by Sophie Love
She played with the tablecloth, her eyes cast down.
“It wasn’t your own wedding, was it, Cristiano?” she asked in a quiet voice.
There was a moment of hesitation. Keira looked up in time to see Cristiano avert his eyes. His silence spoke volumes, and Keira felt a pit open in her stomach. Panic took hold of her.
At last, Cristiano nodded, his expression very drawn. With a sad, monotone voice, he added, “I have angered you, have I not, Keira?”
Anger wasn’t the first emotion taking hold of her. It was a sense of betrayal that ricocheted through her body, causing an unpleasant visceral sensation. It didn’t matter to Keira that nothing had actually happened between them; Cristiano’s admission to having a wife hurt Keira deeply. Not just for herself, but for his jilted wife as well.
It hit her then with complete clarity that the spiel Vanni had given her about the way Italian women knew and expected their men to have multiple lovers was a load of crock. If that behavior was supposed to be so aboveboard, then why hadn’t Cristiano mentioned his own wife sooner? Why keep it from her? It must only be because he clearly knew she would put a swift and abrupt end to their flirtations if she knew.
Without giving it much more thought, Keira stood and discarded her napkin on the table.
“You cannot go,” Cristiano said. “What about our food?”
She looked back at him, arms folded, expression unimpressed. “I’ve lost my appetite.”
She turned to leave but Cristiano jumped up and grasped her by the arm.
“Do not go like this,” he said. “Give me a chance to explain.”
She regarded him boldly, seeing in his eyes a pleading look that she would have fallen for had it not been for Vanni’s admission, or the Internet cafe woman’s claim that monogamous Italian men were a myth. She forced herself to override her instinct to back down and hear him out.
“I doubt there’s anything you can say to make this any better,” she said, coolly.
Then she removed her arm from his hand and stormed away. As the darkness outside enveloped her, she let her tears fall.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Keira felt like such a fool as she rushed through the streets, her mascara streaming down her face. What a silly idiot she’d been, dressing up all fancy for a meal with a married man! She’d never wanted to be the other woman but Cristiano had tricked her into it. He was just like Vanni, just like the man in the Internet cafe. How had she been so blind not to notice?
As she hurried along, Keira couldn’t help but mentally berate Nina and Bryn, Shelby and Maxine. All of them had encouraged her to get over her breakup with a rebound. Not one of them had suggested she take it easy, slow down, focus on her job instead of an Italian romance. She ought to be more bold, Keira thought, turning her anger in on herself. She needed to think for herself and trust her instincts instead of letting other people’s viewpoints cloud her own beliefs.
She made it to the clock tower, a familiar landmark with which she could orientate herself. There weren’t nearly as many people in the square at night, though it was still busy. Keira dipped her head, not wanting anyone to see her tear-stained cheeks.
Just as she began walking diagonally across the square, she heard her name being called. Cristiano’s lilting voice was still like music to her ears. How disappointing that a man with a voice like an angel could be a devil in disguise.
She hurried on, not wanting to talk to him. The embarrassment his admission caused her was still burning in her cheeks. He continued calling her name, making the few tourists ambling past turn their heads and look.
“Keira, you don’t understand!” he yelled. “Please stop!”
Feeling eyes on her, Keira veered to the cover of the clock tower’s dark shadow. Her intention was to avoid a scene, to have a quiet conversation with Cristiano in order to stop him drawing so much attention to her.
When she reached the shadows, she pressed her shoulder against the smooth, cool side of the tower, then wiped away her tears as Cristiano jogged up to her.
“Please keep your voice down,” she hissed, folding her arms. “You’re embarrassing me even more.”
“You have no need to be embarrassed,” Cristiano told her emphatically.
“Oh really?” Keira huffed. “Maybe if I was an Italian woman I’d have known the rules and wouldn’t be embarrassed. But in my culture, finding out your date has a wife tends to be a bit blush-inducing.”
Keira couldn’t be sure because of the shadows, but it looked as though Cristiano was smiling. The sight infuriated her. What on earth could be so funny to him about shaming her so thoroughly?
“I did not know we were on a date,” Cristiano quipped.
Keira frowned even harder. She’d had just about enough of this as she could stand. “Can you let me go back to my hotel now without screaming my name across the piazza?” she demanded.
But Cristiano, to her dismay, started to laugh.
“This isn’t funny!” she hissed.
“Maybe you will see the funny side once you hear the punch line?” Cristiano said, still laughing.
“I seriously doubt that,” Keira replied, tersely.
Cristiano took both her arms in his hands and looked her deep in the eye. “Keira, I was married but I am not anymore. The punch line is that we got a divorce.”
Keira had not been expecting that at all. The word took her by surprise. She looked at him suspiciously. “You’re divorced? But you’re too young.”
“I am twenty-eight,” Cristiano replied. “And our relationship only lasted a year in all. It was a whirlwind romance. But I thought she was the one and didn’t see the point in waiting.”
Keira thought of Shane, of their own whirlwind romance. If he’d proposed, would she have been swept up in the moment and married him? It certainly seemed plausible.
