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10
He was already gonewhen she woke up. She wasn’t surprised; the sun had already turned the room gold when they’d finally drifted off to sleep after making love asecondtime.
It had been everything sheremembered.
More.
It wasn’t just their bodies, which fit as if they’d been made to be joined together. It was as if their souls were pieces of the puzzle too, pieces that somehow managed to align perfectly in spite of their rough, jaggededges.
A nightmare lingered at the edges of her consciousness, but she pushed it away, focusing instead on the soreness between her legs that was a reminder of the night she’d spent inDamian’sarms.
She stretched and looked around. The room was filled with light, the open doors leading to a balcony beyond the sheer curtains blowing in thebreeze.
For the first time since her rescue, she wondered what had happened to her phone after her kidnapping on Capri. She’d gotten used to being without it in Greece, but now she realized there were no clocks in the room, no way to know if it was afternoon on the day of her rescue or if she’d slept so long it was a new dayentirely.
She sat up in bed and walked naked to the open balcony doors. She hesitated at the threshold, not wanting to give anyone below a view — especially the daughter Jenna had mentioned when they arrived the night before. Then she spotted the thick granite balustrades that would shield her body and she steppedoutside.
The marble was warm under bare feet. She leaned her arms against the cool granite and looking out over an open field that extended to a forest line oftrees.
She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. The air was scented with oranges and rosemary, the breeze soft and gentle against her naked skin. She didn’t know how long she stood there before she heard the sound of children’s voices on thebreeze.
She opened her eyes and returned to the bedroom, then ran a warm shower. After weeks of rushed washing in the dingy bathroom in Greece, always half-expecting one of the guards to bust in on her, she felt like she could shower three times a day for the rest of her life and never tire of the luxuries of time andprivacy.
When she was done, she dried off and slipped on the simple shift dress that was in the red shopping bag Damian had given her on the plane. It was strange to look at the things inside it and realize they were exactly her size. She wondered if Damian had chosen them himself or if he’d sent someone to get themforher.
It didn’t matter. He’d come for her. He’d made sure she had what she needed when she was rescued. Most of all, he’d been there when she’dneededhim.
She left her hair down, wondering how soon she could get it cut, then found a pair of flat sandals in the bottom of the bag and slipped them on her feet on her way outthedoor.
The hall was empty and quiet and she suddenly wondered if she’d be able to find her way back to the main part of the house. She’d been out of it when they’d arrived in the early hours of the morning. She had nothing more than a vague memory of crushed gravel, a fountain, a grand staircase, the kind woman namedJenna.
She decided to start with the staircase. It took two wrong turns down halls similar to the one off her room before she emerged onto the landing overlooking the foyer she remembered from their arrival. By the time she was halfway down the staircase, she could hear voices coming from the back of thehouse.
Following the giggle of a little girl’s laughter and a scolding, older voice speaking in Italian, she emerged into a massive sunlit kitchen, one whole wall open to a terrace that looked out over the same fields Aria had been able to see from her room. A plump woman with dark hair had her hands in the sink, shaking her head andmuttering.
“Hello,” Aria said quietly, not wanting tostartleher.
The woman looked over her shoulder. “Ah, good morning!” she said in accented English. “These children are making me deaf. I didn’t hear youcomein.”
Aria smiled. “It’s all right. I’m sorry if I’vedisturbedyou.”
The woman dried her hands on a towel. “Nonsense! Youmusteat!”
“Aria!” Aria turned toward the familiar smokey voice and found Jenna stepping in on bare feet from the terrace. “I didn’t expect you up forawhileyet.”
“I’m embarrassed to admit I don’t even know what time it is,” Aria said. “Or what dayitis.”
“You poor thing,” Jenna said, rushing across the kitchen. “Let’s start you off with some coffee on the terrace. The fresh air will doyougood.”
She poured both and gave instructions to the woman washing dishes to bring Ariabreakfast.
Aria followed Jenna outside where two young girls were chasing each other through the grass beyond the terrace. Their laughter was as soothing as a wind chime and Aria found herself smiling in spite ofherself.
“Is that your daughter?” Aria asked, taking a seat at a rustictable.
“On the days when I’ll claim her.” Jenna laughed but there was no doubt from the warmth in her voice that she adored her daughter. She called out. “Lily! Lessa! Come meet ourguest.”
They stopped running and looked toward the patio. They seemed to consider disobeying the order before they walked wearily across thegrass.
