AVA
“Again?” Ava mewled.
Nico dropped featherlight kisses along her stomach. She arched her back, reveling in his touch, but feeling hot and sweaty and in desperate need of a shower.
Her husband was behaving like a newlywed all over again, and even now, more than a decade after they’d married, his ardor was as strong as ever; his passion as potent.
She loved him with all her heart, but now she was tired. Twice already, in one afternoon … She wasn’t a young woman anymore. She was a mother to three children and still running her hugely successful online business.
Nico was aging handsomely, and he always had plenty of energy, especially when it came to lovemaking. But she was getting older and the years were rushing by too fast. She couldn’t match his energy.
She’d been up until four o’clock this morning, trying to finish off her accounts for the month, trying to tidy up loose ends before their weekend away.
This was supposed to be a relaxing break.
For her fortieth birthday.
As always, Nico had pulled off another surprise. She’d been led to believe that they were attending a meeting at the Cazale Ravenna, the first spa hotel Nico had ever opened and to great success. The hotel had prompted the opening of several other hotels in the same vein.
He’d told her that he had a meeting with the management team and had suggested that she come with him so that they could spend a long weekend at the spa, to celebrate her birthday.
The idea appealed to her. A weekend away, with just the two of them? Not too many days, because she didn’t want to be without her children for too long, but a few days with Nico, without his business meetings, and her own business pressures—well, that was bliss.
Naturally, she’d jumped at the opportunity, but she was surprised when their private helicopter stopped in Rome instead of Ravenna. Their oldest child, Lisabetta, as Ava liked to call her, didn’t like that the family owned a private helicopter and she often got into heated debates with her father about saving the planet. Ava couldn’t believe how fast time had flown by, and how grown-up and opinionated her older daughter was becoming. She sometimes reminded Ava of her own sister, Rona, though Ava was quick to nip any Rona-esque behavior in the bud.
Looking out of the window, at the Coliseum down below, she turned to Nico. “I thought we were going to the Cazale Ravenna?”
“Did I say that?” Nico looked confused. “Sorry. I meant I had a meeting at the Cazale Roma, first.”
She wasn’t sure whether to believe him. Nico never messed up when it came to his hotel empire. He kept growing the business, kept acquiring other hotels, taking them under the Cazale umbrella and turning them into exclusive, boutique style, luxury hotels.
His father would have been so proud of him.
Thinking nothing of it, she’d gone with him to the Cazale Roma and waited for his meeting to finish. After a light lunch, they set off in the helicopter again, but she was surprised once again when she looked out and saw a place that didn’t resemble Ravenna.
But memories came flooding back and her heart filled with happiness as she took in the scene before her. “We’re spending the weekend here?” She instantly recognized the rocky coastline dotted with glitzy villas. Boats and yachts skated along the sparkling aqua-blue waters.
They were in Capri.
Nico first brought her here when they were on their honeymoon. They’d visited this beautiful little island on a day trip from Amalfi where they’d been staying. She’d fallen in love with Capri’s glittering blue grottos and bustling little restaurants overlooking the harbor. Later, when they returned on one of their wedding anniversaries, she fell in love with it even more.
She looked at her husband with love and admiration. He was always so good at keeping secrets. Throwing her arms around his neck, she gave him a deep, long kiss. “You’re amazing. This is the best weekend already. Thank you.” This man constantly surprised her, and though she tried, her surprises for him were never as good.
“Thank you,” he echoed back.
“You make me so happy, Nico.”
“You make me happy, my love.” He’d looked at her, his eyes twinkling under the sunshine as they got out and walked across the helipad. Two members of the hotel staff met them. Nico was treated like royalty wherever he went. Ava sometimes had to pinch herself even now, so many years later, that this was her life.
He’d brought her back to the same hotel they’d stayed in last time. Perched on the cliff edge, it boasted a magnificent panorama of the island with sweeping views over the Bay of Naples, Mount Vesuvius, Sorrento as well as the island of Ischia nearby.
It was the most luxurious and opulent of all the hotels on the island. Once inside the gorgeous master suite Av0 was awestruck.
Her gaze swept around the palatial rooms where gorgeous antiques and artwork decorated the walls. “This is too much, Nico. We don’t need three bedrooms. It’s just us now.”
He’d winked at her. “We’ll have fun christening every room.”
She’d laughed, then slipped off her sandals and walked around, admiring the marble bathrooms and jacuzzi tub before stepping out onto the large and private sun-drenched terrace. It overlooked the Tyrrhenian Sea and the double infinity pools below. This was where they would eat and talk until the early hours of the morning.
