Before they left the town, they visited a children’s shop. The young woman at the counter where they bought a mobile and some toys for the boys to chew on couldn’t take her eyes off Giovanni.
Before heading back to the car, they stopped at another shop for two bottles of limoncello, a favorite product in this land of lemons. “One of these is for Paolo and Stanzie. The other is for us.”
“I had it once years ago.”
“From the lemons here in Ravello?”
“I’m sure not.”
“Then you’re in for a treat. Tonight is a special occasion. After we get home, I thought we’d drink a toast to our time together. May it last.”
If only that were possible.
Right now Valentina couldn’t relate to the life she’d led before meeting Giovanni. She felt like she’d been brought to an enchanted mountain by a prince right out of a fairy tale. Everywhere she looked, bursts of flowers in every color hid exquisite villas and palazzi. Cypress trees formed picturesque silhouettes against the night sky. From dizzying heights she looked down the many sloping gardens to the sea and breathed in the delightful fragrance of citrus and rose.
But the most tantalizing fragrance of all came from the soap Giovanni used, combined with his own male scent. She was drawn to it the way a bee zoomed in on an orange blossom, wanting its nectar, the food of the gods.
He could be a Roman god, but she was thankful he wasn’t. Otherwise he wouldn’t have brought her to dinner or fed her dessert from his own hand. The contact had sent spirals of desire through her body.
As they reached the villa, she noticed a thumbnail moon climbing in the velvet sky. “This has been a perfect day and a perfect night, Giovanni.”
“Almost perfect,” he muttered. “I’m sorry Claudio made you uncomfortable. He’s a gossip, and he’s known as a womanizer, who wished he’d been the one sitting next to you tonight.”
“Please don’t apologize for his behavior. It—”
“It happens all the time?” he finished her words. “I know. A man wouldn’t be a man if he didn’t notice you. I’m the lucky one.”
She sucked in her breath. “You’re very good for a woman’s ego. Thank you for tonight. It’s one I’ll never forget.” She heard her own voice quiver from emotion.
“It’s not over yet.”
They went inside the sunroom. “Stay here. I’ll get two aperitif glasses.” He took one of the limoncello bottles with him.
She put their sack of purchases down on the table while she waited.
Soon he returned. “I checked on the children. They’re sound asleep. Stanzie and Paolo are happy with our gift and have gone off to have their own celebration.” He opened the other bottle and poured them each some liqueur. She took one, he picked up the other.
“I’d like to make a toast.” He stared into her eyes. “To our partnership, which I’ve wanted since the first day at the hospital.” He clicked her glass and drank.
His admission caused her hand to tremble as she sipped her drink that looked like liquid sunshine. “Giovanni, I—”
He stopped the flow of words with a touch of his finger to her lips, fanning the flame he’d ignited at dinner. “Can you imagine a time when we won’t be partners? Not every baby switch has a happy ending as we’ve learned after reading all the research. Our children deserve the very best from both of us. We owe it to them and each other for the rest of our lives.”
She pondered what he’d said. Partners had been an interesting choice of words. When he’d asked her to move in, he’d said he didn’t know for how long. Giovanni was used to thinking in business terms. In the metaphoric sense she agreed they’d be partners for a lifetime because of the link to the children. But in a literal sense she didn’t see them staying together longer than a month.
By then Ric would have grown attached to Giovanni. Vito would be old enough for the separation, since she planned to move back to Naples to finish her studies. The winter semester would be starting in September. There were good day-care centers suggested by the university. Valentina would make inquiries and find the one that suited her best.
Thank goodness for student loans. After she graduated and got a good job with an engineering firm, she’d pay it off. Knowing that Giovanni worked in Naples, she expected he’d come to see Vito, so that bond wouldn’t be broken. She’d see him and Ric from time to time. It could all work.
“I’ll think about everything you’ve said. Thanks again for the lovely evening.” She put the glass down. Get out of here, Valentina, before you can’t. “Now I’m headed for bed.”
“Buonanotte.”
Valentina’s heart thundered in her chest all the way to her room. There’d be little sleep for her tonight. But to her surprise, she did sleep until Vito awakened for his bottle at four.
Around seven she got up and dressed in jeans and a top, expecting that Giovanni would have left for work. But when she carried Vito down the hall to the nursery, she found him feeding Ric. He was clean shaven and wore another pair of jeans and a creamy colored crewneck shirt. It didn’t matter what he wore, he was a sensational-looking man.
She reached for a bottle and put it in the microwave. “Don’t you need to get to your office?”
His dark gaze swept over her, making her far too aware of him. “I’ve arranged for some time off. How would you like to go out on my cruiser? I thought we’d visit several places and be gone for two or three nights. You can do night duty for me at some point. It’s true I’ve been a cavallo di battaglia too long.”
“But don’t forget that being a workhorse put you in the reins of your family’s company in the first place.”
“I’m not sure if I like it. Right now I find that I’m loving to be on vacation and don’t want it to end.”
