Ti Amo (14 page)

After lunch Eve allowed herself to be carried away by Catalina. Of course, Mira had shared with Catalina her daughter’s love for cookies. The setup allowed her to escape to the room she and Giovanni once shared. It was just as she remembered it, especially the bed.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

“For?” She turned to see him enter the room. Tall and uncompromisingly handsome, his gaze went from her to the bed. She however couldn’t take her eyes off him. Besides the beard, he was as she remembered night after night in her dreams. The rich outlines of his shoulders strained against his black linen, collared shirt. In fact his slacks, shoes, belt, all were black, leaving the only trace of color to the silver gleam of his belt buckle. Giovanni stood taller than the average man. She missed how he would throw her over his shoulders and carry her to bed when they played sexy games for each other.

“My surprise for you.”

Mira crossed her arms. “More surprises?” She walked toward him. Since her arrival she’d had no chance to pretty herself for him. But she could see the desire in his eyes when he watched her. She looped her arms around his neck. “I love surprises. So does Eve.”

His large palms ran down her backside and cupped her ass. “This is a big girl surprise. She and Catalina need to bond. Don’t you think?”

Mira’s smile froze. “I’ve never been without her next to me, Giovanni. Never.”

“We aren’t going far or for long. She’s safe here.”

She shook her head, lowering her arms. She tried to push out of his embrace, but he brought her firm up against his chest, cupping her ass. She braced against his arms. “Sorry sweetheart but I’m not leaving my baby.”

“Bella?”

“No!”

“If I thought there was any danger here I wouldn’t have brought you here. I swear to you on my life she’s safe with us. Trust me. Please.”

“It’s hard. She’s too little to defend herself, to even tell me if something’s wrong. I wouldn’t be comfortable. Let’s take her with us. I can put her to sleep early. She’s a good baby.”

“Bella? I love her too. It’s not about leaving her behind. If you want her to come then I understand. I just want to do something for us, for you.” He kissed her brow.

Mira sighed. She was being silly. The place was a fortress. Still she couldn’t settle her racing heart after the mere thought of separating from her child. Giovanni went to the phone in his room. He made a call speaking to someone in Italian, downstairs. Mira paced thinking it over. Her mind said yes, but her heart screamed no. He hung up the phone and watched her. She knew he waited for her to be convinced, but she was not.

“I just can't. I’m sorry. No. I won’t leave her. No.” Mira said, wringing her hands. She peeked up at him to see if he looked disappointed, and then came a knock to the door. Giovanni rose and walked over to open it. Mira recognized the man entering. Two years ago at her party in Milan a giant Sicilian who could pass for a sumo wrestler escorted her to Giovanni. He looked frighteningly strong and committed to his role in the family. By the looks of the gun under his arm in the gun strap she figured he was an enforcer.

“Bella this is Nico. He will be the man to guard Eve with his life. No room she visits, sleeps or plays in will be accessed without his approval.”

Mira’s gaze volleyed between the men in stunned silence. Nico bowed his head in respect as if the job of babysitting was the greatest one bestowed on him. Mira smiled. “Thank you Nico.
Grazie
. I feel better knowing you will be here.”

Giovanni opened the door and Nico left. “Now? May I have your answer?”

“For the night, then we come back, right?” Mira said.

He approached her and took her face into his hands. Giovanni kissed her brow. “A night alone, just me and you, I can’t wait.” He brought his face to her neck and pressed a soft kiss there. “I have something nice planned for you,” he whispered in her ear.

Her love for him melted her resolve. “Yes, Giovanni,” she sighed. “Okay. One night. I’ll do it.”

“
Grazie, Bella. Grazie
.”

“I have a request.” She managed to escape his embrace, but not before he felt up her curves and squeezed her butt once more. “Let me get dressed. I want to clean up. Okay?”

He frowned. “How long will that take?”