She’d barely caught her breath when he’d come up behind her and scooped her into his arms, leading her back inside. When he set her down, it was on the huge bed, with views of the sea framed by flimsy net curtains gently fluttering in the soft breeze.
She had a déjà vu moment. It had been just like this when they’d tumbled into bed on that last visit, feeling as if they were in paradise.
Now, as then, they were a tangle of hungry mouths and greedy gasps as they fumbled with each another’s clothing. Seconds later, they were naked and the afternoon passed in a slow, sweaty haze. Without work, and the children’s cries and laughter, they reverted to being newlyweds all over again.
“Again…” murmured Nico, leaving wet, soppy kisses all over her stomach, his lips slowly trailing south. So much for a nice, relaxing weekend sipping virgin mimosas on the terrace. She wriggled when he parted her thighs. “Let me shower!”
“Let me enjoy you,” he pleaded.
“We’ve only just …”
But he slowly slipped a finger inside her, then another, then set up a slow rhythm which soon made her eager for all of him again .
“Ohhhh …” she groaned, writhing as his fingers pumped. He knew how to please her, knew all her special places, knew how to make her moan.
“Still want to take a shower?” he husked, pistoning slowly inside her, while his thumb circled her nub.
“No. God, no.” She teetered on the edge of the precipice, shockwaves rippling through her. She felt ready to fall. But he did the unthinkable.
He stopped.
Worse, he pulled his fingers out.
“Don’t stop …” she wailed, her body missing his touch.
But when he moved on top of her, propping himself on his arms, she knew the best was yet to come. She sighed at the feel of his rock-hard chest against her, and then he thrust into her; one quick, sharp shove and he was buried to the hilt inside her. The air escaped her lungs. “Oh, God …” A heady sensation swept over her, leaving her dazed and breathless.
He kissed her again, his lips melding against hers in a deliciously sweet and soppy kiss on her lips, deepening it so that their tongues dueled, as he moved in and out of her. The friction, the feeling, the skin-to-skin contact, the heat and sweat.
The love.
The sheer intensity of emotions this man evoked in her. When it was like this, when they were alone, with no interruptions and free to enjoy one another, each time was like the first.
Fire pooled low in her belly, spreading out in little explosions reaching lower down, and then, time stopped. Her body splintered, shattering into a million pieces as she unraveled before his eyes. Their gazes locked and held as he emptied inside her. After a few short, sharp groans, Nico sank into her, his face resting on her chest. It was a while before he moved away, leaving her still undone, basking in the aftermath of their lovemaking. He rolled off her and turned to his side, placing the flat of his palm across her belly. It was then that she remembered, and crossed her legs and hugged her knees to her chest.
They wanted another child. Nico had never hidden his desire for a large family, but age wasn’t on her side. In the past she’d only had to sneeze and she’d fall pregnant whenever Nico was around, but lately, they’d been trying for months, and still nothing had happened.
In the beginning, she explained it away, telling herself that they were busier than ever; life was as hectic as ever and with their three children they were often exhausted by the time they went to bed.
But every month held disappointment for her, and now she was starting to panic. Nico’s fingers gently tapped her belly. “Don’t worry, it will happen.”
“But it hasn’t, so far.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “I don’t shoot blanks.”
“Are you saying it’s my fault—”
He dropped a kiss to her lips, kept his mouth pressed to hers for a long, tender moment. “I never said that. But I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to sound that way.”
“It’s probably not you. I’m not getting any younger …”
“Forty—”
“Not today I’m not.”
“Forty isn’t old.” He dropped a kiss on her nose. “You’re as sexy as the first day I met you.”
“The first day you met me you did not find me sexy!”
His eyes tenderly swept over her face. Sometimes he looked at her and she couldn’t fathom what he was thinking. He always looked so content, so in awe. This man had shown her how love could be, and she thanked her lucky stars that she had found him. “You didn’t know who I was, and that was refreshing,” he told her.
She giggled. She’d mistaken him for a driver from the hotel where she and Connor were supposed to have spent their honeymoon. Nico had been so helpful, playing along with her mistake, driving her to the Casa Adriana, the headquarters of the Cazale empire, a place where her husband still worked to this day. She straightened her legs, giving him full access to her body, to touch and stroke where he wanted.
“You were meant for me, Ava. Meeting you was the best thing to ever happen to me.” He shifted his body weight so that he was on top of her again.
She gasped. “Nico … are you taking something to—”
“I don’t need anything. Just you.” Propping himself on his elbows, he lowered his hips and she felt his hardness again. She moaned, feeling spent, not having the energy to move, but welcoming him as he slowly inched inside her.