She knew how hard he worked, but this baby had forced him to take a break. No invitation could have thrilled her more. “The boat is the perfect way to enjoy ourselves with the children without having to take them in the car.”
“My thinking exactly. Unless there’s anything else you need to do, we’ll leave after breakfast.”
They worked together to pack up the children and their things. Valentina hurried to her room to do some packing. Before long they went downstairs with all their paraphernalia to eat.
After breakfast, they packed up the car. The Brunos waved them off.
Giovanni drove along a road that wound lower and lower to a private area of beach where he kept his boat tethered to the pier.
“What a wonderful cruiser!”
“When Paolo and Stanzie moved in the villa, I told them they could take it out whenever they wanted, so they’ve kept it in top condition.”
“It’s nice to see that a couple who work together are so much in love. You can tell by their glances and smiles at each other.”
“No one could ever say that about Tatania and me. The secret is to fall in love first. Those lucky enough for that to happen have love going for them when they marry.”
“I’m sorry your marriage didn’t work. I know you’ve told me it’s all your fault, but I know that’s not true. Did she really not know you were a hard worker? I bet if you asked her, she would have to admit she looked past that trait in you. If she could have been honest with herself, she might have decided to follow her own instincts to find a man who wasn’t a workaholic.”
“Hindsight is a wonderful thing.”
“Don’t I know it,” she said with a wry smile. “If I hadn’t felt like such a failure, I would have realized why Matteo had so much influence over me by telling me what I needed to hear.”
He shook his dark head. “A failure? When you’ve almost received your graduate degree in engineering at the age of twenty-five?”
“Looking back, I realize how odd that sounds now. But growing up, it felt like my
brothers received all the attention and I admit I was jealous. My mother tried to help me. She said that one day I’d become my own person and those feelings would go away.”
Giovanni stared hard at her. “Have they gone?”
“Now that I’m a mother, I’ve been forced to grow up. Somehow those feelings of jealousy I harbored seem absurd in light of the problems you and I have been forced to face.”
He nodded. “Becoming a parent has been a life-changing experience for me, too. Work used to be everything. But since Vito was born, I can’t get home to him at night fast enough.”
“They are absolutely precious.”
“We’re very lucky.”
“Yes,” she whispered.
They got the children on board with the other items. Then he reached for the infant life preservers his siblings had used for their babies. After putting them on the children, they placed them in their carry-cots and lowered the visors to shield them from the sun. After undoing the ropes, Giovanni started the engine and they made their way at a wakeless speed into open water.
CHAPTER SIX
THE GULF OF SALERNO offered some of the most divine scenery imaginable. Along this winding coastline, steep rocky slopes rushed down to the sea, and tiny villages with colorful houses stacked on top of each other clung to the rugged cliffs.
Had Valentina ever been this happy? She couldn’t remember.
While Giovanni piloted the boat, she walked to the rear of the fabulous cruiser, resting one knee on the banquette to watch birds and fish, along with the colorful sailboats off in the distance. Later, after lunch, they carried the babies below to one of the bedrooms for their nap. For the next few hours she and Giovanni were free to enjoy this pleasurable moment out of time.
“Since I’ve anchored the boat, will you be all right if I take a swim?”
“Of course.”
“I’d ask you to join me.”
“No. One of us has to stay on board. Go for it, Giovanni. The water is so inviting.”
“I’ll be right back.” He disappeared below, leaving her alone to brood over the time when they had to say a real goodbye. She had to fight thoughts of one day being married to him. He’d only recently been divorced. To take on a new wife would be the last thing he’d want. Though they wouldn’t be parting company for a while, her heart was already rebelling.
Giovanni emerged on deck in blue swim trunks. His hard-muscled body took her breath before he slid over the side into the water and started swimming around the cruiser with the speed of a torpedo. He circled maybe ten times, then trod water close to the end of the boat with his hair sleeked back.
She smiled at him. “You look like you’re having a marvelous time.”
“I haven’t taken a day off like this in years.”
“Neither have I.”
“I’ll get back on board so you can have a turn.”
“I would, but I’m not ready to swim in the sea yet. Please stay out there as long as you want. I’m enjoying watching you.”
“After we go back to my place, you can use the pool so I’m able to watch you.”
Warmth rushed to her face that had nothing to do with the sun. “I don’t want to go back. This is glorious.”
“Then we won’t.”
She drank the rest of her water. Don’t tempt me, Giovanni. “You have a business to run.”
“Didn’t you hear what I just told you? Right now my only business is to love Ric and make him feel secure. With your help it’s happening.”
“I don’t know how I would have gotten through all this without your help. Vito is a different baby.”
He flashed her a smile that melted her bones. “We do good work.”
Too good. Her mind told her she shouldn’t have gotten involved with him once they’d left the hospital, but that wasn’t what her heart was telling her.
“Ready or not, I’m coming aboard!” He swam to the end of the boat. With stunning male dexterity he heaved himself onto the transom. She handed him one of the towels so he could dry himself off. “Before the babies wake up, come and sit by me while we drive on.”