“An hour, and I’m all yours.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Later

The door closed. Giovanni turned the lock and his gaze sought her out. Mira faced the panoramic view of Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast. The dying rays of the sun bled in through the windows and softened her curves. Her hair glistened with dark luster. She’d blown it straight. The dark tresses reached just beyond her shoulders. He approached, and his hands slowly stroked her slender arms.

Giovanni brushed her concealed breasts with his fingers when he reached to unbutton her coat. The weather in Sorrento wasn’t as brisk as it was in central and northern Italy. She wore a thin leather trench to tease him.

“All evening I’ve wondered about what lies underneath,” he whispered against her ear.

Mira gave a sweet chuckle but said nothing as Giovanni caressed her neck with one hand and let the other ease inside her now open coat to caress her breast and flat tummy. The moment she joined him he’d been taken by her beauty. Everything about Mira excited him. From the gloss on her lips to the dark and smoky eye makeup to the long bangs that covered her brow with her hair framing her face like some Egyptian goddess, he was seduced.

They were finally alone. No interruptions, no distractions, nothing to keep them apart.

“Is this place yours?” she asked, rather breathless when he pinched her left nipple.

“Yes, this is our place.”

“Our place?” Her head turned and she glanced back at him as he drew the sleeves of her coat down her arms. The unveiling of her dress didn’t disappoint.

“What’s mine is yours, always Bella.”

She’d chosen a black mini dress. It flattered and defined her curvaceous shape. She stepped away in her spiked heels. Her hips swayed and her bosom bounced gently. He watched as she strolled through the front of the villa perched on the cliffs, admiring the furniture. She then faced him with a smile. The front of the dress crossed over her breasts and wrapped snugly around her waist with a tight belt that tied at the hip. He loved dresses made this way. Two years ago she would wear designs for him similar in style. He’d never seen fabric make a woman appear so sensual and feminine. He had to shake his head to clear the lust dissolving rational thoughts from his brain. Tonight wasn’t just about claiming her physically. She put up a good façade, but he knew she held back from him. And he didn’t blame her for her caution. After all he’d stormed back into her life and dragged her back into his world. He intended to make sure she didn’t regret her decision to trust him once more. 

Mira didn’t comment on the rose petals that were scattered over the marble floors. She didn’t blink at the candles in different arrangements on tall pedestals placed about. Each provided the soft lighting as the sun sank into the sea and darkness covered most of the villa in shadows. Did she notice the fireplace burning behind a smoky grey protective glass? Instead of commenting on any of it she stood at the windows captivated by what was left of the sunset, and he waited behind the white L-shaped leather sofa anxious for their night to begin.

He cleared his throat. “Does this meet your approval?”

“I don’t like the beard, Giovanni,” she said, turning. The comment threw him. Her smile was radiant, and those bottomless brown eyes of hers twinkled when her face was bathed in candlelight. “Don’t take it as an insult. It’s more of an observation. I remember another guy. My guy. The one who lifted me out of a pond of lilies and found a bracelet that meant so much to me. The one who taught me the bitter and the sweetness of Chianti. I remember the man who opened his heart to me. That guy didn’t have a beard. I miss him.”

“Can I keep a mustache?” he asked, with a nervous chuckle.
Did he appear less handsome to her with the beard?
He hadn’t considered how strikingly different facial hair made him. He usually grew the beard when he withdrew from people. His father and mother’s deaths had both left him covering his pain behind the hairy mask. And of course her supposed death had nearly left him terminally scarred.

“I’m willing to negotiate,” she smiled. “Mustache and chin can stay, the rest must go.”

“Consider it done.”

“
Bene
.” She winked. He actually felt his pulse race at the mere thought he had pleased her. Giovanni fingered his mother’s ring in his pocket and held his breath. He had worked the night out, every detail. Still he was like a schoolboy after his first piece, nervous, awkward. She released him from her seductive stare and turned her gaze back to the scenery beyond. Maybe he should have taken her to the island of Capri. At night the blue waters were beautiful. They reflected the lights from the city and appeared like rippling waves of silk. And the view from the villas in Capri was far more romantic.
Damn it.
He should have taken her to Capri.