NICO
They needed to do this more often. Take time out, away from the family, the children, the businesses.
Just the two of them.
They never quite managed it unless it was for a big celebration, like an anniversary or a birthday. They barely left home without the children. Even now, Ava hadn’t been keen on leaving Carlotta at home. Elsa and Salvatore were close by but they were older now, and frailer. These last few years had taken a toll, especially on Salvatore, who was having difficulty walking too far without the aid of a walking cane. Even with the live-in housekeeper who helped with the running of the house, asking the couple to keep an eye on the grandchildren would have been too much to ask of them.
Luckily, Andrea and Leo had volunteered and were staying in the guest wing of the house with their children. That had been one problem solved.
Now that they were here, Nico planned to make the most of this rare opportunity, and they hadn’t left the suite since their arrival yesterday. He looked forward to spending the day with his wife and no one else.
The warm morning breeze rustled around them and the view from their terrace was as beautiful as a painting. The cerulean blue sea, with boats bobbing gently, was drenched in sunshine and sprinklings of bright pink Bougainvillea adorned the private villas that were carpeted in the green velvet on the cliffside.
His wife had no idea that he was watching her as she absentmindedly reached for her glass of orange juice, her eyes still on the book she was reading.
Unable to take it any longer, he asked. “Are you going to read all morning?”
She looked up and blinked, a faraway expression in her eyes, making him feel guilty that he’d plucked her away from a fictional world.
“Sorry,” She slammed the book shut. “I thought you were reading the paper.”
He jerked his chin towards the folded newspaper. “I haven’t touched it or my cell phone since we woke up.”
“Sorry.” She ran her hand through her hair which she still wore long and layered, her eyes, often electric blue in the sunlight, were a paler blue this morning, as she sat facing the water. Her eyes still mesmerized him. Her lips still claimed him. And her face, it was etched on his heart forever.
She gazed out at the sea, and he drank her in, his thoughts once again drifting to her long neck and the place where he now wanted to drop countless kisses, starting just beneath her jaw and going lower and lower and …
Then she picked up a strawberry by the stalk and bit into it. He watched, riveted, until she met his gaze. “You always manage to surprise me, Nico. After all this time, I should know when you’re up to something, and yet I still fall for it.”
He smiled to himself, still watching as she licked her lips. “You love this place.”
“It holds a dear place in my heart.”
He knew, that’s why he’d bought it. “It holds a dear place in mine.” This hotel was his latest acquisition and it had been months in the making. He’d signed off on it only recently, but hadn’t told Ava yet.
Carlotta had been conceived here, and Ava wanted another child. Lately, he’d tempered his remarks about wanting a big family because she worked so hard. She’d never been content to sit back and be the wife of a wealthy man. She wanted to leave her own legacy, and he loved that about her. It was one of the many things he admired about his wife. Three children were enough, but lately, four-year-old Carlotta was left more and more to her own devices. Unlike the older two, she didn’t have a counterpart.
There were only a couple of years between Elisabetta and Alessandro and they were as thick as thieves together. When Carlotta had arrived, they’d been intrigued by her, but now, as they were growing older, they didn’t have as much time for their younger sister.
At the grand old age of twelve Elisabetta was quickly changing from being Nico’s little Princess to becoming headstrong and opinionated. She no longer took everything he said at face value, and he liked that she challenged him. At school she had started to learn about global warming and climate change, and was becoming increasingly aware of environmental issues. She wanted him to sell the private helicopter, which of course he would never do, because with his hotels spread out all over Italy, he didn’t want to spend time traveling and working away. He wanted to spend as much time as he could with his family.
Growing up, Elisabetta had spent many hours in the gardens with Elsa and Salvatore and she was now an avid gardener with her own little plot of land at their home. Nico liked to think that she also took after her grandfather, Edmondo, whose favorite place had been in the gardens at the Casa Adriana.
As for Alessandro, he was a sporty boy who loved playing football and was charming and funny. Ava doted on him.
A wave of nostalgia rolled over him. He was blessed with a family but sad that his father hadn’t lived to see him settled and with a wife and family of his own. It had been Edmondo’s greatest wish. Nico held back the sob that caught in his throat. The passing of time had happened so fast, in the blink of an eye.
His children were growing up so quickly and he wasn’t ready for it. Ava turned forty tomorrow, and looking at her now, a gulp caught in his throat and held there. He couldn’t imagine life without this woman. Mother to his children, his wife, his lover, his best friend and soulmate.
“What?” she asked, frowning as he continued to stare at her.
“I love you.”