“What happened?” she asked, the frown still etched across her forehead, her mind still stuck on Shane. “Did you just change your mind out of the blue?” She couldn’t help but project her own situation bitterly onto his.
“Actually, no,” Cristiano said. “It was she who changed her mind.” His voice lowered. “She cheated on me.”
“What?” Keira stammered. She had to rest her back against the wall in order to support herself. The news was too shocking for her to take in. “But I thought it was only the Italian men who cheated.”
“And that is why you should not go on stereotypes,” Cristiano told her sternly. “Just because Vanni says Italian men cheat does not mean all do. And it certainly does not mean that women never do.”
Keira’s eyes fell to her feet with shame. Had it been unfair of her to jump to such conclusions, to lump Cristiano into a category based on shaky information? She chewed her lip, ashamed that she’d taken Vanni’s words at face value. She wondered why Cristiano hadn’t refuted him at the time instead of letting her believe him.
“How long ago did it happen?” she asked, feeling small and like she had been thoroughly put in her place. “The divorce, I mean.”
“It was finalized at the beginning of the year,” Cristiano said. Keira could hear the pain in his voice. “We’d been about to buy a house in Verona, her hometown. Instead, I found myself back in Florence with my family. One minute I was an adult about to embark on a life with my wife, the next I felt like a little boy again, back under my parents’ roof. And even worse, my divorce happened at the same time my younger sister married.”
“How awful,” Keira murmured.
Though it was unpleasant to see Cristiano so sad, Keira couldn’t help but feel relieved. If there was no wife in the picture, something might happen between them after all.
But no sooner had she thought it than Cristiano spoke again, his next statement dashing her hopes entirely.
“After my divorce many of my friends—male and female alike—wanted me to be happy, to have new experiences and meet new people again. But I have sworn off love. The divorce broke my heart. Now, I do not enter in
to relationships so easily, despite what you may have been led to believe. I only spend time with women who I can see myself marrying, and since I will never do that again, I have sworn off relationships entirely.”
The statement struck Keira straight in the chest, like a dull thud. There was nothing in the future for them after all. Just some flirting over dinner? Some giggling after drinking too much wine?
She folded her arms defensively, no longer hurt about his wife but instead about him having sworn off love. Then she considered whether it might actually be for the best. She herself was sworn off love; her heart was still bruised from the loss of Shane. Her goal with Cristiano had only ever been to have some fun, and she was certainly experiencing that.
“I’m sorry for overreacting,” Keira told Cristiano. “I should have given you a chance to explain.”
“It is okay,” he said. Then he smirked at her cheekily. “A bit of jealousy is a good sign.”
Keira finally let herself relax. She laughed, glad the tense moment was over.
“Can we go back for our food now?” Cristiano asked her.
Keira frowned with surprise. “I don’t think they’ll want us back. We ordered three courses then left!”
“I spoke to them and asked them to give us a little time,” he said.
Keira let her mouth drop open. “You were that confident you’d talk me around!” she exclaimed, laughing.
Cristiano shrugged. “I was right, was I not?”
He offered his arm to her and, laughing, Keira took it. With the air cleared, the easy comfort they’d so far shared with one another returned.
They made it back to the restaurant and, after sitting back at the same table, the waiter arrived with plates of food and glasses of wine. Only Keira blushed. Cristiano seemed to let the awkward circumstances surrounding their momentary disappearance roll off his shoulders.
They tucked into an amazing meal of white-wine linguine, seafood risotto, and copious amounts of wine. They finished everything off with three scoops of gelato.
As their plates were cleared away, Keira found herself wishing the evening did not have to end. She had gone full circle, from being guarded and suspicious of Cristiano to never wanting to be apart from him. Spending time with Cristiano was wonderful. It was fun and that was all that either of them wanted.
Except, Keira couldn’t help thinking about the mix-up at the inn. Had it not taken place, they’d both be returning there instead of parting ways. How differently might the night have ended if they’d carried on their evening over a glass of wine on the small terrace? If he hadn’t have leapt so quickly to arrange new accommodations, would she have made a move on him?
Outside the restaurant, Cristiano kissed her cheeks goodbye.
“Until tomorrow,” he said, smiling.
Keira watched his disappear into the moonlight. The second he was gone, she found herself yearning for him.
She headed back to the inn. Inside her cozy, romantic room, she couldn’t help but feel like it was the perfect place for two. It seemed so unfair that her heart was being tugged between two men, and yet she was sleeping alone.
She checked her phone and found messages from her mom asking her to get in touch so she knew she hadn’t been abducted by a kidnapper, another from Bryn asking whether she’d hooked up with the “Italian Stallion” yet, and finally, a message from Nina asking for Keira to send her a draft ASAP.
With a twinge of disappointment, Keira saw that there was still nothing from Shane. Despite vowing that they would remain friends, he had clearly put her entirely out of his mind. Did that mean she had the right to do the same? She was already looking at another guy, hoping to heal her heart with a rebound. But maybe she should be more open than that and stop viewing Cristiano as being somehow related to Shane—a potential rebound fling. Her pull toward Cristiano was strong, and she was certain it would be irrespective of whether she had a broken heart right now or not.
