Her eyes return to me. There’s a golden lock stuck to her temple, and I brush it back. “Yeah. I don’t like sitting still.”
“I’ve noticed.”
Her lips tip up into a tiny smile. It makes me want to kiss her, and that want momentarily makes it hard to think. It’s not the urge I’ve had before, the fierce pounding of lust for a woman who drives me insane. This is something far softer.
“Your uncle won’t be a problem. I can handle him,” I say.
She nods and takes a deep breath. “You once told me that you didn’t understand why I’d… why I’d… double-cross family.”
My own words, my own thoughts. Waves beat against the dock beneath us. “Yes. I said that. But I understand it now, darling.”
Her fingers brush over my cheek. “You just called me darling,” she says. “But there’s no one around to hear.”
“You can never be too thorough,” I murmur.
Her fingers linger on my cheek. “And you went out with your bruise like this. Anyone could have seen.”
“I got an urgent text,” I say.
“I’ll cover it up for you. Later.”
I press my lips to her temple. The urge is too great. “Thank you.”
CHAPTER 45
PAIGE
Rafe and I get back to Villa Egeria later that day. The others don’t join us, going their separate ways. One to England, another to Scotland. Three to New York. The helicopter ride back to Como was quiet, just Rafe and me, and when I walk through the villa…
It feels like home.
Of everything that’s happened in the last week, that might be the most dangerous of them all.
The first night, the guest rooms aren’t ready yet. They’re being aired out, sheets changed, the house put back the way it was before the wedding. And so I sleep in Rafe’s bed again.
It’s frustrating how helpful it is for my anxiety. It’s always been the worst at night, when it’s just me and my thoughts, but arguing with him before bed is like a balm.
Especially after everything that’s happened in the last few days. My uncle found me. Flew across the Atlantic, followed me on the news andfound me.
But I did the right thing. I tell myself that, over and over again.I did the right thing.He was planning on demolishing the company. That would have meant hundredsof people without a job and our family legacy gone forever. Because Idid what I did, they won’t be laid off. Rafe promised me six months of no firings.
And we have a plan to bring the company back on its feet.
I fall asleep to the sound of Rafe’s steady breathing and my own mantra.I did the right thing.
We spend all of the next day working. I’m reviewing all the changes to Mather & Wilde his new CEO has suggested and finding several of my own threaded through there.
The suggestions I made Rafe review.
In the heat of the afternoon, we decide to play tennis again.
It’s our third or fourth game together. I’ve learned to take advantage of his slow resets, but he’s also learned that he can get me with quick turns of the games that his longer legs can adapt to easier than mine.
I bounce the tennis ball twice before looking over the net. Rafe is there, at the base line, gripping his racquet tight.
I toss the ball up high and serve hard and fast down the T. He returns it. We rally back and forth with a few quick forehands before I add topspin and shoot short.
He has damned long legs, though, and reaches it in time. He shoots it back to me, and I misgauge where he’s aiming. It passes behind me.
