Chapter 9

Some time later, Matteo and I found ourselves sitting alone on one of the many levels of back patio overlooking his yard, a row of contemporary glass windows to our backs. The property held not one, but two pools—a square one for swimming and a meandering one for guests and entertaining. A stone path connected them, leading off into the trees where another building sat. A pool house? Guest house? Servant’s quarters or second villa? No idea, and I didn’t care. Rome felt so distant here. Tall trees muted the sounds of honking and traffic and shielded us from the neighbors, making this moment seem like a lazy dream far from city life. Dante must have agreed, because he lay stretched out in the shade of a tree past the first pool.

Above it all, the sun began to set and bathed the distant skyline in a warm, golden glow.

Rome, you know how to win a girl’s heart.

A familiar weight sat in the pocket of my borrowed yoga pants, and I patted it to make sure it hadn’t gone anywhere. My replacement phone. The servant from earlier had found a slightly newer model than mine at a used electronics store and swapped out the SIM card. I now had access to all my contacts once again. A huge relief.

I looked at Matteo, who seemed unusually relaxed with his arm resting along the back of the empty chair next to him. “I can’t believe you grew up in this house, with this view. It’s incredible.”

“Surprise. My family has money.” That bitterness again.

“Your grandmother seems like she misses you,” I said.

“I miss her too.” His jaw flexed, but he said nothing more.

His mother must have been difficult indeed to keep him away from a home and grandmother he clearly loved so much. “Would you move back here if your mother changed her mind?”

“In a second. This is my home, but mostly because Nonni and my sister Vivi need me. My mother and Nonni don’t get along, as you can imagine, and Vivi mostly stays away when Mom’s in town. I’m the only one who dares stand up to her.”

If even Nonni couldn’t face the woman, she must be formidable indeed. Sensing Matteo didn’t want to discuss it any longer, I changed the subject. “Nonni told me some of her secrets.”

He snorted. “And stole some of yours, no doubt. I hope she didn’t threaten you into discussing anything you didn’t want to discuss.”

The last word rose in pitch, as if in question. He knew Nonni would have pressed me for information. About him, perhaps? Suddenly I saw his abrupt exit in a new light. Yes, he’d fetched me a new camera, but he’d also given his grandmother an opportunity to scout me out. A test, of sorts, and one I was pretty sure I passed.

The thought made me smile. “We only talked about the usual girl stuff. Most of my deep, dark secrets are still intact.”

“ Most of them?”

I paused. “Well, don’t ever doubt a determined Italian grandmother with a rolling pin.”

We laughed for a moment. Then his gaze settled on me. He looked more relaxed than I’d seen him since our arrival. “You were nice to spend the afternoon with her. I know there were things you wanted to see.”

“I wanted the authentic Italian experience, and I got it. That’s a memory I will cherish forever.” Our spontaneous cooking session in Nonni’s kitchen had to be ten times better than Kennedy’s class full of tourists. Bucket list item—check.

He chuckled. “She likes you.”

“Why do you think that?”

He motioned to the window. I glanced over to catch a head darting out of sight.

My heart soared. “I wish I could spend tomorrow here too.”

“What would you do?” He seemed sincerely interested.

“Exactly this. Watch Dante run around the yard and enjoy the vibe. Maybe have Nonni teach me how to make pasta next so I can blow Kennedy away when we get home. I’d bring my swim suit, though, so I could enjoy your pool.”

Matteo was quiet.

I turned to look at him. “What’s wrong?” Maybe I’d overstepped my bounds. Misread the situation.

“Just thinking. If you like this, there’s something else I want to show you.”

I grinned. “Really? Can we go right now?”

“No,” he said with a frown. “It would take a whole day. But if you want to toss your little tourist list and see it tomorrow, I’m willing to take you.”

My thoughts raced. “So we’d have to travel there. How far is it?”

“About two hours each way.”

I wanted to tell him that, yes, of course I’d spend tomorrow with him. That there was nothing Rome held that I couldn’t see another time, that our minutes together were rapidly diminishing and I wanted to hold to every single one.

But . . . my sisters.

Matteo thought I cared about pleasing my sisters, like I worried about what they thought. But that wasn’t it. I worried about what they needed. Despite having traveled over a week together already, Kennedy and Alexis still didn’t see eye to eye. Like Matteo was the buffer between his mother and the rest of the family, I was the buffer between my sisters. Hunter would be leaving tomorrow and Kennedy would need me. Alexis too. The whole point of this trip was to spend time with them, and they’d be hurt if I agreed to spend a second day with a guy I barely knew, no matter how charming and sweet his grandmother or sprawling his family villa was.

All I could do was look at the man who’d given me so much already, swallow hard, and hope he would understand. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”