The bathroom. I sighed. The floor reminded me of pearls set in marble, and it was not the nicest feature of the space.
Nothing in the villa compared to the view.
I stood in the bedroom Corrado had brought us to the night before, staring out the window. The lake spread out as far as the eye could see. The water was clear blue with pockets of green that together made teal, and the gold from the rising sun shimmered along the surface. Jade-colored Alps towered in the distance over the small, picturesque villages tucked into the foothills. Clouds seemed to hover like smoke in between the mountains and water. Villas were placed along the mountainsides, some wedged into the crevices, some facing the water. Others were closer to the shore.
Our villa was closer to the water, but it sat back far enough to have a garden area between. Flowers bloomed everywhere. Some I recognized—bright bougainvillea that clung to every surface it touched, blue moon wisteria, and topiaries in different shapes—and some I did not.
It felt as if I had woken up inside of a painting.
I opened the doors, stepping out into the direct rays of the sun, feeling the warm, humid air move over my body. I had found a gold silk robe in the bathroom, and I decided to wear it instead of one of my dresses I had brought from home.
I moved further out onto the balcony, leaning against it, looking down.
I smiled to myself. Corrado was swimming naked in the pool that overlooked the lake. The muscles in his back worked as his arms moved him from one side of the pool to another, time and time again.
Leaving the doors open, I went in search of a way down. The villa was humungous, and I started to wonder if I was going the right way until I met men roaming the house. They did not look at me. I did not look twice at any of them. Until I found Adriano in the kitchen.
“Corrado,” I said.
“Out swimming,” he said around a mouthful of food. He shrugged. “He swims after his workouts.” He swallowed the bite, or stuffed some in his cheeks for later, and showed me how to get outside.
The grass was soft beneath my bare feet, and the sun was hot on my face already.
“What’s wrong?” Adriano said, narrowing his eyes against the glare as he stared at me. “Why are you movin’ so slow? You got a cramp or somethin’?” He used his tongue to clean a piece of food from his front tooth.
I tried not to laugh, but all I could manage was a grin. I was moving slow because last night wasmyexercise, and I was feeling it in my bones. He must have thought I was grinning at him, and slowly, his puffy cheeks inflated even more when he smiled at me.
“Come on.” He nodded toward the garden. “I talk to you too long and he might dump me in the lake and use me as fish food.”
“Why is that?”
He shrugged. “He either has an arm around a woman to keep her close, or it’s around a man’s throat. It’s either love or hate for him. Not that he’s ever been in love before you…”
I followed behind him, wrinkling my nose when the wind blew. His cologne was something that could only be described as unpleasant, and it usually made me sneeze in confined areas. It was like pepper.
He stopped a few feet away from the pool and then went back the way we came. I set my hand over my eyes, watching him so I would know where to go.
“Mrs. Capitani.”
I turned to find Corrado hanging on to the side of the pool, his skin glistening in the sun. His hair was slicked back, making his chiseled features seem even sharper. His eyes were a shade or two lighter than his skin, which made him look almost wicked.
Corrado pointed to his lips. I walked over to him and bent over, about to kiss him good morning. Instead, I hit the water and went under. I came up spluttering, wiping the hair from my face.
As soon as my eyes would focus, they focused on him. He was smiling at me.
Bastardo!He had pulled me in.
I hit him in the face with water.
He came after me, and I tried to get away. His arm came around my waist, pulling me hard into his chest. My legs were useless. They floated.
“Bruto,” I said, splashing him in the face again.
He laughed some, kissing me behind the ear. “You like when I’m a brute,” he said, sucking on my earlobe.
I closed my eyes, placing my hands over his wrists, letting him float me around the pool. My eyes opened when he set me against the wall and undid the tie of the robe. It floated off a second later, and he brought me close again, nothing between us but the water. I wrapped my arms around his neck, my legs around his hips, leaning my forehead against his.
“What if the men see?” I whispered.
