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‘I wantravioli capresewhile I’m here,’ Antonietta said, ‘and chocolate torte...’
Any restaurant in Capri would serve that. And all the best restaurants, he knew, would have a table reserved for them.
Yet he was sick to the back teeth of restaurants.
There was somewhere else he wanted to take Antonietta.
‘Come on, then.’
He called for his driver, and as he saw Antonietta into the vehicle he told the driver where they were headed.
The driver asked him to repeat the location.
‘You heard,’ Rafe said, although he knew it wasunheard of for him to take a date to one of his family’s private residences.
They drove slowly up a hill and then turned in at a concealed entrance. She peered out of the darkened windows for a sign that might tell her the name of the restaurant he had chosen, but there wasn’t one. Antonietta looked over to Rafe for an explanation as some gates slid open and they drove slowly up a steep path canopied in trees.
‘Where are we going?’
‘My family has a private residence here.’
‘Youfamily?’ she croaked. ‘They won’t be here?’
‘Of course not,’ Rafe said. ‘I thought it might be pleasanter than a restaurant.’
Antonietta wasn’t so sure... A polite greeting awaited them, but she could sense the caution in the staff when they arrived.
The entrance to the villa was vast, with high vaulted ceilings that seemed to shrink her as they stepped inside. Rafe took off his coat and handed it to the butler, who waited for Antonietta to do the same.
Rafe could feel her discomfort as she handed over her coat and was already ruing his decision to bring her here as he led her through to the lounge.
A huge fire was waiting, and Antonietta stood and warmed her hands as the butler poured drinks.
‘They must have been expecting you,’ she said, referring to the fire and the fleet of staff. ‘But from their surprise I thought you had arrived unannounced.’
The surprise was Antonietta.
Not that he told her.
‘They are used to me arriving at all hours,’ Rafe said. ‘I’m sorry if it feels awkward to be here. I never thought...’
‘No,’ Antonietta said. ‘I’m glad to be here. I’m just...’
She was just overwhelmed—not by her surroundings, but by the fact that he had brought her here. The fact that this man, who had told her he was cold, had lit a flame in her heart. How this man, who was a prince, somehow made her feel not just equal but as if she had found her missing part.
‘I’m hungry!’ she said, because that felt safe.
‘Then let’s get dressed for dinner.’
They climbed the stairs, and it felt so different from the monastery—for, no matter how luxurious, that was still a hotel. This was a home, with pictures lining the stairwell, and though it might be one of many homes there were personal touches that no hotel could replicate.
When she stepped into his bedroom it was Rafe’s books upon the shelves and his chosen artwork on the walls.
And there washisbed.
A high, ornate, dark wooden bed, dressed in jade velvet. She couldn’t resist sitting on the edge and bouncing up and down. It felt as delicious as it looked.
He took her leg and removed one of her gorgeous suede boots.
