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I, to this day, wonder what made her so upset. Did she leave because of what freaked her out before she came through the door and found me, or did she leave because I didn’t listen and drove her crazy?
I exhale and run a hand through my hair. Something about Liz’s story brought those days back. The last day I saw my mother. I wish I could forget it.
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” I breathe to myself and settle back into the sheets.
Chapter 41
Italy and Family
Dante
Three weeks later…
“You’ve been working nonstop for the last three weeks. I think you need to take some time to relax. I’ve had you blocked from the remote system,” I say as I run my hand down Lizzy’s back and over her ass.
She looks up at me with a small smile. I continue my thoughts as I try to stay on topic. “All you do is work and take care of Bella. Do something for you today,” I say and kiss her shoulder.
She turns onto her back under the sheet and lifts her hand in the air. I lace my fingers with hers while keeping them in the air and lean in to peck her lips.
“Isn’t that my job, though, to take care of you and Bella?” she says with a smile.
I pull a face. “You know what I mean, smart-ass.”
She giggles as I reach beneath the sheet and grasp her thick thigh, tugging it toward me. I’m fully dressed to attend a meeting with my brothers and Nonno. I wish I had the time to bury myself in her. I love our lazy morning sex and the talks we have after. I feel complete on those mornings. Like I can take on the world.
“I wanted to go into the village and explore anyway. I’ll take your offering.”
“You do know this was meant to be a vacation for you? I thought maybe you would create content, but I hadn’t planned for you to work on office things.”
“Meanwhile, you’re on your phone all times of the day and night.” She frowns. “Nope, if my boss is working, I’m working. I already think Michelle hates me now.”
I snort. “Michelle doesn’t do half the work you do. I’ve been thinking of letting her go for a while. You’ve always gone above and beyond in your job, and Michelle has been hiding behind that,” I muse aloud.
Lizzy pushes me on my back and straddles my lap. I reach for the globes of her full ass and knead her cheeks. I’m tempted to say fuck this meeting and get lost in her for the rest of the day.
“I’ll relax for the day if you promise me dinner. Just the two of us. Someplace romantic and as Italy as it gets,” she purrs.
“I know the perfect place. Be ready by six.”
“I love you,” she says and leans in to brush a kiss against my lips.
I hold the back of her neck and deepen the kiss. A single moan from her lips and my plans change, I’ll get there when I get there. I flip her onto her back and make love to her like I’ve wanted to all morning. What has this woman done to me?
****
“I think that all went well,” Nonno says as he looks around the table at my brothers and me. We’re back at the house, sitting in the backyard beneath the pergola. “It’s good to have you all here. I think it’s time we display our strength as a family. You three are stronger together.”
“It’s good to be here, Nonno,” I say.
It is, Italy is like a second home for me. I spent a lot of time with my grandfather here after things got really bad. He gave me what I needed. Uncle Lucas tried to help my father with me as much as he could, but it was Nonno who got through to me.
These last three weeks have been exactly what I’ve needed. As we sit here and have a drink with my grandfather, I can’t help thinking about my mother. He lost a daughter when she left us.
Lately, I’ve found it harder to believe my mother did leave us. Something else had to have happened. Nonno spoils us. As his only daughter, I can’t see him treating her any differently.
She walked away from us, but why never contact her father again? The bitterness in my heart loosens. I’ve been willing to take a second look at a lot of things now that I have Lizzy in my life.
Which has led me to wanting answers. Being here in Italy, I feel like they surround me, I just don’t know where to look first.
“You three have made me so proud,” Nonno says, drawing me back into the conversation. Dante, my father’s father, started our first restaurant right here in Italy. It wasn’t much, but he cooked for the people and they loved him. His brother joined him in the business and the people learned to respect them both.
