“Kiss me,dolcezza, so I can begin my day with something sweet.”
She flushes.
I pull her to me and drop my mouth on hers, taste coffee, jam, and Alessia.
Some mornings do start better than others.
13
ALESSIA
Nico stays for two nights and three whole days.
Then he goes back to Florence, to meetings and obligations. I tell myself that this is normal—that this is how it works.
And yet, I worry.
Did he go back to Chiara or some other woman?
Will he ever come back?
It’s pathetic to moon after a man. I know that. Hell, every woman in the world knows that, but that doesn’t stop me.
It’s been nice to have him here. To start the day…how did he put it? Yes, with somethingsweet.
The first night after he leaves, he calls.
He’s never called me. Maybe a text message or two about logistics and where we need to be to do something formally, but he’s never called before.
It’s late. After ten. I couldn’t sleep, so I went to the lab in the cellar. I like being there at night, when I’m alone. I’m tracking ambient yeast activity and watching it tick upward on the monitor while listening to Taylor Swift sing about how she’s avoided the fate of Ophelia when Siri informs methat there’s a call from Nico Alarico and asks if I’d like to answer.
“Yes, yes,” I quickly say.
“Nico?”
“Dolcezza,” he murmurs. He’s started calling me that, and it’s…well, it’s nice. I’ve never had a nickname with a lover before. It’s intimate.
“How are you?” he asks.
I hesitate, but only for a moment. “I miss you.”
“Oh,cara, me, too.”
“Really?” I can’t help the eagerness in my voice.
“Yes. It was nice, wasn’t it, to be together?”
“Yes, very nice.”
I sit down, smiling like a fool. “I’m in the cellar.”
“You are?” There’s a smile in his voice. “We kissed there for the first time.”
Heat rises through me, pools between my legs. He arouses me. It’s such an amazing feeling. This marriage, which I thought was doomed from the start, appears to be rising from the ashes.
“Well, I’m not kissing anyone right now. I’m running bench trials to calibrate yeast strains, nutrient protocols, temperature curves, and?—”
“I’m in bed, and I want you.”
