I dove into the water, coming up a few minutes later, shaking the water from my hair. I grinned at her and held my arms out. She looked uncertain, but then she smiled, flung her big sunhat off, held her nose, and gave awhoop!as she jumped from the boat. Her shark was there to chase her in the water when she started to surface.
We ate fresh seafood from the water.
Explored the island on bikes.
Hiked.
But we spent most of our time on the boat or in the water. One day, I dismissed the men protecting us so we could go further out into the water. Stella sunbathed naked at the softest time of the day, right before the stars came out. We made love underneath them, her breath mine and mine hers.
It was hard to leave, but I had other plans for her.
Two days later, we were in the groves, and Stella was on the bike Mac had brought over. I held the bike, giving her pointers on how to keep her balance.
“It’s kind of like the Vespa but not,” she said.
“No, the Vespa helps keep your balance, but on this—” I moved the handlebars a bit “—you’ll have to keep your balance yourself.”
She looked forward, a fierce look on her face. “I can do this,” she said, and it sounded like she was mostly talking to herself. Then she looked up at me. “Are these things really necessary, though?” She pointed to her head and then her knees.
“Yeah,” I said, refusing to budge on the helmet and the elbow and knee pads.
“Okay.” A slow smile spread on her face when music started to play. “Where’s that coming from?” She waved her hands back and forth to the beat, then started to sing along to “Buona Sera.”
“Probably one of Mac’s aunts. This place is wired for lights and music.” And a lot more, but I didn’t want to get into that too much. I didn’t want to ruin the illusion of safety without barbwire, so to speak, that the property provided.
“Can we ride in the evenings? After I learn? Mari said that’s her favorite time to ride.”
“Sì.”
“Then you’ll teach me how to drive a car?” She looked up at me with such expressive eyes—eyes that ensnared me and brought me to the stars.
Fuck me. I was so fucked.
“Yeah. Then we’ll learn how to drive.”
“Yes!” she said quietly as she squeezed the handlebars, ready to roll.
It took her a few tries, but once she got it, she was almost unstoppable. She wanted to ride all over the property, and we did. And after she learned how to drive on the property, she drove us to the beach. Another car had parked so fucked up, my brothers and I decided to move and straighten it so that Stella could park.
She was laughing her ass off, wheezing for breath, not able to drive.
“You just moved that car!” she managed to wheeze out as she moved out of the driver’s seat. “That tiny little car.” Then she started up again, especially after Marciano made a toy car noise with his mouth.
She lost her breath again later, after our day at the beach. We were out eating, the sun sinking into the water, when I handed her a box
“Matteo,” she breathed, wanting to touch the jewelry inside, but hesitating.
“It’s yours,” I said.
“A star, starfish,anda shark’s tooth.” She smiled while I set the necklace around her neck.
I’d called our personal jeweler and put in an order for a design that included the star, starfish, and shark’s tooth. Sistine did this by creating a three-layered necklace. The small diamond star hung right above the starfish, and the starfish, made from more diamonds, hung above the shark’s tooth.
Stella gazed at her wrist after I set a starfish bracelet around it. It looked like the starfish was hugging her. It had diamonds in it too.
She leaned her head against mine and closed her eyes. She pulled me close, so close, our hearts seemed to beat against each other’s. She couldn’t speak, so she let her heart do the talking to mine.
I drove on the way home, the convertible top down, the warm wind whipping around us. Mia had given Stella a scarf and taught her how to tie it so her hair would stay down. Stella turned the music up and sang, “Baby I’m Yours,” to me as we took twisting and turning roads. We parked and watched as the moon seemed to take up the entire sky over the Mediterranean. Its silver reflection rippled over the dark water.