She didn’t need to be urged.
He threw the towel around his shoulders and took his place at the wheel. Valentina handed him his life preserver. “Please put it back on.”
“For you I’ll do it.”
“For Ric. He’s going to want you around forever.”
She couldn’t decipher the look in his incredible black eyes that held hers before he turned on the engine. All she knew was that once he’d raised the anchor and they’d taken off across a calm sea, a thrill of exhilaration swept through her just to be sitting next to him.
The sight of the lemon-grove terraces of the cliffs combined with the delicious scent gave her a feeling of euphoria. When she moved to an apartment in Naples, she would always remember this time with a man who was bigger than life to her. His ex-wife could roam the earth and never meet another man like Giovanni.
“What’s on your mind, Valentina? Talk to me.”
“I guess I’m trying to understand the other reasons why your marriage didn’t work. What else caused the strife? Ric is so dear. If your ex-wife saw him, her heart would melt.”
To her surprise he brought the boat to a stop and turned to face her. “Where to start? My parents wanted me to marry her. Tatania’s father, Salvatore, was in business with mine. They’re both on the board of the company. Because some of my family board members wanted to champion a second cousin of mine to take over the reins, my father didn’t want that to happen.
“My mother came to me in private and told me that Tatania’s father wanted our marriage. He worked hard on my father to talk to me. A marriage would bring the needed votes in my favor to put me in as head instead of my cousin. Mother begged me to do this because my father was intimidated by Salvatore and always had been.
“I realized my father had always lacked a certain confidence. He looked to me to help fight all the internal battles. That bit of knowledge about his insecurity finally persuaded me to follow through.”
“Are you saying she married you because of her father’s pressure?”
“To some degree, yes. I’d had various girlfriends throughout my life, but nothing serious. Because of my parents’ urgings, I started spending time with her and we got on well enough. Knowing my father was pinning all his hopes on my asking Tatania to marry me, I could see that if I didn’t, it could break his spirit.
“But once we were married, she complained about the hours I was working. I questioned how she could be upset since she knew what my life was like. She claimed that she’d loved me from the first time she’d met me, but she didn’t know what it meant to be married to a CEO.
“It’s true I worked harder than I’d ever done. Both my father and hers had big expectations where I was concerned.”
“How old are you?”
“Thirty-two.”
“That’s young to have so much responsibility.”
He nodded. “I worried I would let my father down if I didn’t do the lion’s share. I told Tatania that if I did the hard work now, then I could slow down after a couple of years. But our home life did suffer. It got to the point that she said she didn’t want to start a family if I didn’t spend more time at home. I felt trapped.”
“Did she have a job?”
“No. She led an active social life, but the day came when she said she was going to stay at her parents for a while. After two months’ separation, we talked and decided to try again. I promised to stay home more. That worked for two weeks, but then there were new problems out of the country I had to see about. She refused to travel with me.”
“Why?”
“Because it would mean her sitting in a hotel room all day long while I was working.”
“She didn’t like exploring new places?”
“Not alone.”
“How sad.”
“Tatania couldn’t take any more of my being absent and filed for divorce. It’s true that I was a willing pawn at the time of our marriage, but I’d intended to be a good husband. Unfortunately I didn’t marry Tatania for the right reason. Without being in love with her, our marriage couldn’t make it. You know the rest.”
“But after she was pregnant—”
“That’s the mystifying part. She said she didn’t want the baby even if we stayed married because then she’d be stuck raising her baby by herself because I wouldn’t be around. She had every reason to believe that was true. Tatania was also convinced that another man wouldn’t look at her if she had a baby in tow. As you can see, I did damage to our marriage and she became embittered.”
“I’m sorry I brought up something that’s so painful for you.”
“Not painful anymore. Just sad. I’ve been thinking about Vito’s father, who hasn’t stayed in touch with you if only to know he had a son.”
“A baby would ruin his lifestyle. He wants his pleasures without any of the responsibility. The man never grew up.” She stared at him. “The past is behind us, Giovanni. We’re the lucky ones to be the parents of our wonderful babies. And guess what? I think I can hear one of them fussing. I’ll go down and bring them up.”
“We’ll feed them and put them in the playpen.”
She stood up. “I’ll need to get pictures with my phone.” Valentina wanted some of Giovanni to keep forever.
“I want to take pictures, too,” he asserted.
Did he want one of her? Fool that she was, she hoped he did.
“See you in a minute.” She could hear both of them crying now. “I’m coming!”
With the babies propped in the playpen, Valentina stretched out on her back on one of the side banquettes to get a little sun and let Giovanni drive them farther along the coast. Such a gorgeous day with only a light breeze made their outing idyllic.
He turned on some music from the iPod. Suddenly the air was filled with the sound of Pavarotti singing Italian love songs. She’d grown up on classical music and adored opera. Learning that he enjoyed it, too, added another fascinating dimension to this remarkable man.
The Billionaire's Baby Swap Page 9