than anyone. He not only ran their business and ticket sales with meticulous care, but he kept the museum and their soccer store stocked and profitable. On top of that, he handled the phones and kept out unexpected visitors unless they made appointments.
“How come you haven’t left already, Sergio? You work too hard. As far as I know you haven’t taken a break in months.” The man screened Guido’s incoming phone calls from the media, but most important, those from Guido’s hovering parents.
Being an only child, Guido realized they’d had a hard time accepting that he’d taken a year off from the Leonides Rossano Shipping Company to pursue an old soccer dream. Guido loved them and stayed in touch, but he’d felt smothered and enjoyed the freedom his new career was giving him away from the family business.
“Work saves me from my demons,” Sergio commented. Guido could relate to that. “Don’t you know there are tons of women calling here all the time after hours, or wanting to order stuff online? You’re still a poster hero with those who remember you winning those past championships.”
“Even after ten years?” Guido smiled wearily. “I leave all the fans to you. As I see it, you’ve been divorced long enough and need to find someone who can accept your passion for the sport. You had a big female following of your own.”
He scoffed. “That all ended after my marriage. I don’t think there is such a woman.”
Neither did Guido, but he kept that comment to himself. “Try to enjoy yourself this weekend.”
“I know you will,” Sergio fired back. “Go ahead and keep it to yourself, but you can’t tell me you don’t have a woman somewhere.”
Conversation over. “Ciao, Sergio,” he called to his friend before shutting the door.
There’d never been a lack of women for Guido. In his late teens he’d gotten into a serious relationship with one of the most popular girls at school, Carla, but over time he discovered she loved his celebrity status, not him. From that point on, he was wary of women.
The shock of learning she didn’t truly love him changed his perspective on the dating experience. After that, Guido continued to enjoy women, but he didn’t get into any more serious relationships. His soccer life had been so full, he’d put the idea of settling down out of his mind.
However, there’d been one woman over the last year who’d taken his breath and was still unforgettable. Dea Loti. Italy’s most famous model. Her lesser-known name was Dea Caracciolo.
He’d met her aboard his father’s yacht during a fashion show taped for television. It had been galling to realize she’d looked right through him in order to pursue his lifelong friend Rinieri Montanari, and it had aroused Guido’s jealousy.
That emotion was something that had never happened to Guido before. He’d tried to put it away because Rini was the best, but it still haunted him.
Guido left the stadium in his Lamborghini and headed straight for the airport. By dinnertime his private jet, with the logo of Scatto Roma—the name of his soccer team, which meant surge in Italian—landed at a private runway just outside Metaponto in Southern Italy. Rini would be waiting on the tarmac for him in the Jeep. They had a lot to catch up on.
Through a quirk of fate, his best friend had married Alessandra Caracciolo, Dea’s identical twin sister. Since the wedding, the couple had been spending part of the time at Rini’s villa in Positano and the rest of it at her family’s island castello.
Montanari Engineering, located in Naples, was now drilling for oil on Caracciolo land in Southern Italy, thus the reason for meeting Rini here on the island.
After learning his friend had become a father, Guido had invited Rini for a meal at his apartment in Rome. But this would be the first time Guido had been back to the island since Rini’s wedding to Alessandra when he’d been best man. They’d issued him many invitations to come, but Guido had turned them down, using business as the excuse. In reality, he didn’t want to take the chance of seeing Dea again.
By now it shouldn’t bother him that the woman who’d been so fascinated by Rini while they were on the Rossano yacht was none other than Alessandra’s sister. Dea had been her maid of honor. After the wedding ceremony, she’d sat down to dinner with Guido and his parents. While she talked to them, all he could see was her kissing Rini before saying good-night to him on board the yacht.
But that was a year ago. Time had passed and he knew her modeling career took her all over Italy. He was certain she wouldn’t be here at the castle. If Rini had mentioned otherwise, Guido wouldn’t have accepted the invitation.
As he exited the plane he could see Rini.
“Your team name is perfect,” his friend called out the window of the Jeep on the tarmac. “You are surging. Bravo.”
“Grazie.”
When Guido climbed in the Jeep, his first sight of his dark-haired friend said it all. “Fatherhood agrees with you. How is piccolo Brazzo?”
“He’s going to be a soccer player for sure.”
“I can’t wait to see him.”
“I’m sorry. Not this visit. He’s staying with my family at the villa in Positano so Alessandra and I can have our first weekend alone.”
“Lucky you.”
Rini had found great happiness in his marriage. Guido would give anything to feel that fulfilled. As he sat there, it came to him that he was envious of the happy-ever-after his friend Rini had achieved, a happy-ever-after Guido hadn’t thought he’d wanted himself all these years.
He stared at his friend. A spirit of contentment radiated off Rini as they drove across the causeway to the Caracciolo castello on Posso Island that jutted into the Ionian Sea.
Only sand surrounded the ancient structure, no grass or trees. In Guido’s mind, it was Italy’s answer to Mont-Saint-Michel of French fame, with a benign appeal in good weather like this. But he imagined it could look quite daunting during a storm.
Guido found it fascinating to think the beautiful twin princesses of Count Onorato di Caracciolo were born and raised here, away from civilization. From this convent-like place had emerged Italy’s most beautiful supermodel. One fashion cover had called Dea Loti “Italy’s own Helen of Troy.”
The face that launched a thousand ships had done something to Guido...
He’d been so stunned after meeting her in person that he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind. It probably wasn’t a good idea to meet Rini here after all because it brought back the memory from the wedding when he’d been watching Dea, who’d been watching Rini. Was she still hungering for him? But it was too late to think about that now or wish he hadn’t come. Get a grip, Rossano.
“You’re being unusually quiet,” Rini murmured as he pulled the Jeep up to the front of the castle. “I expected to see you overjoyed with your success so far.”
“I am pleased,” Guido muttered, “but the season isn’t over yet. We’ve had one loss and still have some tough games to face.”
Rini shut off the engine. “You’ve already brought your team to new heights. I’m proud of what you’ve done
