Fragile Longing

by Cora Reilly

Thou shalt not covet. I’d pined for Danilo even when he had still been engaged to my sister. It had been an innocent infatuation of a young girl, fantasizing how things would be if he were mine. My knight-in-shining armor, my Disney prince.

She wasn’t Serafina.

couldn’t switch my feelings off, even if Danilo wasn’t quite the prince I had hoped he was.

Even if he’d been less of a Disney prince than I’d childishly hoped for, he was sexy.

Already at our last encounter I’d noticed a change, and now it was impossible to ignore. I noticed Sofia, not because she deserved my attention due to our planned future together. No. I noticed her curves, her beautiful face. Sofia wasn’t a kid anymore. She was a young woman with a desirable body. Now, her flirting didn’t seem amusing or like a game. It felt like a promise of what would soon be in my reach, a dangerous temptation.

He’d never given me a chance to show him I was more than second best, more than a consolation prize.

I’d messed up often in the past, and now I needed to figure out a way to make it up to my fiancée. Problem was my pride. It had always been and would always be a problem.

For the first time, I saw her as more than a girl who took her sister’s place. She was a young woman with curves that had attracted me. There was no denying it.

I’d spent so much time regretting the past and what was lost that I hadn’t focused on what fate had given me.

One side was lined with small diamonds. It was meant to symbolize our different personalities, mine cold and controlled, hers warm and hopeful, coming together with this marriage.

Her kindness was impressive and made my own selfish acts of the past all the more despicable.

Love doesn’t work from a distance. You can only love whom you know. Love means work and dedication, but most of all, time.”

I’m invested in this marriage.”

“You drive me completely crazy, Sofia.”

I have you, and I don’t want anyone else.”

“You haunt my nights and days, and no matter what I do, I can’t get you out of my head.”

I wanted to give her everything she desired.

Where I was prideful, Sofia was humble. Where I was vengeful, she was forgiving. Where I was short-tempered, she was patient.

Sofia was too good for me, and that only made me want her only more—like a magpie drawn in by her shiny light.

“I should warn you now that I’ve had you, I’ll want you every day, Mrs. Mancini.”

“I love that you have my name, that you’re mine.”

“I think I’m falling for you, Sofia. More every day I spend with you.”

“Fuck, you’re gorgeous, Mrs. Mancini. I love you.”

For maybe the first time in my life, I felt really content.

Every day, Danilo and I became stronger as a couple. I loved him and I couldn’t imagine loving anyone else, so ultimately Fina’s decisions had given me what I wanted.

“Why is it so hard for you to believe that you mean the world to me?”

“I’ll protect you till the end of my days.”