“Thank you, but I’m afraid we have other plans. We’ll do another dive with you in the morning.”
“Bene.”
In a minute their boat drove off. Alessandra was glad he’d gone and hurried below deck to get out of her wet suit. When she came up on deck a few minutes, she found Rini already changed into his clothes. He’d organized their gear near the back of the boat and had taken down the flag.
His eyes played over her. “It’s growing dark. Do you have a place in mind where we can camp?”
“Yes. A small, secluded cove five minutes from here. I’ll raise the anchor.” She turned on the boat lights and they headed for the coast. Her heart fluttered in her chest when she thought of spending the night out here with him. Because she knew this area so well, they arrived quickly. She cut the engine and the momentum swept them onto the sandy portion of the isolated beach.
Alessandra turned to him. “Do you want to eat on deck, or in the galley?”
“Since the food is already up here, let’s stay put, shall we? I’ll do the honors and serve you for a change.”
“Well, thank you.”
In a minute he had everything laid out on the opposite banquette and they could pick what they wanted—fruit, meat pastries, cheese rolls, drinks, chocolate and almonds.
He sat back in the chair opposite her and feasted. “After that dive, this is heaven,” he admitted with satisfaction.
“I can tell you’re a seasoned diver, Rini. It was a privilege to be with you today.”
“Now you know how I feel to have joined you. I’m excited about tomorrow’s dive. Maybe we’ll find something, but even if we don’t, it doesn’t take away from the thrill of being with an expert like you.”
His compliments sounded so sincere, she was in danger of believing them. “I loved it.”
After a brief silence, he said, “Dr. Tozzi was upset to see you out here with me, so don’t deny it.”
“I wasn’t going to.” She reached for some more grapes. “I’m glad you were with me. I’ve told him I’m not interested in him. Now he’s seen it for himself.”
Rini’s dark brows furrowed. “Is that the reason I was invited along?”
He couldn’t really think that, could he? It would mean he felt vulnerable. She couldn’t imagine him having a vulnerable bone in his body. She leaned forward. “Of course not!”
He bit into another plum. “Is there an important man in your life?”
Yes. I’m looking at him. “Not in years.”
“Why not?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” she blurted without thinking. “Why does Rinieri Montanari sail alone?”
“I asked you first,” he returned. “A beautiful, fascinating woman like you has to have a history.”
Alessandra wasn’t used to hearing those adjectives attributed to herself. If he only knew it, she was totally enamored with him. “You don’t really want to know.”
“I wouldn’t have asked otherwise.” At this point he’d put the leftover food back in the sacks she would take down to the galley later.
“I fell in love with Francesco at twenty-two. He was a chef from Catania when I was in my last year of undergraduate school. He swore undying love for me and said he’d found his soul mate. I believed him. We talked about getting married.
“One weekend Dea came to visit. I was excited for her to meet him. She stayed in my apartment with me and the three of us spent time together. After she left for Rome, where she was pursuing a modeling career, everything seemed to change. He suddenly told me he had to go on vacation and would call me as soon as he got back. During those two weeks he didn’t phone me once.
“I thought I’d lose my mind until I heard from him. I imagined every reason under the sun for his absence except the one he gave me. He didn’t have the 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.”
CHAPTER FOUR
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, yes. It probably got you into a ton of trouble.”
He chuckled. “So what do you say?”
“I like your idea. Later on this afternoon we can join the others for another dive.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Pleased she was willing to go along with him so they could be alone a little longer, he got to his feet to clean up the kitchen. She cleared the dishes and they made quick work of it. He’d never experienced this kind of togetherness with a woman before. Rini couldn’t imagine letting her go.
“Thanks for fixing the delicious breakfast. I’ll change into my wet suit and meet you on deck.”
He bounded up the stairs to put on his own gear. To spend a whole day with her doing something they both loved couldn’t have excited him more.
In fifteen minutes they’d arrived at the spot he’d suggested for a dive. They had the whole sea to themselves for the moment. She lowered the anchor and erected the flag. Together they put on all their equipment. “Ready?” he called to her.
Her brandy eyes clung to his, pulling at his heart strings. “Let’s go!”
They jumped in the water. He experienced delight as they sank lower past more tiny fish. Once they reached the bottom, they explored around all the vegetation that grew taller and was more plentiful than at the other spot. He saw traces of some deep-sea-fishing tackle caught by the undergrowth. It was like playing hide-and-seek as they swam here and there like little children let out to play.
His eyes followed her as they moved through a new chute. He was so mesmerized by the fun he was having, he almost ran into her because she’d suddenly stopped. When he looked beyond her, he saw a large roundish shape like a big boulder covered in debris ahead of them.
The hairs lifted on the back of his neck and knew she was feeling the same electricity. Something was here that didn’t belong. He swam to one side of it and waited for her to approach the other side. She was the expert.
