But for the next five days, it will be just us, and if my wife continues to lean into the casual kisses, then resisting her is going to get a lot tougher. Although, with her hands curled over my shoulders, it feels like she may not want me to resist.
Our cove is a short drive from our villa and sits hidden beneath the island lighthouse. While it’s not totally private, it’s secluded enough that only locals know how to get to it. I’m not even sure my brothers knew this was where Lucia and I would escape to all those summers ago. And that’s what made it even more of a special place for us. It was our little secret.
The stony path down to the sea is steep and dusty. But worth every hot step when we’re standing on the rocky shelf that juts out into the azure water. We find the largest, flattest rock to leave our stuff on, and I strip down to my board shorts.
“I forgot how hot it gets standing on these rocks,” Lucia says, throwing down her beach towel and jumping on it.
“Fuck yeah,” I agree, joining her on the towel island rather than hopping from one foot to the other on the scorching volcanic rock. My palms find a home on the curve of her hips. It’s not because the folded towel is a little small for two. I merely need to touch her soft skin again, and there’s a lot on display thanks to the tiny red bikini she’s wearing.
Lucia’s hands land flat against my chest. “I blame wearing heels and pedicures for making my feet soft. What’s your excuse, big-guy?”
“Not enough time outdoors, and I’m glad we can fix that today. Are you ready to get wet?”
“Let’s do this.”
“Go,” I yell with the excitement of a long-forgotten youth. We dash the remaining feet to the edge and dive in, Luce right beside me as we swim farther out before flipping to our backs to float.
The water laps around me, and my concerns about our marriage drift away. I reach for Lucia’s hand where she floats alongside me, and my heart drums a steady, contented beat. The magic of Capri has the power to help us figure out how to blend our two relationships into one when, up until last night, that felt unattainable.
We stay like this for I’ve no idea how long, and that is the beauty of the moment. But eventually, Luce pops upright to tread water, a signal that she wants to talk. “I’m glad we came here. Thank you.” Her nose wrinkles as she squints at me through the sun’s glare. “I think we both needed this. You already look more relaxed.”
“I am. Work has been difficult.” I don’t elaborate, not wanting to think too hard about our business problems until I return.
“Do you want to tell me about that? You know you can.”
“It’s just work.”
She flicks some water at me. “Ant, you don’t get to be the only supportive one. It’s obvious something is going on in the company. You leave early in the morning, return late at night, and then if Gio calls, you always rush to your office to speak to him. I want to help if I can. You’ve looked increasingly exhausted lately.”
I flip over. “Let’s talk on shore,” I say before swimming back to the rocks. It’s slippery, but muscle memory and a strict workout schedule have me easily heaving my body up before turning to offer Luce my hand. She stares up at me with those seductive green eyes, and I stare right back, drowning in them, her auburn hair floating around her on the water’s surface. Sunlight catching on the dark red strands like fire embers hiding among the chocolate brown. I lift her up, and droplets of water rundown her body, coating her skin in a sparkly sheen and giving her more of an ethereal presence. She’s my own little mermaid, stunningly beautiful.
Slipping, she falls into my chest, and I catch her, my hands lingering on her waist while hers remain flat against my pecs. Her light touch as hot as the sun beating down on my shoulders.
“I got you.”
A small smile teases the corners of her lips, turning them up. “I know. You’re always there to catch me,” she says before stepping back and cautiously walking over to our bags. The rocks aren’t as hot with wet feet, and we can spread out our towels beside each other without having to do another hopping dance.
It’s a perfect afternoon, and I take a deep breath, drawing the sea breeze into my lungs before releasing it again.
She eyes me with her chin resting on her bent knees. I can tell she hasn’t forgotten my promise to talk. “What’s happening with the company?” she asks, then tilts her head to the side to look out to sea, giving me the space to answer in my own time.
I lean back onto my elbows. “We’ve found fraud.” There’s no point in sugarcoating the problem.
Her head jolts up and turns back in my direction. Here, the problems at Barbieri Foods seem a million miles away. But Lucia’s right; I should talk to her about it, especially when it’s been consuming most of my waking hours. My wife has spent most of her life around businesspeople, with her father’s company being one of the largest in Italy. I know she understands the stress of being a CEO, with thousands of people relying on me to keep the business afloat. What’s happening could destroy the foods subsidiary and seriously damage the reputation of the entire family brand. It might not be my fault, but it’s certainly my responsibility now.
“When I became CEO of Barbieri Foods, I brought in new accountants to understand why the business wasn’t makingmoney. It didn’t take them long to discover there were problems, and now we’ve got an independent group of forensic auditors in our Manhattan offices combing through the financial data for the last ten years.”
“It goes back that far?”
“Possibly, but on a much smaller scale.”
“Do you know who?” She leans closer, whispering the question, her hair tickling my chest where it falls forward.
I sit up to tangle my fingers through the wet strands and drop a kiss on her lips. “Luce, I’m pretty sure no one can hear us.”
She glances around, realizing the only other people are sitting a distance away at a café terrace that hangs out over the sea at the top of the soaring cliff. That’s the thing about our cove—it really is just us here.
Her smile is gentle when she glances back at me. “I’m sorry you have to deal with this. But it’s also good to know you weren’t merely avoiding me.”
