42. Georgia
42
GEORGIA
W e went to the De Sanctis estate, only a few miles away, while Massimo Lucciano disappeared into the night. Giada had already redirected Elio’s men from their failed mission to escort me to Casa Nera, and they headed directly to my childhood home to clean up the mess.
Elio fished out a key, hung by a string, from an old well in front of the De Sanctis estate, and let us in. The heavy metal gate creaked when we pushed it open. The garden was overgrown, and the path to the front door was nearly hidden under wildflowers. Dawn was just breaking on the horizon when we got inside.
I was tired and wired at the same time.
“Are you sure it’s okay?” I wondered as we stepped inside.
The grand foyer was still awe-inspiring, even if it was a little dusty and faded.
“Zio Sal invited us himself. He has more than a few estates dotted around Napoli, don’t worry. We won’t be disturbed here.”
With that, Elio turned to me. “I think it’s time to finish that conversation from the other day.”
The adrenaline that was still leaping through my system jumped to attention again. “It is? Aren’t you tired?”
“Not of you. Never of you,” he said quietly and lifted me into his arms.
“Hey, I can walk.”
“You don’t know where we’re going,” he pointed out and started up the marble stairs.
“What are you looking for?” I asked.
Elio took us in and out of the long procession of bedrooms upstairs.
“The least dusty one.”
“So, you don’t know where we’re going either?” A laugh escaped me.
He chose a room and put me down, backing me into the wall and cupping my face.
“Is this going to be a pattern? Sassing your husband?”
I nodded solemnly, and his face creased in a smile.
“Good.”
Then he kissed me. Long and hard, soft and melting, he kissed me until my knees were weak, and the only thing holding me up was his strong, solid body against mine.
His hands fell to my jacket, and he slipped it off my shoulders.
“I’ve thought about what you told me… I had time, plenty of time on the flight. And it sounds like you’ve been waiting for me.”
Always.
“You’ve loved me and waited for me all this time, haven’t you?”
His deep voice sank through me, comfort like I hadn’t felt in a lifetime.
I fought a roll of my eyes at his words. “No. I wasn’t waiting . I didn’t think you were coming. You left me, remember… you didn’t love me like I loved you, and after that, I wasn’t interested in loving anyone ever again. Once was enough.” My breath grew short when he pulled my T-shirt up and over my head.
“Loved. Past tense,” Elio said. “So, you stopped loving me, cara ?”
I swallowed hard and raised my chin. “No. I could never manage it. I loved you then, just like I love you now. I don’t think I can stop.”
He inhaled deeply at my words. I felt more naked than I’d ever been in my life.
“What about you, though… you stopped, didn’t you? You blamed me for all of it all this time… don’t you hate me?” How could he forget the way he’d felt about me all these years? The stain of my father’s meddling had marked us both so deeply.
My bra was next, and it fell to the floor, immediately replaced by Elio’s hands. Thick, calloused fingers tugged at my nipples and sent heat spiraling through me.
He let out a satisfied sigh and moved closer, pressing his forehead to mine, even though he had to bend to do it.
“ ‘Beneath the frozen river, currents still run…’ Those lines were prophetic, I just didn’t know it.”
He stroked my breasts until I was panting. I held onto his arms when he bent and sucked one nipple into his mouth, rubbing his tongue across it.
He moved to the next one, and when his mouth left me, the dueling sensations of cold and heat exploded inside me when the air touched my wet skin. I shivered. Fully alive and awake. Feeling everything all at once, after years of feeling nothing.
He kissed the corners of my mouth. “I didn’t understand then that loving you would be the most enduring emotion I’d ever have. Stronger than hate, more undeniable than anger, more persistent than despair… You’ve been with me through it all.”
I opened my mouth to speak but didn’t trust my voice not to break. He slid his hands downward, unbuttoning my jeans and pushing them off my hips.
“You were my ghost, Georgia… you’ve haunted me, and honestly, it was enough. You lived like a nun, and I — I stopped doing anything but surviving.”
Now it was my turn to be shocked. “So, you really were waiting for me, too?”
“Not just because I was waiting for you, but because hating and loving your ghost was enough. Your memory was enough for me… even if we never met again.”
His hand glided into my panties, and I died a little at his possessive, confident touch. He handled my body like it was his own… like he had every right to it, and he did. He always had. Heat burned inside me at his caress, even as my heart hurt for the things he’d endured alone, thinking I’d left him.
“My father did this, didn’t he?” I murmured, sadness and resentment colliding inside me.
Elio nodded slowly and then tilted his head to the side. “You want me to kill him for you?”
The derisive offer split the tension down the middle, and a laugh spilled from me, which trailed off into a gasp when he ghosted his fingers along my slit and found my clit.
“A mood killer, from the trained killer,” I said.
He chuckled. I couldn’t find balance. I was happy and sad, regretful and grateful.
He thumbed the tears from under my eyes with his free hand.
“Why are you crying? Did I scare you?” he asked.
I shook my head. He had his demons. He had lived in hell.
But he could never scare me.
“Even when I didn’t know who you really were… you didn’t really scare me,” I said. “You saved me. You’ve only ever saved me.”
