Epilogue
THE BEACH WAS SILVER, long and very beautiful.
It was also very private, which was one of the reasons they’d chosen it.
Neither Flora nor even the much-travelled Vito had ever been to Australia before, thus making it the perfect place for a honeymoon, albeit a very delayed one. Because although babymoons had their place—a holiday was much more fun when you weren’t pregnant.
Mind you, thought Flora as she let out a sigh of satisfaction, and surveyed the sleeping profile of her husband, she sometimes thought she could have been incarcerated in a coal shed with Vito Monticello and she would have been happy.
Everything he did made her happy.
As she did him. Or so he told her.
They had married very quietly in London, before Tommaso’s birth.
Vito had been eager to make her his wife as quickly as possible and neither of them had wanted any fuss.
No cheesy celebrity magazine articles about Italy’s most eligible man being snapped up by his unknown English bride!
The diamond ring had been sold, with the proceeds going to charity, and Vito had replaced the disliked solitaire with a delicate concoction of emerald and yellow sapphires, which Flora adored.
The Richmond house had gone straight back on the market and Flora had sold her Ealing apartment to Joe, at a very favourable price and he and his boyfriend were currently knocking it through, to turn the two flats back into one house.
Baby Tommaso had been born in Milan—a long and sometimes difficult birth—but Vito had been there for her at every step of the way.
Flora would never forget the way he had gripped her hand and mopped her brow, his face grimacing with helplessness as she’d shuddered through another contraction.
Or the unashamed brightness of pride and joy in his eyes as he cradled his newborn son and whispered grazie into her mouth, as he bent his head to kiss her.
And she had been right when she’d thought he would be a good father.
He was a brilliant father—kind and patient and entertaining.
Now their boy was a sturdy and adorable toddler who was currently staying with his doting auntie Amy and uncle Brett while his madre e padre enjoyed their first proper break as a married couple.
Flora missed their son like crazy but she knew it was good for her and her husband to have time on their own, just as it was good for Tommaso to explore the world without them always by his side.
She’d wondered at first whether Vito’s candid examination of his feelings when he’d asked her to marry him would be a one-off.
Whether he would revert to his old ways of emotional restraint once he had got his wish of making her his wife, but that hadn’t been the case.
It had been the beginning of something very beautiful.
A closeness with her ex-boss which went beyond her wildest dreams.
With him, she could talk about anything and everything and, despite her rapid acquisition of the language and her growing circle of friends in Italy, Vito was still the person she most wanted to spend time with.
The person she most enjoyed eating dinner with.
Her lover. Her soulmate. Her best friend.
He’d even cancelled his fishing trip and told her that such male-only pursuits were to be postponed, until he could take his young son with him.
And, in the most dramatic turnaround of all—she’d even got him to enjoy Christmas—and to admit that he had enjoyed it!
With their baby son just three months old, they’d held a huge party in their Milanese apartment and Flora had worn the pale pistachio dress her husband was especially fond of, while outside the bells of the Duomo had exuberantly rung in the New Year.
She loved Milan but lately they’d been spending more and more time in Vito’s beautiful Tuscan castle and she suspected they might move there full-time if and when their little family expanded, which both of them were hoping would happen very soon.
Long, ebony lashes fluttered open and Flora basked in the smoky blue gaze she knew so well.
Vito’s magnificent body was completely naked and she feasted her eyes on the silken olive flesh…
the broad shoulders, rocky torso and long, powerful thighs which had inspired so many delicious fantasies… and realities.
‘You know what happens when you stare at me like that, don’t you?’ he teased lazily.
‘Do I?’ she enquired innocently, tracing the outline of his mouth with her finger. ‘You were asleep for ages.’
‘I know.’ He pushed a strand of sea-damp hair from her face. ‘But I’m wide awake now.’
‘Mmm.’ Her cheeks grew pink. ‘I can tell.’
Vito expelled a low groan of pleasure as he brought her up against his hungry body.
Flora. Sweet, beautiful Flora. She had transformed his life with her passion and the glorious gift of their beautiful son.
She had taught him things he’d never known—and only when he’d learnt them did he recognise their importance.
How to relax and live in the moment. How to appreciate the simple things in life.
He’d even drastically cut back on work to spend more time with his family.
He loved her so much that his heart sometimes felt as if it wanted to burst right out of his chest. Every second in her company was pure gold.
He told Flora he loved her every day of his life, but, as he nudged his thigh between hers, Vito knew there was something vastly more satisfying than telling.
He smiled.
He liked to show her…