"Yes, you don't understand, Bella," Markus continued, his voice strained with frustration. "My heart still belongs to her. Valeria...she is the one I love, the one I have always loved, and the one I will always love probably.” 

Bella's breath caught in her throat, her chest tightening with each word he uttered. “I….just why, Markus?” She had known about Valeria, of course. “Can’t you just try to give me a chance to win your heart?” But to hear him speak of her so openly, with ...