Total pages in book: 163
Estimated words: 163540 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 818(@200wpm)___ 654(@250wpm)___ 545(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163540 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 818(@200wpm)___ 654(@250wpm)___ 545(@300wpm)
My eyes follow his voice as he points to the marble statues that stand around as if guarding the magnificence.
“It is the tomb to many of our great Italians. Vittorio Emmanuelle II. Umberto and his queen Margherita. Rafael and his lover.”
He looks down at me and I rise up onto my toes to kiss him. “Thank you for bringing me here.”
“The Oculus.” He points to the ceiling. I look up and my mouth falls open in wonder. A circular hole in the ceiling is open, meaning I can see the clouds in the sky.
“Is that open?” I ask.
“Yes.”
“Does the rain get in here?”
“Yes, the floor is sloped and has drainage.”
“It’s incredible,” I whisper.
He looks at his watch. “Come, it’s almost time.” He takes my hands and he leads me to the center of the room to stand on a marked spot.
“At 11:11 on the 21st of April every year, the moon shines through the Oculus and creates a beam of light. It is said that, in that light, you speak with the gods.”
I look up at the ceiling and then back at him. “Wait, that’s today.”
“We get to speak to the gods, Olivia.”
“What?” I whisper.
“When the moonlight shines on us, you need to say your truth.”
I stare at him. “What do you mean?”
“I go first and speak my truth to the gods. After that, you tell them yours.”
“Are you serious?”
He holds my hands in his and we stare up at the opening in the ceiling above, waiting for the moonlight.
This is the most incredible thing I’ve ever done… ever seen.
We wait and wait and wait, and then suddenly, the moonlight dances off the mirrors around the room, shining directly down on us like a magical beam.
We stare at each other.
“What’s your truth, Enrico?” I whisper.
He clenches his jaw and frowns, as if troubled by what he’s about to say. “I don’t think our story ends here.”
Tears threaten to form as I stare at him, because this is magical and perfect and how the hell is this real? Does he feel it, too?
“Now your truth, Olivia,” he whispers.
I pause. What the hell do I say?
“Hurry, bella,” he urges.
I stare at him. “I think our story is just beginning.”
In a perfect moment of clarity, hope fills me. Enrico takes me into his arms and kisses me in the light… and just as quickly as it came, it disappears as the moon moves on.
The light may have gone but the magic hasn’t left the room.
Suddenly, I need him.
I need all of him.
“Take me home,” I beg him.
He kisses me with a desperation, and I smile against his lips.
The Pantheon wins the best tourist award of all time.
Holy shit.
4
Enrico
It’s dawn, and I’m sitting on the side of the bed watching Olivia sleep.
Her naked breast rises and falls with her every breath, and her long, thick, blonde hair is splayed across my pillow.
Breathtaking.
This woman is utterly breathtaking.
Arousal isn’t the only thing I’m feeling. It’s a closeness… a strange attachment.
I walk to the window, pull the drapes back, and stare out at the street below as I imagine what would happen if I brought Olivia to meet my family.
An Australian.
It would be frowned upon. Blasphemy!
The Ferrara’s eldest son not taking an Italian as a partner? I imagine my grandparents and their reaction.
The gossip that would follow.
It would kill them.
My stomach twists at the thought of letting them down.
For years, I’ve been set up with every well-bred Italian woman known to my family. Every time, they hope and pray that she will be the one I fall for. They’ve lined them up—ticked them off their list. The women have come from far and wide as my family try and coax me into who I should be dating.
Someone who is good for me.
Someone who will be the next Ferrara.
So far, nobody has interested me in the slightest.
I exhale heavily. Why the fuck does a woman from the other side of the world who is completely wrong for me finally make me feel something?
Typical.
She inhales sharply as she rolls over and puts her arm out for me. “Rici?” she murmurs in her sleep as she feels around the bed.
I go to her and sit down, brushing the hair back from her forehead. “I’m here, bella.”
She smiles with her eyes still closed, and she takes my hand to kiss the back of it. “Come back to bed, baby,” she whispers, her voice husky from sleep.
“You have to get up. It’s time to go, angel.” I smile softly as I watch her.
She scrunches her face up, her eyes closed as she groans.
I stare at her as I fight to hold my tongue. I want her to stay. I don’t want to let her get on that plane. I want her to stay here with me… in the moment.
But I won’t.
She needs to go, and she needs to go soon.