Page 82 of The Taste of Deceit

“I love you too.”

Neither of us says anything after that. Katie’s breathing slowly evens out beside me, and before long, I know she’s asleep.

I stay awake a little longer, staring at the moonlight stretched across the ceiling. I hope one day we’re lying in another bedroom somewhere, talking about our husbands, our kids, and everything else we’ve spent years dreaming about.

I hope this isn’t the last sleepover we’ll ever have. Eventually, I close my eyes. A few minutes later, sleep finds me too.

Chapter 23

Luca

The resort gates slide open, and our SUV follows the winding drive through towering palm trees toward the private villas tucked along the shoreline. The ocean flashes between the trees every few seconds, impossibly blue beneath the late-morning sun.

Sarah hasn’t stopped looking out the window since we landed. She turns toward me for what has to be the tenth time.

“This can’t actually be where we’re staying.”

“It is.”

She looks back outside.

“No.”

A smile pulls at the corner of my mouth.

“Yes.”

She narrows her eyes at me before turning back toward the window as the villa comes into view.

The driver slows to a stop beneath a covered entrance framed by white stone columns. Beyond it, the villa stretches toward the beach, every room facing the ocean. Floor-to-ceiling windows reflect the water, and a narrow infinity pool disappears into the horizon until it’s almost impossible to tell where the pool ends and the Caribbean begins.

Sarah doesn’t move. The valet opens her door.

“Welcome—“

“I am not missing this.”

Sarah climbs out before he can finish, turning in a slow circle as the warm breeze catches her hair.

“Oh my God.”

I step out beside her, unable to stop smiling.

“This isn’t real.”

“It is.”

She points toward the water.

“That’s our beach.”

She spins back toward me.

“That pool is ours.”

“It is.”

She looks at the villa again, then back at me.