She smiled, closed her book and set it on the glass table. “If you think that’s going to get you into bed with me again, you are mistaken.”
He could happily spend all day in bed with her, but this was her weekend. Her time. “We’ll do whatever you want.”
“Good, because I’ve made a plan.” She pushed her plate away.
“You’ve only had a few strawberries.” Her plate of fruit was mostly untouched.
“I don’t feel hungry.”
He looked confused. After the night they’d had, he was famished.
“I’d like to visit the gardens again and the Blue Grotto.”
Ah, yes. She had loved the Giardini di Augusto, the beautiful botanical gardens they’d visited the last time. “Just the Grotta Azzurra?” he asked, because if she wanted to visit the other grottoes, they would be tight for time.
“Let’s retrace our steps, Nico, from our honeymoon. Let’s go to all the places we did that first time.”
He had other plans for her evening. “I’ve made a dinner reservation, for eight.”
“Oh.” She sounded disappointed.
“But we have a few days … maybe tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow. Let’s go now and make the most of today.” She started to get up from her chair.
“Wait. Don’t go.”
She sat back down and he removed the newspaper which had been covering the jewelry box. He pushed it towards her. “Happy birthday, sweetheart.”
“Nico!” Her eyes lit up in sparkly blue wonder. “Flamengostini?” she cried, seeing the familiar black velvet box.
“Always.”
He bought her many pieces of jewelry from the jeweler’s they’d visited long ago, when he’d first taken her to Montagnano. It was the village where he’d lived with his mother and grandmother while his father built up the hotel business. It was there that he caught Ava looking through the shop window, staring at a bracelet. He later bought it for her, and left it at the hotel in Venice where he’d gone looking for her, hoping he hadn’t lost her forever.
She was wearing that same Flamengostini bracelet now. It was something she always wore on special occasions and over the years he’d added to the collection, buying her matching necklace and earrings.
“Not another Flamengostini, Nico.” Her lips curved into a smile and he watched in happy wonder. He loved lavishing gifts on his family, he loved making this woman happy; she who didn’t want gifts, didn’t need monetary validation. She loved the pieces from this jeweler and so he lavished her with them. Flamengostini had suddenly become very well-known ever since Nico and Ava were photographed coming out of his shop one day.
She opened the box and gasped. “Five … ah…are these emeralds? Nico, this is too much.”
She reacted just as he knew she would. “It’s not too much, my love. This is a milestone in your life—”
“Turning forty? I don’t want to sing it from the rooftops!”
The platinum necklace boasted five pear-shaped emeralds weighing over seventy-five carats set among sparkling flawless diamonds. Ava clasped it to her chest, her eyes glistening. “Oh, Nico. This is stunning.”
He bent down and kissed her. “Happy Birthday, sweetheart.”
She placed her hand over his. “My life with you and our children is the greatest gift, Nico. I don’t need—”
“I know, I know.” He casually moved behind her and shifted her hair to one shoulder before placing the necklace around her neck and fastening it.
She slowly stood up and turned around. “You don’t need to shower me with jewel—”
“I know, but I want to and this was a piece especially made for you.”
“Thank you. For everything.” She touched the necklace, as if getting used to the feel of it. “I love it. And I love you, Nico. Always and forever.”
“I love you, more than I can ever show you.” He pressed his lips to hers, before taking her hand as walking over to the railings where they stood and looked out at the sea.
“I can’t wear this out, Nico. It’s too much.”
“But tonight, for dinner, you will.”
“I will.” She thumbed her bracelet, running her fingers over the pearls and gemstones that made up the stunning piece of jewelry. “If you’d never come looking for me in Venice …”
His insides hardened at the thought. “I was never going to let you walk away.”
If he’d never gone looking for Ava, his life would look so different now. Up until he’d met Ava, he’d never chased women. They’d always landed at his feet, but she was different. He’d sensed it from the moment they’d met.
He’d not been prepared to let her walk away. Now the life they’d made together had given him riches that were priceless.
Love, belonging.
A family.
He traced his fingers on her skin, going over the outline of the necklace. “Could I make a suggestion?”
“What?”
“Shall we do the Blue Grotto tomorrow? And just do the gardens now? Take it easy instead of rushing to squeeze everything in?” She smelled too good, and now that she planted her hands on his chest, and was leaning against him, his body had other ideas.
“You said dinner was booked for eight.” Innocent eyes, huge and hopeful, stared back at him.
“It is but … I don’t want to be late.”
She laughed. “It doesn’t matter if we’re late. We can eat at nine or ten …”
His fingers wrapped around her bare arms. “But I had other plans before we went out to dinner.”
