Page 33 of Ti Amo

“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?”

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