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“I will keep you safe,” he whispered and reached for both of my hands.
Matteo guided me forward, and I focused on the crunch of red dirt beneath our feet, the soft breeze in the cypress trees, and the gentle waves along the coast.
My husband slowed and pulled me to him, bringing his mouth to mine as he removed the tie. “Open your eyes, amorina.”
Behind Matteo stood a large villa made of warm stone and terracotta. Large trees cast shadows across the brick pathway leading to a front courtyard.
“Is this where we’re staying now?” I asked and turned to grin at him.
“It is.” Matteo threaded his fingers with mine and stepped toward the rental property. “Thirteen bedrooms, thirteen bathrooms, and over 115 acres of land.”
“Wow…” I breathed. “That’s incredible.”
He opened the dark wooden door, and we stepped into the entryway with pale yellow stucco walls and curved archways. A gorgeous fireplace sat along the back wall surrounded by warm brown couches. There was a game room with a pool table, a huge kitchen, and a dining room that could have seated every guest from our wedding.
The villa was stunning. Matteo pushed through two dark doors to the rear terrace with a few sitting areas, a pool and hot tub, and a canopy to get shade from the hot Sicilian sun.
He paused and turned to me, nodding toward the double doors along the exterior brick wall. “Come.”
Pushing through the doors, I wasn’t sure what I had expected, but seeing rows and rows of crops had not been at all what I had imagined.
I was confused, but Matteo guided me further between the plants covered in netting. He reached for a branch and gently pulled it out of the shade, resting the bunch of dark berries on his palm.
“Grapes?”
“Nero d’Avola grapes.” He carefully tucked the grapes back below the netting and motioned toward the abundant rows beyond. “Seventy acres of vineyard, amorina.”
“Vineyard? Like…for making wine?”
“Sì,” he chuckled. “For making wine. But not just any wine. A wine…that is very special to me.”
I tilted my head. “That costs eight thousand dollars?”
Matteo grinned. “You are quick, amorina. Yes. This is the very vineyard that grew and produced the 2005 Contrada wine that won you over.”
“Oh, that’s what won me over?” I asked with a laugh.
My husband wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me toward him. “It took a lot more to win you over than a glass of wine, amorina. But you are worth it. You are worth fighting for every day, trying to impress for the rest of our lives, and surprises like this…”
Matteo leaned in, but he didn’t kiss me. He brought his mouth to my ear.
“I bought it.”
“You bought it?” I turned my face to his and caught his brilliant grin.
“I bought the vineyard, the villa, the 115 acres… All of it, amorina. All…for you.”
“You didn’t have to do that…”
He chuckled. “I know. But I wanted to. It’s the perfect opportunity, and I wasn’t going to pass it up, not when this place created a wine that is so special to me.”
My heart swelled as I watched the man I loved not because I had to, but because I wanted to. Because as much as I had sworn to myself that I would never fall for him, that I could never fall for him, I had. And I had fallen hard, tumbling into a world I didn’t want to believe was my reality, but I hadn’t landed on my feet.
Matteo had caught me, and he refused to let me go. Refused to give up on me when I really felt that he should have.
“Thank you, amorina.”
“For what?”