“We’re on vacation. It’s my birthday, and I’d like to see the island, just like we did before the children came along.” She made her beautiful pouty face, and his heart melted.
He ground down on his teeth, weighing up how late they could be without ruining the surprise he had for her but he followed her around, letting her take the lead and do as she pleased.
They spent the morning at the Grotta Azzurra, hopping on a boat which a skipper navigated seamlessly under the meter high cave mouth. They held hands as they passed from darkness into a sparkling cavern lit up by azure blue light.
After a light lunch they went to the Giardini di Augusto which were only a short walk from their hotel. There, they sat on a bench, enjoying the panoramic vista and basking in the sunshine. Flowering plants adorned every edge, every corner of these magical gardens. They stood at one end, leaning over the metal railings and looked down at the sea which glittered as the sun’s rays danced upon it.
“This is heaven, just you and me,” Ava murmured. He slipped his arm around her waist, reeled her in a little before dipping down to plant a kiss on her hair. She rested her forehead against his chest, clutching his shirt. When she let out a small sigh, one of contentment, he knew she felt secure. And safe and happy.
She was his anchor. She grounded him. It hadn’t always been easy, especially in the early days when he’d been so desperate to prove himself after Edmondo’s death. Times hadn’t been easy when Elisabetta had come along. Ava had struggled. He could have been a better father; he could have been more supportive and taken more time away from the business. Over the years he’d slowly learned to do that. By the time baby number four came along, he’d be the best yet. He was determined to be more hands on than ever.
She pressed her body against him, waking up the little nerve endings that danced for joy in anticipation of how this day could end. “Shall we go back?” An idea was forming in his head. There was time, a good few hours before the guests arrived.
Time to be alone and enjoy one another.
“Nico. We’re not here just to make a baby. We’re supposed to be enjoying one another’s company … outside of the bed.”
AVA
Nico was a bundle of frustration. She could tell it by the way the muscles along his jaw line tensed.
She wanted a lazy day, a day for just the two of them, to explore and retrace their steps again but Nico seemed a little distracted, a little impatient.
Ava promised him ‘a wild night’ once they got back to the room and that seemed to soothe him.
They enjoyed a leisurely afternoon in the gardens, and as they made their way back after a wonderful day, she suggested that they skip dinner because her stomach felt a little queasy; she’d barely touched her lunch earlier.
Thinking that Nico might jump at the chance, Ava suggested they get room service and stay in bed, instead. Nico had looked at her with longing, as if she’d put him in a tough spot, but he was adamant that they go to dinner because ‘he’d flown over a chef from Paris, especially for her.’
She didn’t understand how he could do that, or what the maître d’ of the hotel would think, but Nico Cazale was not only wealthy, but persuasive and charming. The man could do anything he wanted.
She had become used to his extravagances, something that wasn’t always easy to deal with, but Nico was only ever extravagant when it came to family.
She felt his sorrow, from missing out having his father in his life, not only when he’d been a young boy, but now, when Nico had a family of his own. Ava knew too well the pain of when he was younger and his father had been busy building up the family business and she could see that Nico was determined to do things differently.
He often told her that family meant everything to him. She understood the weight behind those words, and they had both strived to build a happy foundation.
With them, there had been no seven-year itch. No boredom settling in. No taking one another for granted. Each year flew by faster than the one before and now on the day of her fortieth birthday, fear mingled with anxiety inside her belly. She was fearful of growing older, of life being so fleeting. She was fearful of her mother becoming frail, in body, because Elsa’s spirit was as indomitable as ever. Her mother had suffered much loss in her life, and it pleased Ava and Rona to see her living a full and happy life with Salvatore. It really was never too late to find love.
Because she sensed that the dinner meant a lot to Nico, Ava dressed up and made a huge effort. She wore a long, black, off-the-shoulder dress, and the necklace he’d given her.
Just as they went to leave she felt a flutter in her belly, a feeling of nausea sweeping all over her.
“What is it?” Nico looked concerned as she placed a hand over her stomach.
“I’m just feeling a little … funny.”
His face lit up. “Maybe you’re pregnant.”
“It’s too soon.”
“We’ve been trying almost every day,” he reminded her.
She stared down at her belly, saying nothing. Wondering if it could be true.
“You were like this with Carlotta, sick from the beginning,” Nico added.
She looked up at him. It was true. She’d been terribly sick with Carlotta, almost from the beginning. “Oh, Nico.” He placed his hand over hers. Another baby on the way … hopefully.
“Sweetheart.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
“Let’s just stay here, you and me,” she said, trying to convince him yet again. If she really was pregnant, then their days of quiet bliss would be over in nine months.