As she dressed for bed, Keira mulled it all over in her mind. Rebounds, as she understood them, were about finding a new lover who was just like the old one. A sort of carbon copy to fill the void the lost partner had created. But Shane and Cristiano were hardly comparable. Though both great, they were so different it was impossible to compare them. They brought entirely different qualities to Keira’s life, had completely different things to offer her, different life lessons to teach her. So maybe she should accept that her feelings for Cristiano were more than calculated revenge. They were real, unique, and entirely permissible.
She fetched her laptop from her case and, settling down at her desk, began to type.
I am in love the moment I see Capri rise above the Bay of Naples like a mirage. The legend says that it was here that Odysseus resisted the call of the sirens. Just how he withstood the seduction of Capri, I do not know, because I stand no chance of resisting this slice of Mediterranean paradise. I’m more inclined to follow in the footsteps of Emperor Tiberius, who supposedly transformed this small island of craggy limestone cliffs, turquoise waters, and swaths of wisteria into a debauched haven of decadence and hedonism. Seduction, I soon learn, is the scent of lemon, the pink clouds at sunset, and the moon and stars reflected in the darkened ocean.
It is while standing on the cliffs of Capri that I have what can only be called a romantic epiphany. When I marry, I declare, this is where I want to do it. From the seductive ocean views to the sensual fragrance floating on a warm, ocean breeze, falling in love in Italy seems not only likely, but inevitable…
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The next day, Keira awoke feeling somewhat renewed. The spat between her and Cristiano the night before had been draining, but also cathartic. Her intense reaction to thinking he was married had clarified things in her mind; her attraction to Cristiano was more than just a flirtation. She’d admitted as much in her writing.
As Keira showered, she wondered what this new day with Cristiano would bring. They were spending another day touring Capri, and she was hopeful that something may happen between them.
Sun streamed through Keira’s blinds as she dressed for the day. It looked set to be another scorching hot day so she chose shorts and a tank top, the most revealing outfit she’d worn thus far. As she left her room and skipped down the steps, she was excited to see Cristiano’s reaction.
She found him outside, leaning against a lemon tree in the shade. Like always, Cristiano looked like a supermodel to Keira. Tingles ran down her spine as she approached him.
When Cristiano looked up, his eyes boggled at the sight of Keira. She smiled to herself, glad that she could have such an effect on him.
“You are looking divine today, Keira,” Cristiano said, taking her hands and kissing her on each cheek.
Keira couldn’t be certain, but she felt as if his greeting kisses were lingering more than they used to.
“As do you,” she replied.
It was another sun-soaked day, the air heavy with the scent of lemon and juniper, the sky hazy with heat. They headed first along the hillside path where the view of the ocean was the most exquisite. Every few paces, Keira had to stop to jot down sentences to use in her article, so inspired was she by the surrounding locale.
Cristiano guided her to a different town square. Here Keira saw that every designer brand had set up shop—Versace, Gucci, Prada, Armani. She snapped a photo of their store fronts and sent it to Bryn, knowing how jealous her sister would be.
Just then, Keira’s attention was caught by a couple sitting outside in the sun handcrafting sandals. She looked at Cristiano curiously.
“What’s happening there?” she asked. “They make the sandals onsite?”
“Yes,” he confirmed. “Bespoke. They are fabulous. Extraordinary quality. One pair will last you a lifetime.”
He took her over to the store and Keira was greeted by the man and woman outside.
“Are you here to purchase or watch?” the man asked.
Keira couldn’t help but be tempted by the be
autiful, unique designs. But the $400 price tag was somewhat out of her price range.
“I’m just fascinated by the process,” Keira said. “Do you mind me watching?”
“Not at all,” the man replied.
He sat back down in the sun and continued his work. The talent that went into the sandals was astounding. Keira had never seen someone so deft with their hands, so skilled at taking an ordinary piece of leather and turning it into an incredible design.
She glanced again at the display shelves and all the different and bespoke designs. Just then, she received a message from Bryn about the picture of the designer stores.
GET ME SOMETHING. ANYTHING. EVERYTHING.
Keira laughed. Bryn would probably blow a blood vessel if she came back from Capri empty-handed. But she didn’t have that kind of money to throw about. Unless…
She quickly texted back, thankful that she remembered her account was linked to her app on her phone, and she was no longer without money.
Put some money in my account. I can pay you back once Zach gives me my share of the deposit.
She realized she was being reckless with her money, that if she spent in advance what Zach owed her (and was holding as ransom) she would have less to spend on her apartment. And if everything fell apart at Viatorum she might soon find herself out of a job altogether. But life was about embracing the crazy, she reminded herself. On her deathbed would she really be glad she’d been sensible when she could have thrown caution to the wind? Nope, she’d be glad she’d bought herself some hand-crafted bespoke Italian sandals!
“I’ve changed my mind,” she told the man. “I’d like to buy some sandals.”
Cristiano seemed thrilled. Keira wondered what he thought of her dress sense. In comparison to him she looked very dowdy, and not at all glamorous. At least with some authentic Capri sandals she’d fit in more with the Vogue models (Cristiano himself included) who wandered about the place.