“Well, you saved me, too… more than you know. If there was any shred of humanity left in me, burning through the darkness… it was my love for you.” Then he kissed me again, his finger pumping inside me. “Now, my little country mouse, now that the dragons are slain and the demons are vanquished, you’re left with just one to deal with.”
His lips curved in a grin as I gasped, just about to come.
“And I’m going to make you scream.”
Salvatore De Sanctis called in some old favors with the local cops and had the whole night erased from record. Elio’s men flew in and took care of the bodies. The DIA pushed forward with the charges against the capo of the Ravelli family, and five prominent players, including the capo and his sons, were arrested.
The De Sanctis estate had been closed up for the better part of five years. Women from the village came to open it up, airing out the stuffy rooms and dusting off the past. The swimming pool was cleaned and the gardens cut back. Within a week, it was thriving again.
Renato and Charlie came to stay, as did Giada and her husband, Bran.
“Are you ready to go shopping? I know all the best places. You’ll be inspired to design a whole line of dresses just for me… with space for knives, that’s important,” Giada said, then snagged a croissant from the table and took a big bite.
I was sitting in the orangery, looking out at the pool where Elio was doing laps. I couldn’t stop staring.
“What are you doing?” Giada asked when I failed to respond.
“Enjoying the view,” I said and sipped my coffee.
She followed my eyes and then groaned. “That’s my brother.”
I just smirked at her. “And my husband… Looks like he’s not alone.”
Bran had wandered out onto the sun-drenched poolside and was watching Elio, no doubt making some kind of smart-ass commentary.
Giada sank down next to me and kicked her feet up on the window ledge. “Okay, I take it back, the view is great.”
We watched in companionable silence for a few minutes.
Charlie appeared in the doorway. “Hey, are you ready? Change of plans… Georgia needs to stay here. Elio will bring her into the city in a little bit. He has a surprise.”
She was taking a short break from her work and studies. We’d become friends effortlessly. In the month since Elio had come back into my life, suddenly, being lonely felt like a distant memory. I had girlfriends and family, I had a husband, and I had a purpose again. My life in LA had wrapped up neatly. Erica was on her way to visit me soon, and I’d heard that the killing spree at the dress shop was unsolved. It seemed that someone had wiped all the CCTV footage of the location and all the blocks around it that night. I had a pretty strong feeling that someone was sitting next to me. The more I got to know about Giada, the more terrifying she was.
“A surprise? I wonder what that could be,” I said.
“Maybe you’re pregnant,” Giada joked.
“I feel like she might know before Elio.” Charlie sighed, sinking down into a chair and taking a slice of melon from the platter on the table.
“If the man were a mere human, maybe, but this is my brother. He knows all… he’s always watching. He’s probably taking your temperature at night and studying your discharge with military precision.”
“Giada!” I protested and threw a pillow at her. “That isn’t an image I need to have right now.”
“You should know who you’re married to. Anyway, in that case, Charlie, let’s get going. Our husbands’ money isn’t going to spend itself.”
“I make plenty of money myself, thank you.” Charlie laughed and stood. “And I happen to know that you more than pull your weight building the De Sanctis fortune.”
“Like I’m going to spend De Sanctis money. I’ve got O’Connor money for that.”
Their voices drifted away as I watched Elio boost himself out of the pool and dry off.
Ten minutes later, we were walking down the street toward a house that sat just off the square.
The Bellisario villa.
“I wanted to see something with you,” Elio said, taking my hand in his.
We went through the house and out into the back garden.
The house was painfully clean. A lot of the furniture had been removed, as well as rugs and soft furnishings. They’d been too stained, I supposed. I should feel worse about that than I did.
The garden was full of flowers, and life. Bees buzzed about the lavender, and the sunflowers had lifted their heads to the sky.
I paused and looked at the stables. “Is that where we’re going?”
Elio grinned. “Come to me, topolina .” He pressed a kiss to the back of my hand.
We headed toward the building.
Inside the stalls, there were three horses. Their heads poked over the stalls, and they watched us curiously.
“I can’t believe the Ravellis were taking care of them,” I muttered.
“They weren’t. The vet has been out. They need a good diet, care, and attention… all the things I used to do for them. Best job I ever had. Taking care of the horses… sleeping with the boss’s daughter. That was the life.”
“Shall we run away and start a horse ranch somewhere?” I asked.
He laughed.
“Maybe not. I’m not thinking of changing jobs, but this town, this house… it needs a new story. A new legacy… We think the De Sanctis family should reinstate its presence in this town. Renato has charged me with that job… if we want it.”
“If we want it?”
“I told him I had to ask the boss.” He smirked at me. “My country mouse needs to decide if she’s ready to come home. A terra-cotta house with sage green bedrooms and horses in the stables…”
I stared around the beautiful building. The sweet smells of the garden, and the earthy scent of hay and horses. The view of the house from behind was spectacular. It was a family home. One for a family to live in. A garden for children to run around in.
A new legacy. A new story.
“Plenty of designers have ateliers in two countries…” Elio continued.
“Designers?”
“Well, that’s what you are. Time to make those dreams come true.”
I spun around to look at him.
“That’s my dream. What’s yours?”
He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
“You. It’s always been you.”
Beneath stone and concrete, seeds push through?—
And those seeds can lift whole buildings.