Page 80 of Ciao, Amore

“Everybody. Everybody. May I have your attention, please.”

Nico looked up at the clinking of metal against glass. When he’d entered the ballroom, he’d made a beeline straight for Dani without doing the polite thing and introducing himself to anyone. Now he had no idea if the tawny woman with the straight, thick black hair and rounded nose was the mother of the bride or some other relative.

“On behalf of myself and our family, I’d like to thank everybody for being here tonight to celebrate my daughter, Amber, and her new husband, Jan. Raise your glass for one more toast, and then you’ve either gotta hit the road, catch a boat, or ride a bike on the sidewalk. Either way, this party’s over.” She laughed with the crowd, and her narrow eyes disappeared into her cheeks.

Dani didn’t seem interested in getting more champagne for the toast, and he wasn’t either. She hadn’t had a chance to answer his request to continue this conversation elsewhere. Immediately, his heart picked up speed.

Fuck. The window to explain himself, to throw himself on her mercy and beg for another chance, was shutting quickly and quietly. He’d known there was a chance this might happen. He’d replayed their last moments often enough in his head to know she’d be justified in not wanting anything more to do with him.

Andrew reached them first, holding out his hand for a shake with his mahogany face grinning broadly.

“Hey, how are you doing, son?” Andrew asked, pumping his hand while Nico summoned his manners and pushed his growing desperation to the side.

“I’m good, sir. How’ve you been? Enjoying the domino set?”

“I’ve got it waiting for you in the room,” Andrew replied with his hearty laugh.

“Andrew,” his wife admonished quietly with a warning shake of her close-cropped head.

She raised her eyebrows, and Andrew looked annoyed, but then he smiled again.

“Fine. Maybe later. Where are you headed now?” Andrew asked.

Tongue-tied, Nico’s stare moved from Andrew to his daughter, who was busy gathering her charcoal wool coat from a chair. All business, looking at her family rather than at him, Dani turned back to them, shrugging into her coat.

“Just out for a little while.”

On the way out, Didi did the honors and took him to meet the bride and groom, and a few other members of that branch of the Martina family. They seemed like interesting people. When he told them he hoped he’d see them again, he meant that. That wasn’t happening if Dani left for London. If he somehow managed to let her slip through his fingers again.

Outside, it was cold so close to the canals, with a damp chill in the air. Looking back at the mansion’s beautiful traditional colonial façade, its windows glowing with soft golden light, he appreciated the symmetry, the stately charm.

He waited with growing tension in his shoulders as the family kissed and said their goodbyes for the evening.

“Hopefully, we’ll see you both tomorrow morning at breakfast,” Andrew said, shaking his hand again, obviously presuming he and Dani were leaving together. “I’m planning to sleep in, though, so make it later.”

“Papi,” Daniela murmured, eyes wide as if embarrassed.

“Good night, D,” Terri said, kissing her cheek with twinkling eyes while he and Ken shook hands next, and Didi kissed his cheek.

Looking after them, Dani put her hands on her hips. Her long, silky hair caught the sheen of the light from the old lamp above. It really was a good look for her. But then again, he hadn’t seen a bad look on her yet. She’d be beautiful bald. She’d be beautiful someday years from now when it was all gray and there were laugh lines on her face.

Finally, she sighed. “Okay. You came to talk? Let’s talk. But not at your hotel room or Amber’s.”

“Why not?” he asked, looking into her serious eyes.

She bit her lower lip and stared at his mouth, an unmistakable sign that she was having lustful thoughts about him. That feeling was definitely fucking mutual. His thirst for her always ran bone-deep, but now, in the presence of his every fantasy come to life, it flared in him like a bonfire.

“That’s why. This,” she said, her elegant fingers dancing between their bodies in a flowing gesture. “At the time, it was fucked up when you said it, but I do miss how it was between us, sexually. And if we went into a room alone, that’s the first thing we’d do, and it would cloud my thinking again, and we can’t fall back on that. I want to talk to you. Can we just talk? I missed you,” she admitted.

Nico swallowed, tamping down the almost uncontrollable desire to pull her into his arms and ravage her however he pleased. To know now for certain that she missed him made him want to fucking bawl.

“I missed you, too, sweetheart,” Nico said with an unsteady laugh.

He couldn’t stop himself from pulling her into his arms for a long, tight embrace. Dani turned soft and pliant and leaned into him. She’d never felt more fragile.

Finally, even the warmth of their bodies wasn’t enough to keep out the winter chill that nipped at their exposed faces and hands. They were far from the only people out at that hour, walking along the canal toward the brightly lit street up ahead full of busy bars and cafés. Nico rubbed and blew hot, gentle breaths on her fingers while she stared at him as if seeing him for the first time.

“It’s cold,amore. If we can’t talk indoors, where else can we go?”

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