. “He met this
really nice girl he had planned to marry back in Vienna.”
    “Oh? You never told me that part.”
    “I know. I don’t really talk too much about
it. Most of the family—on my mom’s side—know about it.”
    “So what happened to her?”
    “They had a really bad argument. Some silly
misunderstanding.”
    “Oh.”
    “Well, anyway, stubborn as he was he
decided to keep his distance. He didn’t take her calls. He
wanted to, I don’t know , get back at her . He
said he was being stupid. Stubborn.”
    “So what happened after that?”
    “She met someone else.”
    “Oh, no.”
    “Not at first, mind you, but he always
regretted not trying to reconcile earlier. He had buried himself in his work
and decided that it was better that they took time apart. But weeks became
months.”
    “And then she met and later married someone
else?”
    “Yeah. He was pretty messed up after that.
He dated a lot of girls after that but none came close to her. It just wasn’t
the same. That’s why he always told us, me and my brothers. You find a good
girl. You do everything to keep her. Treat her right. Don’t ignore her. Don’t
take anything or anyone for granted.”
    “Wow, that’s so…wow.”
    “He always had a fear of dying alone, and
well, that’s what happened.”
    “Oh, Christian, I’m so sorry. I…I really
am. I remember you saying that you were one of the pallbearers.”
    “Yeah,” he paused before speaking again.
“You know, after we broke up, I took a lot of time off work, which as you know
is something I don’t really do.”
    “I know.”
    “Then, when everyone started to complain
that I wasn’t around work much, I decided to bury myself in my work nonstop. I
realized what was happening.