“I promise we’ll come back as soon as you want after dinner. I really do think you will like what this chef has prepared for you.” He wasn’t backing down, and instead took her hand in his.
They wandered around the hotel, admiring the décor and breathtaking views.
“Do you remember this?” he asked, as they walked out to the infinity pool overlooking the ocean.
She did. How could she forget? “You always take my breath away, with your thoughtfulness, and your attention to detail. Bringing me here, giving me this surprise.”
They stopped in an alcove, and she turned to him, examining his face. This man aged beautifully. She often caught women gawking at him, even though he was with her.
But he was hers. And only hers.
“It’s not the only surprise.”
She shook her head. “Surely not.” She couldn’t begin to guess what else he might have in store. He glanced at his watch, then tugged her hand and started to walk again, but this time he led her back into the hotel.
The chef. The dinner.
She sighed, vowing that once dinner was done, they would come out here again and spend the evening talking by the pool again, making more plans for a possible new future..
“What other surprise, Nico?” Her curiosity got the better of her.
He stopped and pressed his forehead against hers. “I bought this hotel. It will soon become the Cazale Capri.” He said it so nonchalantly, as if he’d bought a new jacket.
“You… you bought this?”
“I know how much you love it. I remember the memories we made here.”
“Oh, Nico.” She was about to put her arms around him but he continued walking, stopping outside two huge wooden doors, the sign above which said, in gold letters, ‘Ballroom.’
“There was also something else …” He knocked on the door, and immediately both doors opened.
As they stepped inside, she gulped in surprise. It was full of people. People who looked familiar. Chairs dressed in white silk with white bows, an abundance of flowers on tables covered with crisp white linen.
Then a chorus of “Mama!” reached her ears, touched her heart. Her eyes filled with tears.
“Mama!” Carlotta rushed towards her lightning fast, falling against Ava’s legs, her tiny little arms around her waist.
Alessandro was next, trying to wedge himself against her waist, and behind them was Lisabetta, grinning like a true conspirator. “Buon compleanno, Mamma.”
“Oh my beautiful babies,” Ava cried, overwhelmed with joy.
People started to sing Happy Birthday.
Time slowed down, and her tears threatened to spill down her cheeks. She dabbed at her eyes quickly, and through the blur she saw Elsa and Salvatore, standing up, all smiles.
She saw the gold hooped earrings first, and then she saw Rona with Carlos beside her, beaming like a big friendly bear. Ava’s heart was so full of love she was afraid it might burst. She hadn’t seen Rona and Carlos for almost a year. Beside them, their children Tori and Ramon were singing their hearts out.
With her arms around her children, Ava struggled to turn around, to thank Nico. She was frozen in a moment that was timeless as it was precious.
Through more blurry tears, she made out Gina and Andrea, with their husbands and their children.
When the applause died down, she blew kisses to everyone, putting her hands together in a gesture of gratitude. She wasn’t one for making speeches, and would instead go up to everyone individually, thanking them for coming.
Her children ran away and went back to their cousins and friends.
Nico reached for her hand.
“How did you?…” she started to ask .
He kissed her neck. “It was quite a feat. Acquiring hotels is easier.”
“I love you, Nico Cazale.”
“I love you, Mrs. Cazale.”
She squeezed his hand. “You … you’re amazing.”
He smiled at her, that same knowing, assuring, confident smile he often had when he looked at her.
Going from a jilted bride whose world had been turned upside down when her fiancé told her he no longer loved her, that he couldn’t go through with their wedding—to this. This was the stuff of fairytales.
They walked around, acknowledging, welcoming and thanking their guests. She was in a hurry to reach her mother and her sister and their families.
“Mom!” She threw her arms around Elsa, but was mindful to be gentle. Her mother seemed smaller all of a sudden.
“It was a good surprise, eh?” A mischievous smile settled on Elsa’s face.
“You were in on it too?” Ava cried, then placed her hand on Salvatore’s shoulder as the old man tried to get up again. “No, please don’t get up, Salvatore.” Ava leaned down and hugged him gently, her love for this man spilling from her heart. He’d given Elsa a new beginning.
“Was Salvatore okay?” she whispered in Elsa’s ear. She dreaded to think about the long journey from Verona to Capri, not the easiest of islands to reach.
Elsa patted Ava’s arm. “Nico chartered a small plane.”
“Of course he did.” Ava was pleased that he’d thought of their welfare, but goodness, more extravagance.
Looking around the magnificent ballroom, she felt as if she were in a dream. She would have happily settled for a pizza and a bottle of wine in the gardens of their home, but she understood why Nico had made such a fuss. Why he liked going all out, and why he did the things he did.