Her hands began to brush away the layers of silt. He helped her. After five minutes of hard work, they uncovered part of what looked like a sculpted mouth. Alessandra’s eyes stared at him with a glow through her goggles. This was a fantastic find and they both knew it.
While he marveled, she tapped her watch. He’d been too engrossed and forgot the time. They needed to go up to the surface now! It was hard to leave after what they’d just discovered, but they would be back later.
Rini knew the rules by heart. Keep his breathing steady as they rose, but it was hard when his adrenaline was gushing. He could only imagine Alessandra’s joy. This was her life!
They broke the top of the water and swam toward the boat. Like déjà vu he helped her on board the cruiser, then climbed in himself.
“Oh, Rini,” she cried, having removed the belt and breathing apparatus. “We found something that could have belonged to the Temple of Hera. We’ve got to find Dr. Tozzi and bring the others here!”
Without conscious thought he grasped her upper arms, bringing her close to his body. “Congratulations!”
Her eyes, the color of dark vintage brandy, searched his. “It was your inspiration that brought us here.”
For a moment he was caught up in the wonder of her beauty that went soul deep. “I’ll never forget the experience of winding through that undersea garden with you.”
“Neither will I,” she whispered.
He pulled her closer and closed his mouth close over hers. The unexpectedness of it must have caught her off guard because she began kissing him back with a fervency he could only have dreamed about.
Hungry for her, Rini drove their kiss deeper, marveling over her response to him. Sensation after sensation of desire caused him to kiss her senseless. Only the wake from a passing boat that bounced the cruiser reminded him how far gone he was.
Alessandra seemed to feel it, too. She tore her lips from his and moved out of his arms. “If—if you’ll mark this spot on the chart, I’ll drive,” she stuttered.
He didn’t like it that she’d headed for the controls, leaving him bereft. So much for him practicing the patience Valentina had talked about. Rini hadn’t been able to keep himself from crushing her in his arms. He’d wanted that divine fusion to go on and on.
While Alessandra raised the anchor and started the engine, he reached in his backpack for a pen. He found the rolled-up chart on the banquette and sat down to fill in the information, but it was difficult. To his surprise the wind had kicked up. He looked overhead and noticed that more clouds had been amassing. Three hours ago it had only been overcast and there hadn’t been this breeze.
She drove as fast as the elements would allow. Finally in the distance he saw the flags of the three boats. They drew closer and waved to several groups of divers in two of the boats. Soon Alessandra drew alongside one of them. “How long has Dr. Tozzi been down?”
“He and Gino should be coming up any minute.”
“Did you find anything?”
They shook their heads.
“Well, all is not lost. We have some amazing news.” She cut the engine and lowered the anchor while they waited in the rocking crafts for the head of the institute to appear. Rini shared a private glance with her. He could feel her eagerness to impart their finding.
Rini watched until he saw two heads pop out of the water. The divers reached their boat and climbed in. The second the good doctor removed his headgear, his gaze shot to Alessandra.
“You missed this morning’s dive.”
“We did our own dive farther east and raced here to tell you what w
e found.” In the next breath she told everyone about the head.
“You uncovered a mouth?” The doctor sounded incredulous.
“I wish we could show it to you now, but the weather is acting up. Maybe by early evening we can do another dive. In the meantime, why don’t you follow us to the cove where we spent the night on the beach? The site is right off the coast from there and a little east where we can eat before you leave for the port.”
Everyone agreed it was a good idea. Alessandra raised the anchor and started the engine. Once again they took off for the cove. While he stayed on the cruiser, Alessandra climbed out to chat with the others. They decided the storm wouldn’t hit until evening, but it would be better not to go out diving again today.
“Are you staying here again tonight?”
“I’m not sure what our plans are, Gino, but we’ll definitely be here tomorrow at nine to show you the dive site, unless the weather is worse.”
Rini had checked ahead. There’d be a storm later. On impulse he picked up the chart and got out of the boat to show it to them. “In case we don’t get together, I’ve marked the coordinates on here if you want to write them down.”
Dr. Tozzi glanced at it and made notes on the pad in his pocket before handing it back to Rini. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
The group prepared to leave. Nothing could have made Rini happier. So happy, in fact, that he handed Alessandra the chart, then helped push the other boats back in the water and waved everyone off.
* * *
Alessandra had to suppress a smile. Rini couldn’t have been more helpful. How could any man measure up to the famous CEO who could scuba dive and read ocean charts with the best of them?
In a few more days, when he’d finished up business with her father, he’d fly off to Naples and his busy life that sent him all over the country. She had to remember he was only here in the south of Italy for a few more days. To think of him leaving was killing her.
If it turned out her parents agreed to let his company do some drilling, Rini would send out their experts. From time to time she’d see him coming and going from the castle. But for today and tomorrow, they would be together and it thrilled her heart.
The Billionaire Who Saw Her Beauty Page 6
