Italian Billionaire's Stubborn Lover (The Romano Brothers 1)

“Good morning,” Nicolo said, his warm tenor pulling her out of her thoughts.

She shot him a sheepish grin. “Good morning.” He turned on his side and covered her with his head and shoulders before giving her a slow kiss that left her wanting so much more. Moving down her body, he nuzzled her neck with his soft lips as his whiskers gently scratched her skin. Her mind flashed to lazy mornings with them eating breakfast, reading the paper, and simply enjoying each other’s company—but she squashed the image fast and hard. Nicolo wasn’t hers to keep. He was on loan from the world, and that was all.

“How did you sleep, t’amu?”

Adeline’s heart swelled at Nicolo’s use of my love in reference to her. She knew that he didn’t mean it literally, that it was only a term of endearment, but it made her happy to hear it spoken by his sweet lips all the same.

“Like an angel,” she answered with a shy smile.

“Mmmm… my angel.” He stroked her hair from her forehead, and his brilliantly blue eyes seemed to make love to her as his gaze caressed her face.

Bashful heat filled Adeline’s cheeks, then she shifted her attention away from him as a sense of gloom filled her. This might be her last truly wonderful time spent at the Romano del Mare. That knowledge was made all the more bitter sweet because of the fleeting nature of her relationship with the person who had made that time so wonderful. When the resort was gone, she wouldn’t even have him to share her memories with.

“Tell me,” Nicolo bid her.

Steeling her heart for what she must say, Adeline looked at Nicolo and shrugged one shoulder. It was a simple movement, but it felt like such a lie. It was as if she wanted him to believe that what she was about to say meant nothing even though it made her chest hurt. “Last night… we were in a moment.” She shrugged her shoulder again. “I just want you to know that I don’t expect anything of you. I mean, I know that, well… last night doesn’t make us a couple.” Her gaze drifted away from his once more, and her smile faltered.

“T’amu, what must you think of me?” Nicolo said, his voice gently chiding. “I’m not going to call you my angel one minute and my acquaintance the next. You’re the joy in my heart, and I would be a broken man if all you wanted from me was friendship.”

Italian men were the most romantic men in the world, she knew. So, while Nicolo’s words warmed her heart, she still held back from believing that he could truly want something more from her besides casual.

Nicolo’s eyes went wide and he pushed himself up and away from her to the full distance that his muscle-sculpted arms would allow. “Or, is it you who’s trying to let me down easy? Adeline, is it only friendship that you want from me?”

“No, no! I do want you,” Adeline quickly reassured. “I just didn’t want you to feel trapped. Last night, everything happened so fast.”

He lowered his body down on top of hers once more, his expression shifting into that of a wanting lover. “I was hoping that some fast—or not so fast—things could happen this morning.” He smiled devilishly as he dragged the tips of his fingers down the slope and curve of her side, tickling her with his light touch.

Adeline wiggled and giggled beneath him until it seemed that Nicolo could take it no more. Sliding his hand under her hips and positioning himself more fully on top of her, he coaxed her lips into an impassioned kiss that rivaled their affections of the night before. Suddenly, though, he broke their kiss and lifted himself on his long arms again.

“I’m taking a bath,” he declared, “and you’re taking one with me.” His piercing gaze was wicked.

“A what?” Adeline exclaimed, not sure she could trust her ears.

Nicolo pushed himself up to a standing position that straddled Adeline, and the bed covers cascaded off his back, leaving him gloriously available for her viewing. His body was perfection with his thickly muscled thighs and broad, powerful chest. In the next moment, Nicolo bent over and Adeline found herself being lifted into the air and thrown over his shoulder as easily as if she weighed nothing.

Squealing and laughing, Adeline kicked her feet and slapped her hand on Nicolo’s bare bottom but he just gave hers a slap in return before hopping off the bed and heading toward the tub. A second later his voice rang from the bathroom, “Oh my God! It’s so cold!”

Adeline’s joyous laughter filled the air. “The heater’s out, silly!”

It was a long morning of kisses and making love before Adeline and Nicolo made their way out into the world. When they drove his rented BMW into the nearby town, it was still early enough that ordering a cappuccino was permissible, and Nicolo treated them both to the morning coffee plus pastries.

With Nicolo’s arm draped low across Adeline’s back and his hand resting on her hip, she really did feel like they were a couple as they lazily walked the cobbled streets, enjoying the sights and each other’s company. A group of old men sat near a doorway, talking about family, fishing and the weather, while not far away a group of old women collected on a stone bench, bent forward and focused on an open laptop sitting on the knees of one of the women.

Adeline smiled at the sight of them. “The world is moving forward.”

“It is,” Nicolo said. “Even here, life changes.”

Adeline recognized the shift in conversation. They were no longer talking about the little town that they were walking through or the morning that they’d spent together. They were talking about the future of the Romano del Mare. “It does change, but traditions endure,” she countered Nicolo’s observation. “There is the tradition of family and the skilled crafts that are passed down from one generation to the next.” She pointed to a church that was at least five hundred years old. “And there’s the tradition of the island’s architecture.”

“Yes, yes, and it is good,” Nicolo said, “but then there are the little shops—the bakeries and restaurants—the places that serve the people with the tools that are available today. They did not have steamed milk for coffee 200 years ago, but now they do… and they have the tools and the buildings that allow for those innovations.”

Adeline walked on in silence next to him, aware of how little sway she had over the man who held the future of her childhood dreams in his hands. It made her feel helpless, and she didn’t like feeling helpless. She knew that she shouldn’t have deceived him with a fake buyer to press his hand into making a decision he wasn’t ready to make, but she hadn’t been able to face standing by and doing nothing. It wasn’t her way. When she saw a problem, she did whatever was necessary to solve that problem. The Romano brothers’ callous decision to allow the Romano del Mare to be destroyed was a problem she could not turn away from. She would fight to save it any way she could.

Next to her, Nicolo sighed. “I will do what I can and as much as I can,” he whispered, “but I don’t see another way than to allow the Romano del Mare’s time to end. I am sorry, t’amu.”

NICOLO

Nicolo’s morning with Adeline ended on a somber note when he drove her back to the Romano del Mare and watched her drive away in her car. A piece of himself went with her.