“Don’t spend all evening with me,” Elsa chided her. “Go and meet your guests.”
Gina and Andrea waved at her from a few tables away, and Ava couldn’t wait to go and see them.
Ava heard the cackle behind her. The one that belonged to Rona, and then the rich, deep laugh that was Carlos’s.
“Hey, girl. Happy Birthday. Welcome to the forties club!” Rona enveloped her in a hug that filled Ava’s nostrils with an overpowering smell of cheap perfume. She winced as the silver sequins from her Rona’s cocktail dress pricked her like little pins.
“Careful.” Ava carefully extricated herself from her sister’s hug. Rona’s hooped earrings threatened to catch her long Flamengostini earrings.
“We need to talk,” Rona said, before Carlos enveloped her in a bear hug and wished her a happy birthday. She hugged him tightly because she was so happy to see him. “It’s been a long time, Carlos. Too long.” She made a sad face.
Carlos nodded in agreement. “Seems like we only get together on big occasions.” They’d met at Rona’s fortieth birthday a year ago.
“You need to take more time out,” she told him.
“I wish. Work is … you know.”
She winced. Nico was investing in Carlos’ business. He now owned ten restaurants, but instead of taking time off and taking it easy, he was still working as hard as ever. She swatted him gently on the lapel of his jacket. “When are you going to slow down?”
“No slowing down with your sister, you know that.” He gave her one of his warm smiles and her heart melted. She loved Carlos. He was a saint to put up with her sister, to love Rona as much as he did. More than that, he was a wonderful father and brother-in-law. Elsa always said that she had the best sons-in-law a woman could ever wish for.
Rona hooked her arm in Ava’s and pulled her away. “Come to the ladies room with me.”
“I … I need to see my guests,” Ava protested.
“Your guests will still be here. You own the hotel, no one’s throwing them out. We’re going to party all night long.”
“You knew?”
“We all knew.” Rona grabbed Ava’s wrist and dragged her away. Once inside the opulent pink and cream washroom, Rona turned from side to side, gesturing towards her body. “Notice anything?”
“You’re so thin. Are you eating?”
Rona waved her hand. “Do I have the figure of a twenty-year-old, or not?”
“You’re forty-one.”
Rona put a long red fingernail to her lips. “Don’t say it. Do. Not. Say. It.”
Ava rolled her eyes. Rona had struggled to turn forty. She’d been uncharacteristically subdued at her big birthday bash which Carlos had thrown for her in a fancy hotel.
“I got a pair of new ones.” Rona placed her hands on her breasts.
“You did?” Ava peered at them. They were always pert and upright. She couldn’t notice anything different. Except … they were bigger. Much bigger, now that she was looking at them so intently.
Rona’s face was a picture of pride. She waggled a finger at Ava. “You should get yours done, soon.”
Ava folded her arms over her chest. “I will do no such thing.”
Especially if she was pregnant.
“I’m just giving you good older sister advice!” Rona cried.
“Respectfully, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”
“Do they look good? What do you think?”
“I think I need to get back to my guests.”
NICO
“Where is she dragging Ava?” Carlos muttered under his breath.
Nico turned and glanced at Ava and Rona. “To powder their noses, I’m guessing.” He punched Carlos lightly on his arm. “Good to see you.”
“Thanks for the invitation, buddy. Wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”
“Thank you for coming. I hope you’ll stay for a couple of weeks.”
“Sorry, no can do. The kids have school and the restaurants don’t run themselves.”
“I’m happy to invest more, Carlos. You need to delegate more, get good managers.” Carlos’s hair was a little whiter than the last time, and it had only been a year since they’d last seen him. Though, he looked good. The salt and pepper look suited him.
Carlos scratched his beard. “I understand. I’ve taken your advice on board, but I’ve always been hands on. Hard to let go of that.”
“Try it.”
“You too, buddy. You also need to slow down. Buying another hotel. This place?” Carlos made a chef’s kiss gesture. “This has to be the jewel in the crown, surely.”
“The Casa Adriana will always have that honor,” Nico replied. It was the hotel where it had all started, but this soon to be Cazale Capri was the most luxurious of all the properties he had acquired.
“Nicely done, Nico.” Carlos looked around the room. “You sure know how to put on a party.”
“Ava would have been happy with dinner at home. I wanted to do something special.”
“Only you know how to do special like this.”
Nico nodded. He could do all this because he had inherited his father’s hotel empire and he continued to build upon it. Of the two men, Nico knew without any hesitation, that Carlos worked harder, that he deserved more, that he had a heart of gold. “We should talk, when we get back to Verona. You can spend a few days, right?”
