waters are blue and crystal clear. You step right out of the room onto the beach. If you want, you can walk to town from there.”
She let out a long sigh, picturing the white Greek architecture. “In my opinion, to live and be surrounded by water is true paradise. That’s the one thing missing in Milan and Florence. They’re both landlocked. Eating by the sea tonight inside that grotto was sheer enchantment. No other restaurant could compare.”
“Being with you made it magical. Tomorrow morning we’ll fly straight from Bari to Paxos. Sleep well, il mio adorabile cuoca.” He leaned over to give her a tender kiss, then rolled on his other side.
Vincenzo had just called her his adorable cook.
“You’re too good to me, you know. I haven’t done anything for you but cause you trouble.”
“If you want to make it up to me, all you have to say are four little words besides I love you.”
I know.
“We’re doing fine, aren’t we? We’re a man and a woman enjoying life together, right?”
“Yes.” Her voice wobbled.
“You sound like you’re going to cry.”
“How do you know me so well?”
“Maybe because we met from the moment we were out of the cradle. You’re as familiar to me as Dimi. No one else was in my world. I saw you in every mood and circumstance, just as you saw me.”
“Our deep friendship is unique. On the strength of it, will you tell me the truth about something? When you went back to New York this time, did you see Annette?”
“Yes. We went to dinner and I told her she wouldn’t be seeing me again because I was so madly in love with you, it was as if we’d never been apart.”
“But—”
“No buts, Gemma. I can read your mind. If you can’t commit to me by the end of our vacation, my feelings for Annette won’t be resurrected. I can’t imagine being a good husband to any woman when my heart has been yours from the age of five.”
Now the tears started.
“Maybe that was the problem with my father and my uncle. Both of their marriages were arranged. They didn’t have the luxury of already being in love with the women chosen for them. Our poor mothers had no choice, either.”
“But they had you and Dimi to love.”
“Still, what a shame they weren’t lucky enough to have grown up with the sweetest little girl on the planet. If I had to look for a reason for their notorious philandering, that might be one of them. I’d have fought dragons for you.”
“I would have nursed your wounds.” Her words came out ragged.
“That’s what you did the night you came to my room. I ought to be thankful for what my father did to me. Though you didn’t know he was the reason I was hurt, the news brought you to me.”
“I still can’t believe what he was capable of.”
“It’s over, and we were able to have that precious time together before I had to leave the country. The memory of that night was the only thing that has gotten me through the years—and Dimi, of course.”
“Has he met a woman he loves?”
“He’s had girlfriends, but no one special. My uncle is still alive and in prison. Work is Dimi’s panacea to stave off the demons. With his contacts and resources, he’s helped us put the details of the castello transaction together. He and the guys have developed a strong friendship already.”
“You can’t help but love Dimi. I’ve missed him terribly. Does he ever go to see his father?”
“Not yet. He’s does a lot of his business at home to be with my aunt. She has several health care workers who provide relief for him. He says her doctor doesn’t give her much longer to live.”
“How hard for him. How hard for you. Forgive me for talking my head off.”
“It’s music I’ll never grow tired of, Gemma. We were parted by too many years of silence. I’m greedy for all the time I can get with you.”
She lay there bombarded by shock waves of feelings and emotions. Gemma didn’t need any more time to know she wanted to be his wife. She’d always wanted to belong to him. What she had to do now was believe that even if he was the duca, he would stay this normal man who made her feel so complete she could die of happiness.
In that regard every woman wanted to believe that about the man she married. She wanted proof that he would always love her and never change. But no power on earth could give you proof like that. Her faith in him had to be enough. She did have faith in this man. Since she’d been with him again, it had been restored to new heights.
He’s back now, Gemma.
He’s back now, so what are you going to do about it?
* * *
Ten days playing on the beach beneath the Grecian sun had turned both of them into bronzed facsimiles of themselves. The shiny hair on Vincenzo’s wood nymph reflected golden highlights that hadn’t been visible before their trip. He never tired of watching Gemma or the voluptuous mold of her body.
She lay in the late-afternoon light on a lounger by the pool wearing a new turquoise-and-blue bikini.
“We’ve invented a new phrase, Gemma. Beach potatoes.”
She lowered the thriller she was reading and broke into serious laughter, the kind he remembered from long ago. The nervous, worried woman he’d started out with on their flight to Bari was no longer visible. He loved this new Gemma, who seemed carefree and relaxed.
But she hadn’t broken down, letting him know she wanted him to make love to her. The signs that she was ready to give him the answer he was waiting for hadn’t come.
The zebra doesn’t lose its stripes. Dimi’s warning had haunted him throughout the night.
He’d decided to speak his mind now. There was no sense in putting it off, especially since the phone call he’d just received from Dimi.
Their loungers were placed side by side. She turned her head toward him. “I can see that look on your face.”
“What look is that?”
“The one that says you’ve got something important to say.”
“I can’t hide much from you, can I?”
“Do you want to?” Her anxious question startled him. Well, well...beneath her calm facade she wasn’t calm at all.
“No, Gemma. I was teasing. What I wanted to tell you was that while you were out in the sea a few minutes ago, Dimi phoned me.”
“I didn’t realize.” She looked alarmed. “Is your aunt worse?”
“No.
