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When the sun rose higher, he led her to a small local shop and bought her a wide straw hat, sun cream and a bottle of water.
Her breath caught as he squeezed a dollop of cream onto his fingers and applied it to her arms and face. When she lifted questioning eyes to his, his merely responded—I don’t want you to burn.
Ava could’ve told him it was too late. She was already burning in hell. His every gesture demonstrated his regret for having kept Roberto’s deterioration and death from her. Aside from that damning decision, everything else he’d done since had been to protect both her and Annabelle. Quietly, Ava had to concede that if she had been told so soon after nearly losing Annabelle in the earthquake, she wasn’t sure she would’ve withstood the blow.
Her thoughts scattered when Cesare’s arm slid around her shoulders. When she glanced at him, he nodded at a trattoria across the square overlooking the Tiber.
‘We skipped breakfast. And also I think it’s time to get out of the heat.’
Although she suspected she wouldn’t be able to hold down a single mouthful, she reluctantly nodded.
The owner broke into a smile and ushered them in the moment he recognized Cesare. After they were seated in a far corner of the cool trattoria, Cesare ordered cornetti, fruit and coffee, along with a selection of sliced Parma ham.
Once they were alone, he sat back and watched her with narrowed eyes.
‘I...haven’t forgotten that in all this you’ve also received a horrible shock,’ she said in a low voice. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Does that mean I’m not in Hades any more?’ he murmured.
She plucked the hat from her head and set it down on the spare chair along with her camera. ‘First of all, I want to know everything about this condition, and I mean everything. No protecting me from the unsavoury facts.’
‘I don’t want you to worry about—’
‘No, Cesare. I want to know everything!’
His lips firmed but he nodded. ‘Celine emailed me a report. I’ll forward it to you.’
‘Also, we have to tell Annabelle—’
‘No, she’s too young to understand.’
After a second she nodded. ‘Okay, but as soon as she’s old enough, we’ll tell her. I don’t want her kept in the dark.’
‘Sì, I agree.’ He met her surprised gaze with a mocking smile. ‘You see, I’m learning the error of my ways. Which brings me to another subject.’
‘What subject?’
‘Us,’ he stated baldly.
‘Did we not agree only a few nights ago that there was no us?’
‘I think in light of recent developments, we need to revise that view.’
‘Recent developments...you mean us having sex? That changes anything, how?’
His hands fisted until his knuckles turned white. ‘Are you saying it doesn’t?’
A dart of pain arrowed through her. ‘You said it yourself, Cesare—the sex has always been mind-blowing between us, but it doesn’t form the basis of a sound relationship, let alone marriage. I need more.’
His normally golden features paled. He opened his mouth but, before he could speak, their waiter approached, platters held high. Cesare’s gaze remained fixed on hers the whole time the owner fluttered around them in effusive Italian. After a minute, he fell into silence when he realised neither of them paid attention.
The second he left, Cesare rasped, ‘And if I’m unable to give you more?’
She shrugged. ‘I’ll do anything and everything to ensure Annabelle remains healthy and safe. Between us we can plan for one of us to always be with her. I’ll make sure that works for any future assignments. But when it comes to you and I, Cesare, unless something changes drastically between us other than the mind-blowing sex, I don’t see why we need to stay married. Do you?’
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THEIR SECOND ATTEMPT at breakfast failed. Miserably. Neither of them could summon the words to reassure the trattoria owner that it wasn’t the food.
When Cesare grimly collected her things and marched her out into the sunlight, Ava was more than ready to leave. Paolo was parked on the kerb, a fact which didn’t surprise her one little bit. Cesare was worth billions, after all, which meant he could probably summon his car with a mere thought.
He slid in beside her on the limo’s back seat and sent up the partition.
