decency to tell me in person. Instead, he sent me a letter telling me he’d fallen in love with Dea and knew I couldn’t forgive him.”
Lines darkened Rini’s features in the semidarkness.
“At the time it was terrible. Dea didn’t come home for two months. When she did, she told me he’d followed her to Rome, but it was over between the two of them almost before it had begun. She thought he was a loser and told me I was better off without him.
“Though inwardly I agreed, my pain had reached its zenith because Dea always had this power to get the boys interested in her. But when it came to Francesco, who I thought was committed to me, something broke inside me. I suffered for a long time. But it happened over six years ago and is buried in the past.” She took a drink of water. “Now it’s your turn to tell me the secrets of your heart, dark or otherwise.”
RINI FELT LIKE he’d been stabbed in the chest. Too many emotions rocked him at once. There was someone he needed to talk to before he bared his soul to Alessandra.
“I’m afraid my story would take all night. Let’s reserve it for tomorrow evening after another dive. If you don’t mind, I’d like to sleep up here tonight.”
“Then you’ll need the quilt and pillow on the bed in the other cabin in order to be comfortable.”
“I’ll get them.”
“You sound tired after that dive, Rini. I am too, so I’ll say good night.”
“Buona notte.”
He waited an hour before going below to bring up the bedding. Once he’d made himself comfortable on the banquette at the rear of the cruiser, he pulled out his phone and called his sister. Rini knew it was too late to be phoning, but he had to talk to her.
After four rings he heard her voice. “Rini? What’s wrong? Has something happened to Father?”
“No, no.”
After a short silence she asked, “Are you ill?” He could hear Giovanni’s concerned voice in the background.
“Not physically. But I’m wrestling with a problem that needs your slant. Do you mind?”
“What a question! After all you’ve done for me, I’d give anything to help you if I can. Tell me what’s going on.”
He raised up on one elbow. “Let me give you a little background.” Without wasting words, he explained his dilemma from beginning to end.
“Ooh” was all she said when he’d finished.
“Forgive me if this touches too close to home, but you’re the one person in the world who would understand her pain after Francesco went after her sister.”
“Rini? I got over Matteo’s womanizing and it sounds like she has gotten over her pain, too, so forget her past. You only have one problem. Let this woman know how you feel about her and prove to her that your love for her is everlasting. If Mamma were still alive, she would tell you to follow your heart and not let anything get in the way.”
He could hear his mother saying those very words. “Alessandra was really hurt.”
“So was I. It passes when the right man comes along. Trust me.”
He breathed deeply. “You make it sound so simple.”
“Nothing worthwhile is simple, Rini. But look what happened when I followed my heart instead of letting go of Ric, the baby I thought was mine...”
“You mean instead of listening to me tell you not to get involved with Giovanni,” he groaned. “I was a fool to interfere.”
“Of course you weren’t! I know you were only trying to protect me. But it all worked out and I’m now an ecstatic wife and the mother of two angelic boys.”
His eyes closed tightly. “But from the start Giovanni wanted you enough to defy convention, too. That’s why it worked.”
“Rini, tonight you’re alone with her on her family’s cruiser. Do you seriously think that would have happened if she weren’t absolutely crazy about you?”
“Her father asked her to show me around.”
“But to dive? Camp out over night? Have faith, dear brother. A little patience wouldn’t hurt until she realizes she can trust you with her life.”
A lump had lodged in his throat. “Ti amo, Valentina.”
“Ti amo. Buona notte.”
Rini lay back down, thinking about what she’d said. Even if a miracle happened and her attraction grew into love, she didn’t know about his infertility, an insurmountable hurdle in his mind.
The next thing he knew, the sound of gulls brought him fully awake. Clouds blotted out the sun. He sat up to check his watch. Seven thirty. Was Alessandra still asleep? He gathered the bedding and took it below to the other cabin. Her door was still closed.
One thing he could do was fix them his favorite prosciutto ham and eggs to go with their breakfast. As he was putting their plates and mugs on the table, she appeared in the doorway wearing jeans and a T-shirt that molded to her beautiful body.
“You’ve got color in your cheeks.”
“I went for a walk.”
He’d had no idea. What a wonderful bodyguard he’d made! “If you’d wakened me, I would have gone with you. Sit down and I’ll serve you.”
“Umm. Everything smells good.”
He poured them coffee and sat opposite her.
She took a sip. “How did you sleep?”
Rini stared at her through shuttered eyes. “There’s nothing better than spending the night under the stars. What about you?”
“It’s fabulous out here, but I confess diving makes me tired. I fell asleep once my head touched the pillow.”
“That’s good. How soon do we need to join the others?”
“They’ll be out there by nine o’clock.”
He swallowed the last of his eggs. “Just for the fun of it, what would you think if we enlarged the search area by traveling a quarter of a mile farther east from them to dive at the same distance from the coast?” He wasn’t ready to share her with the others yet. “I consulted the chart. The depth of the sea floor isn’t quite as great there. Maybe seventy feet. Who knows? We might make a discovery.”
Her lips turned up at the corners. “Your mother must have gone crazy to have a son who went around with such an excited gleam for adventure in his eyes.”
Rini liked the idea that she’d noticed. “Is that what I have?”
“Oh,
