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‘I was just surprised you didn’t talk to me about it in private when you asked me earlier today. My heart hurt so bad when you told me to leave. All I could do was worry about what you thought of me and whether this would break us up.’ My eyes drooped with sadness.
His eyes flickered with hurt, and he nodded in shame. ‘I’m so sorry I made you feel that way. Trust issues are something I’m working on. I promise not to do that to you again. I was put under a lot of pressure because Trish threatened to quit … I knocked some sense into her, so don’t worry. She’s staying put, but what an eventful day.’ He sighed, then continued. ‘Once I reassured myself that you weren’t like that, I had to convince Trish also. When she has an opinion about someone, it’s not easily shifted. She used to work at my Melbourne restaurant, and she relocated to Noosa for a change.’
Oh, this was all too obvious. How could Patrick be so gullible?Trish was in love with him. Why else would she follow him all the way to Noosa?I was torn for a moment about whether to say this to Patrick, but I decided to keep my mouth shut for the moment. ‘I’m so glad you believe me now.’ My eyes filled with happy tears.
‘I love you. You’re theamoreof my life, the queen of my heart, and the queen of the pizzas too.’ He chuckled.
I smiled at his words as my eyes widened. ‘I love you too, and that’s what’s scary. I’m becoming jealous and feeling things I’ve never felt before, and I don’t like it.’ I let out a sigh, then ran my hand through my damp hair.
‘You always get me with your honesty, Naomi. I’ve probably told you this a hundred times, but it’s so refreshing.’ His voice was sincere and made my stomach melt like warm honey.
His reassurance was all I needed to hear and that made me crave him more than I ever had, but then I wondered if I would be in this predicament at all had I been one hundred percent honest in the first place. ‘I like hearing you say that, Patrick. You can tell me this any day. I actually don’t think I could get sick of you saying it, to be honest.’
It was so easy and natural to slip into love mode with Patrick and just numb myself to everything else, but deep down, I knew I had to face my demons and address the real problem at hand. After a deep breath escaped from my lips, I looked into Patrick’s green eyes and contemplated whether I should tell him exactly what Daniel had done. A part of me wanted to keep it concealed, but another part wanted to tell him everything.I should. I should just tell him. He’s my boyfriend, my actual boyfriend, and after what happened tonight, why not tell him how bad Daniel really is?
His eyes were full of questions as he stared into mine.
‘What’s the matter, Naomi?’ He brushed my cheek with his thumb, resulting in tingles down my neck.
‘I should have told you all of this to begin with, but I was extremely embarrassed.’ My already fair skin turned whiter.
‘About what?’ A concerned look appeared on his face.
I sucked in a deep breath. ‘Well, the night I left Mon Amour, Daniel told me I needed a good fuck, and he was actinginappropriately and perving on me and … it got so bad to the point that he put his hand on my thigh and was aroused while he was abusing me.’ I gulped and shuddered before continuing. ‘And before that night, I used to catch him staring at my arse and ignored it, because the truth was, I was desperate for an income and my own independence, and now thinking about what I put up with makes me feel sick.’
Patrick didn’t say anything, but I could tell he was hurt by the slump of his shoulders and the shock in his eyes.
‘The reason I never told you any of this was because I didn’t want you to see me differently and think I was weak or something. I love the way you look at me and the respect you have for me. I never want to lose that ever.’
‘Come here.’ He wrapped his arms around me, with his legs spread, and I just stared into his eyes as I stood between his warm thighs. His eyes had a way of pulling me in and making me get lost in them. Every time he looked deep into mine, my knees went wobbly.
‘Naomi, what Daniel did to you was …’ He paused for a moment, searching for the right word, before continuing. ‘Immoral, and they werehisactions, not yours. What he did would never make me think less of you or change my mind about how I feel. You did nothing wrong. And please know you can tell me anything.’
I nodded. ‘Thanks, Patrick. You scared me tonight. I was so scared I was going to lose you.’
‘You willneverlose me,’ he assured me. He moved his warm hands up to my cheeks and pulled me in for a kiss. It was our most passionate kiss to date, and I didn’t want the moment to end. My cheeky mind wandered off to the bedroom and envisioned our makeup sex that would absolutely happen later tonight. ‘And not to be highly inappropriate or anything, butyou can’t blame the man for staring at such a perfectly round bottom.’ He chuckled with mischievousness.
I swatted his arm and giggled too. ‘Well, it’s all yours now.’
‘Sure is,mio luce del sole.’
***
After we closed the restaurant, we went out the back to his car, and my thoughts returned to Trisha. I couldn’t help myself. ‘Patrick, why did Trisha have her hand over yours?’ I asked while I buckled myself in.
‘Because she told me she was in love with me … but I made it very clear I was dedicated to you, and that we were serious.’ He cast a look my way and smiled.
I knew it!She was in love with him. It was all I needed to hear to reassure myself I wasn’t losing my mind. And just hearing him say he was dedicated to me made my heart melt. I’d never had a man say that to me before. Usually my relationships just ended in heartbreak, but this was different. He was smart, sensible, frickin’ incredible, andall mine.
‘Let’s go home, mybellezza,’ he said with another smile as he drove the car onto the main street.
I smiled and leant back in my seat, feeling warm and happy as we passed the trees wound in twinkling fairy lights that lined the strip of Hastings Street. Gentle rain fell from the sky onto his windshield as his wipers moved side to side. The rain eased to a stop just before we got back into his garage.
As we walked inside, I did a double-take in disbelief at what I was seeing. It was a Christmas wonderland. Forest-green garlands were weaved up the staircase railing, and the further we walked in, the more we were engulfed in Christmas delight. In the lounge room, there was a huge snow-frosted tree decked out with pinecones, colourful flashing lights, red baubles, candycanes, and tinsel. It was decorated so perfectly, it looked as though a professional was hired for the task. There was even a green-and-red train looping around a track underneath the tree. Did Elizabeth do all of this while we were at work?
Christmas carols hummed on a state-of-the-art sound system, and stockings were strung across the eight-foot fireplace. I could see the names embroidered on the fabric from where I stood: Patrizio, Marco, Caterina, Naomi, Carlos, and Savannah.Oh, my goodness, how sweet of her to include me, Carlos, and my mum in this.This Italian family sure knew how to make you feel included.
‘This is amazing,’ I said, awestruck.
