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“What?”
“Can we maybe go skinny dipping?”
Thirty-Five
Ophelia
It’s hard to believe I’m here. Two hours in the first class lounge waiting for our flight. If you can call it waiting when the time is spend being massaged, sitting in a sauna, and trying on couture clothing that Vincenzo had shipped over from Italy just to kill the time until we boarded.
All those hours on the flight. Him whispering in my ear what he’s going to do to me when we get here. Me trying not to react but feeling like the heat was ratcheted up over a hundred and ten.
Then landing on the airstrip in the tropical heat. A second flight on a private airplane. Just us two, a couple of stewards, and the pilot. Now they’ve flown off and we’re here alone.
There’s a jeep with our bags in the back. A pristine blacktop road leading away from the runway. Huge palm trees either side, wafting in the breeze. Perfect azure blue sky above. It’s like being on another planet. The cold of New York seems a lifetime away and I don’t want to think about ever going back.
“Like the look of the place?” Vincenzo asks as we set off along the road.
“It’s gorgeous,” I reply. “How far to the house?”
“Only a couple of minutes. Not too hot for you?”
“It’s perfect.”
“Good.” He seems far more relaxed than at home. Maybe he can be himself here, where no one’s watching.
“You seem very chilled,” I tell him as he slouches slightly in his seat, one arm dangling out the window.
“No one trying to kill me,” he says. “No one here except us. We want to get naked and sit on the beach all day, nothing to stop us.”
“How long are we here for?”
“I’ve blocked a week out of my schedule. I’m not doing any work when I’m here. It’s just you and me.”
“Wow, I’m honored.”
“Well, it would look bad if I went straight back to work after getting married.”
“Right, got to keep up appearances, I suppose.”
“Exactly.”
He takes a bend and the road straightens out. In front of us, a cream stone mansion is getting bigger. “Is that your place?” I ask.
“Sure is.”
“It’s enormous.”
“It keeps the rain off, I guess.”
“Have you got a map of the place? I reckon if I get lost, I might never find you again.”
“It’s easy enough when you get used to it.”
The house gets closer. I can make out three floors in height but it’s the width that’s staggering. Wider than two apartment blocks, maybe three. Running around all four sides and back would require weeks of training.
It’s set in expansive lawns. I spot a tennis court and a pool as he drives around to the back of the building and parks the car. “This way,” he says, taking my hand.
“What is it?”
