“Because I was.” He lifted me up, helping me into a silk robe. He must have grabbed it when my eyes were closed. Still were. “You can open your eyes now, Aphrodite.” I could hear the grin in his words.
“I’m almost too afraid. This all might be a dream.”
“You can pinch me if you want.”
“How is that going to help me?” I laughed, opening my eyes, meeting his. Damn…the color of his eyes was close to the color of the sea here. A combined blue and green that almost made them teal in some light. In the darkness, they seemed more blue. In the bright light, more green.
“It’s not, but it got you to open your eyes.” He leaned down, set my arms around his neck, and then lifted me up. “Back to thebut…you might not need all the romance, but you like it.”
Okay, I did, but I didn’t want to admit it. Admitting it might make it go away. I’d have to knock on wood, and the only thing close to it was Big’s head when he was being stubborn, which in that moment, he wasn’t.
Big brought me out to the terrace and set me down in a chair at a table. The view, worthy of a painting, spread out around me for as far as I could see. I couldn’t help but think of Georgia—she and Rocky were the only two of my girls who were going to the wedding in Italy—and how much she was going to love it here.
It didn’t seem like anything bad could happen in this place, and if a person carried around heavy luggage filled with darkness, the water would wipe it clean, and the warm air would make the light stick. I hoped this new view would give her fighting spirit a safe place to hide while offering it peace. I was feeling it for her. Manifesting it forherlife, if such a thing were possible.
A few minutes later, after we both seemed to enjoy the view in silence, a man delivered our breakfast. I laughed some at the drink that was brought out for me. It was pink. The fancy glass had a little silver bracelet around its stem with a handcuff charm.
“Well earned.” Big raised his cup of dark, hot coffee to my glass of cool, pink liquid heaven.
“I’m flattered.” I bowed some. “Saluti.”
We clinked and then took drinks.
Conversation flowed easily as we ate and drank. It was a gorgeous morning, and I knew it was only going to get better. We talked about the plans for the day, the wedding stuff, where we could go after the castle for a while, and then I asked him about Rocco and the Fausti family. I knew Abree Caffi was connected to them, and I wondered if she was going to be there.
“Probably.” He set his napkin down next to his empty plate, stood, and offered me his hand.
I looked at his hand, him, and then at his hand again before I took it. I should have pressed him, because I could tell he was trying to fly right past the topic of Abree Caffi, the ex, but I wasn’t sure if I was going to be ready for her either. I’d seen her picture. Even showed it to Georgia. We weren’t the type of women who judged other women just by picture alone, but we both decided we didn’t get a good feeling about her. Georgia even broke out in a country song she knew by heart. “I’ll Think of a Reason Later.” But she customized it to my situation.
She’d been trying to make me laugh, downplaying the situation a bit, but I knew she was lying, especially after she left, and I realized she’d drawn horns and a devilish-looking mustache on the picture I’d printed of Abree from Google images. She’d written underneath,the resemblance is uncanny…
I sighed.
By the end of the night, I’d find out if that was true.
CHAPTER19
Mr. Big
WatchingLeonora in Italy was like watching the sun rise in the sky and transform the world. She reflected the light differently here, and it revealed a different side to her that I’d never seen before. She was learning to let go, enjoy the moment she was in instead of worrying about the next, and she was fucking breathtaking.
I couldn’t keep my eyes off her.
Honey-blonde hair that flowed through my fingers when I got my hands on it. Stunning blue eyes that stopped my feet and stole my breath when they crashed into mine. They were so vivid, they almost seemed neon, especially in the sun and against her tan skin. The white summer dress she wore was flirty, showing off her curves, the deep V giving a tease of what only I would ever see, and gorgeous legs. Even her feet were perfect, wrapped in a pair of leather sandals that allowed her toes to breathe.
Leonora Kallistos Bigatti was a woman worthy of the name Aphrodite.
And she was mine in every fucking way.
It had always been that way—even when we weren’t together.
It would always be that way—I’d do whatever it took to keep her satisfied.
Her eyes were fixed on the yachts floating in the sea, and when a sharp wind blew, she set her hand against the straw hat she wore. She’d told me before we left the hotel that Georgia had convinced her to buy it.
Like she had to catch the hat before it took air, my hands had the same instinct to keep her close. She didn’t gasp at the sudden contact or pull away—she melted into me, holding my arm around her waist as tightly as I was holding on to her. Her body fit with mine, as perfectly as the Ligurian Sea fit with the coast.
She inhaled and released it slowly. “You always smell so good.”
