Page 75 of Ciao, Amore

He withdrew from her slowly. Her body was outlined by the remnants of lightning, like a statue. Daniela was no longer his Venus incarnate, no longer his to worship. Her wet skin now felt cold to the touch, like smooth dark marble, her deceptive softness covering a heart of stone.

He pulled her up by the hand and into the bedroom. Without bothering to towel off, he lay her down in the warmth of the bedding and spooned her. Wordless, he pressed his face into the hollow of her neck and his body along her backbone.

As he fell asleep, surrounded by her, he realized that for the first time, their sex had been silent. No joyful banter from her, no whispered words of lustful praise from him. No sweetness from either of them at the end.

In the morning, Nico was up before her, as usual. He lay on the far side of the bed, not touching her. Watched the long sweep of her lashes as they rested on her cheeks and wondered what she was dreaming about.

When her alarm sounded, she came awake and opened her eyes to favor him with a sleepy, heartbreaking smile. But when she reached over to run her fingers along his jaw, he jerked away. It was a small movement, but immediately, her eyes widened, and the smile went missing. He turned and rolled off the bed, and his feet landed on the floor with a definitive thump.

“Airport time. You can hit the shower first.”

28

CREEP / THE SPIRAL

NICO

If it weren’tfor the kids’ excited chatter and whining and laughter, breakfast would have been a quiet, solemn time. Nico avoided the gathering in the indoor dining room and scooped up some pastries and coffee to eat in the kitchen with Cetta and the guards, who were all prepped to depart with Nonno and Nonni after they closed up the villa for the winter.

Dani took a chair somewhere in between, not quite in the kitchen, not completely in the dining room, with Merelys standing over her with a plate, talking in rapid Spanish. About what, he had no idea, but Merelys kept pointing to her ring, so he had to assume it was about the wedding plans.

Fucking wedding plans. Salty curses dipped in a sweet rage coating flooded his mind, things he would never say to Dani’s face. The beautiful woman sitting there upbeat and cheerful after she’d fucking destroyed his faith in love once and for all would never know how much she’d hurt him. The least he could do was leave with his pride intact, even if his heart was nothing more than a bruised muscle pumping out the last of its bitter, dark crimson blood.

“Everything alright?”

Angelo was at his shoulder, squeezing it. Like he was the older brother. As if he had all the goddamned answers. Nico said nothing, fearing the venom that would spew from his mouth and poison the one person who’d been on his side through all this chaos.

“You remember how Ma didn’t like Tori when I first started bringing her around? Man, that was some dramatic shit them two went through.” Angelo grinned at the memory of it, his high school crush on a girl their mother had thought wasn’t right for her second baby boy. “Remember how they used to get into it? And look at them now.”

Turning slightly, Nico saw Lina and Tori sitting next to each other. Lina was bouncing Little Angelo on her lap, and they were crooning to him and laughing softly. Everything had worked out for Angelo. Good for him.

“Same thing with Merelys. Same thing with Vanessa. You know Ma is exactly like Nonno and Nonni. Old-school, believe they know what’s best for everybody. The only one she liked was the one that fuckin’ bailed on you, so that should tell you something about her judgment. Just give her some time to get to know Daniela. She’s gonna get over herself.”

“It doesn’t matter now.” Nico’s shoulders sagged.

Angelo sighed hard. “It’s alright, Nicky.”

Nico didn’t say more. Now wasn’t the time or the place to tell Angelo everything Dani had said the night before, all the ways she’d wounded him, and her utter lack of faith in them. It wasn’t the time to admit that she’d bailed on him too, only this was worse than what Tracy had done.

He hadn’t poured his heart out to Tracy and had it stomped on.

Dani had done that.

And it was his fucking fault because she’d told him from day one that she wasn’t coming here to fall in love. He’d allowed himself to believe she’d change her mind because hewantedto believe.

This should have been expected.

You fucking idiot, you fuckingidiot.

As he silently spiraled, they piled into their hired car and made their way to the airport. The check-in, getting through security. Silence. Ache deepened in his chest. Occasionally, she tried talking to him and holding his hand. He let her have the hand but remained silent until finally she stopped trying.

Dani’s flight to Milan was leaving later than their flight to New York after a transfer in Rome. She’d already paid her respects to his grandparents and kissed Cetta before they’d left the villa. Now he watched her say her farewells to the family at their gate.

The sister-wivesoohedandahhedsome more over her ring. Patrick gave her a heartfelt hug, remarking he was looking forward to her becoming an official member of the family. Tino, with Vanessa staring at him, only lifted a hand and waved. Tommy kissed her cheek too, murmuring something to her that Nico hoped was a fucking apology, but if it wasn’t, so be it. It wouldn’t matter. Isa and the other kids hugged her, looking up at her with shining eyes.

Last, he saw her approach Lina, who addressed her coolly. He wished he could hear what was being said, but whatever it was ended in a handshake and a kiss on both cheeks. Dani turned away with a small smile; Lina’s eyes cut to him, and he couldn’t read her expression.

He knew he should be a gentleman and an adult and tell Dani goodbye. Thank her for being there with him, for her kindness, and her fun-loving spirit—everything that had made the trip good for him. But he couldn’t get past the last day, their last night. She’d branded him with her passion, her fire; the burn was seared into his flesh and had left it blistering. What was he supposed to say after experiencing all that?

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