‘The clothes will be sent on,’ he said tersely. ‘We have a flight to catch and my pilot is waiting.’
Chapter Five
THE helicopter swooped across the sparkling sea and Jessie gasped because she’d never experienced anything so thrilling in her life before.
‘It reminds me of being on a fairground ride.’ Breathless, she clutched the edge of her seat, peering out of the window as the turquoise sea flashed beneath them.
‘When did you go to a fairground?’
‘Johnny took me on my fifth birthday. I remember it clearly.’ Through the excitement, she felt the ache build behind her chest. ‘I was too small for the roller-coaster so he pushed tissues into my shoes to make me taller.’
Knowing that Silvio
would disapprove, she didn’t look at him but she could feel him looking at her.
‘And did you enjoy yourself?’
‘Yes.’ Jessie kept her eyes on the water, not confident of her ability to handle this trip down memory lane. ‘But Mum was so angry with him. That night of the fair, she’d bought me a really pretty dress and she was afraid I was going to be sick on it. But I wasn’t. I have a cast-iron stomach.’ The memories were distant—like lights on the shore when you were far out at sea. And they were followed by more painful memories that she didn’t want to confront. ‘Does it cost a fortune to buy a ticket on this?’
‘Why are you asking?’
‘Because it’s even cooler than your private jet and that was pretty amazing. But even that wasn’t as exciting as this. I want to do this again one day.’ Distracted by the novelty of the helicopter ride, Jessie lowered her guard. ‘One day, when everyone is paying to hear my voice, when I have a major recording contract, I’m going to buy myself a helicopter like this one.’
‘You’re enjoying yourself that much?’
Jessie turned her head and the intensity of his gaze made her aware of just how much she’d revealed about herself. She shouldn’t be sharing her thoughts with him.
‘I wasn’t being serious,’ she said lightly, dismissing the confession as unimportant. ‘I was only joking. Being silly.’
‘There’s nothing wrong with dreaming, Jess. Dreams are what drive us forward.’
But there was everything wrong with sharing a dream with a man who had destroyed the most important part of her life.
‘So what’s your dream?’ She seized the opportunity to shift the emphasis of the conversation. ‘Why have you returned to Sicily after all these years? I presume it’s not a coincidence. Have you rediscovered your roots or something?’
In all the years she’d known him, he’d never mentioned his past. All she knew was the little her brother had told her—that Silvio had spent the first ten years of his life on this Mediterranean island. And that his father had been violent.
‘I opened my flagship hotel here recently. It’s my biggest project—the culmination of three years of hard work.’
Three years. He’d come to Sicily after her brother had died. After she’d told him she wanted him out of her life.
‘And that’s where the wedding is. But we’re going to be staying on your boat, yes?’
‘It’s a yacht.’
‘Same thing.’
‘Not exactly,’ Silvio said huskily, his eyes dropping to her mouth and lingering there. ‘But, yes, we’re going to be staying aboard my yacht.’
‘So the good thing about a boat—sorry, yacht—is that you can move around. If you’re tired of Sicily, you can sail off somewhere else.’
‘Exactly.’
Curious, she gave a little shrug. ‘So now that you own your own company and you have all that flashy stuff—what is there left to dream about?’
‘Life isn’t all about possessions, Jess.’
‘Easy to say when you have them. What about marriage? Don’t you want that?’