“Sure we do. I look forward to seeing you, Nico. We don’t get to hang out much and it’s a shame our families are continents away.”
“It’s a crying shame for sure.”
Elisabetta suddenly turned up at Nico’s side, draping an arm around his waist. “Hey Uncle Carlos.” Carlos nodded with a smile. “Papa,” Elisabetta continued.
Nico understood that tone. “Princess.”
Elisabetta rolled her eyes. With hair as dark as his, and with Ava’s blue eyes, she was a stunner. Nico’s insides clenched knowing what the future held, an endless line of admirers he would have to interrogate, the boys who would fall in love with her …
“Papa, I’m old enough to pierce my ears. Please can you ask Mama?”
“Hey, Uncle Nico.” Tori appeared beside Elisabetta.
“Hey, Tori.” He did a double take. She was the spitting image of her mother, albeit younger and smaller. He understood where his daughter’s request came from.
“Tonight isn’t the time to ask your mother.”
“Please, Papa. Please.”
“Not now, Princess. Not here.” Putting his arms around her, he pressed his lips to the top of her head.
“But later? Mama’s so happy, she might say yes.” Elisabetta turned to go, and looked at him, her baby blues pleading. “Please, Papa.”
His heart melted. “I’ll think about it.”
“Tori’s a bad influence,” said Carlos when the girls disappeared.
Nico shrugged. “Teens.”
“Stand your ground, buddy.”
Nico stared at him, incredulous. “Me, stand my ground? What happened to you?”
“Have you met her mother?”
Nico spluttered as he sipped from his glass of champagne. Carlos joined in the laughter.
This, he loved. Being an only child, and not especially close to his extended family, he saw Carlos more like a brother. “We should plan a boys’ trip at some time,” he suggested, seeing Ramon and Alessandro playing across the dance floor with their action figurines.
“We should. Let me know when you’re next coming over and we’ll go camping.”
“Just camping,” Nico clarified. “I don’t shoot, or hunt to do anything like that.”
“I don’t hunt either, buddy. I love animals.”
“Camping sounds great.” Alessandro was laughing, and it made Nico smile. “My son would benefit from some outdoors camping. I think I would, too. I’ve never done anything like that before.”
“You serious?” Carlos stared at him as if he’d turned into an elephant.
“Never been camping. My dad owned hotels. He was never going to allow me to go camping.”
“I’ll set something up,” Carlos promised. “Oh, before I forget. Thought I’d mention to you that Connor, that loser, he’s divorced again, for the second time.”
Nico’s eyes widened in amazement. “A second time?”
“Rona found out. She ran into him in the mall.”
“Divorced for the second time,” Nico mused, thinking how the loser had done him and Ava such a great favor.
AVA
“Thank you.” She hugged Nico, burying her face in his chest. “I’ve had the best birthday ever.”
“The best so far,” Nico murmured. She felt the brush of his lips on her hair.
“You do too much, Nico.”
“I do it because I want to spoil you.”
“I don’t need to be spoiled.” She looked up at him, his face veiled by the golden light of the lamps. “I just need to be loved, and you do that very well.”
He nodded.
They had finally come back to the suite. It was four in the morning. Elsa and Salvatore had retired early, and all the children, cousins included, had gone back with them, to the master suite Nico had reserved for them.
The sky was a blanket of indigo with shards of light trying to break through. Soon it would be dawn. She yawned, her back pressing against the railings of the sun terrace. It was eerily quiet, the sea an inky black. “We should sleep,” she said, holding Nico’s hands.
“You promised me a wild night.”
She stopped mid-yawn. “You still want that?”
“A promise is a promise.”
“I keep my promises.” She walked backwards into the suite, slowly unzipping the zipper at the side of her dress, before untying the big bow on her shoulder.
He had called her bluff, and now she was going to deliver.
The dress pooled at her ankles.
Nico suck in a breath. “Sweetheart …”
She was tired, but now … suddenly, she was wide awake. “Meet me in bed,” she said, in her most seductive voice.
He moved fast, given that it was so late and they’d been up for almost twenty-four hours. She was impressed.
She got ready for bed, taking off her make up, checking the fine lines around her eyes and mouth. Slathering on lots of anti-aging serum.
Then, completely naked, she slipped into bed, smiling at the sound of Nico’s gentle snoring. “A wild night,” she chuckled to herself, before turning on her side and lying against his chest. She placed her hand on his heart, feeling the reverberations of his heartbeat, a sound she would easily fall asleep to.