He rubbed the side of his jaw. “Do you like it here?”

“What’s not to like? It’s beautiful, though the drive almost gave me a nose bleed.” She pointed back to the window. “How far up are we?”

“Not sure, it’s the second highest point in Sorrento.”

“Is that Mt. Vesuvius? The one that erupted and wiped out the city of Pompeii?” she asked.

Giovanni glanced beyond her to the mountain barely seen against the darkening sky. “It is. The volcano is still active. Many believe it will release again and the clouds of ash will reach as far as Napoli. Do away with us all.”

“Amazing.” She grinned. “I knew it!” Her smile almost made her eyes disappear under her long lashes. Eve had her mother’s smile, all cheeks. Giovanni was caught again off-guard at how easy happiness came when he was with her. “When I was a little girl Giovanni I read about Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius. I sat in the library and looked up pictures of the people frozen in time. Did you know that Pompeii was the first ancient documented city that actually had fast food?”

Giovanni frowned. “Fast food?”

“Food on the go. That’s the thing about Italy, civilization today mirrors so much of the way pagans lived here centuries ago. They had restaurants, courts, laws, and they worshipped these sex Gods. The things they painted on the walls. Well I was only twelve when I saw the pictures. It’s just fascinating that the more things change the more they stay the same.” Mira glanced back to the mountain and the hills that extended to the sea. “Something about Italy always made me wonder.”

“Wonder what?” he asked.

She shrugged. “I can’t explain it. You grew up with all this history and beauty around you. It’s inspiring. I read stories of Caesar and Cleopatra, and Roman’s cheering on gladiators who fought to the death in coliseums made of limestone. Me-ma, my grandmother, encouraged my reading, but my grandfather didn’t like it.”

“Why?” Giovanni asked. He was fascinated to know more about her life as a child.

“Old fashion I guess. We were poor, farming and preaching is all he knew. Plus there was the history with my mother. The way we lost her. He feared my curiosity would take me far from them. He was right. Look at where I am now.” Her voice took on a sad note. Giovanni tried to think of something to bring her back to the mood they shared just a moment ago. And then she turned and favored him with a braver smile. He could see her push down her sad memories for him. “Isn’t it strange that I’d eventually end up here, with you? So much time has been wasted.” She crushed rose petals under her feet as she approached him. He stroked his chin and his fingers. “I have a question,” she said stopping before him.

“Ask me anything, Bella.”

“Is this a place you brought your mistresses? You know, the ones not allowed to visit Melanzana?”

Giovanni froze. Twice she’d caught him off guard. “Ah, no. I recently acquired it from another business partner. I haven’t brought women here.”

Mira tilted her head right and squinted at him as if trying to determine if he were lying. “Good. I prefer you don’t take me anywhere you’ve taken them.”

“Them?”

“I’m not stupid sweetheart.”

“Mira, no woman has replaced you in my heart.”

“Hmm. Am I still the only woman who’s shared your bed since we met?”

He touched her face. She rubbed her cheek into his palm slow and easy. He knew better than to share the truth. She wouldn’t understand how he dealt with his grief. Though he had sex, it was nothing but a body function to slow his descent into madness. And it wasn’t often. In fact it had been months since he’d even seen a woman besides the ones in his family. “Sex was the last thing on my mind then… now… well I feel differently.” So many nights he dreamed of making love to her. Just the other night he had envisioned it so clearly. He couldn’t fathom how wonderful the actual experience would truly be. “You are the only woman to share my heart, now and forever.”

She stepped away from him. Delaying what was to come next. Giovanni didn’t want to seem over anxious, but he was in no mood for the cat and mouse game. Too much time had passed between them. He was grateful that she didn’t begrudge him this reunion, and he wanted to get on with it. Dominic told him to be patient with her, let her take the lead. Damn, if it weren’t hard to do so. He wiped his hand down his face and released a deep breath. Instead of pursuing her he walked over to the wine closet and removed a pair of merlot glasses and a bottle. “You know Italian now? Do you want me to speak it more?” he asked.