‘Don’t you ever take time off?’ she asked. ‘Wait—I already know the answer to that question.’
‘I live a very busy life, as you know. But I have been ordered by my PR team to take this honeymoon so I plan to make the most of it.’
‘You make it sound like such a chore.’ Nicole’s expression dropped a little, her eyes drifting away to gaze out at the sudden sparkling fountains of water that had begun to fly through the air as the sprinkler system began to drench the land.
‘I’m sorry if my lack of enthusiasm offends you, but I’m simply not built to be idle. It makes me feel edgy.’
She looked up at him. ‘That’s possibly the first spontaneously personal thing you’ve ever said to me,’ she said. ‘I was beginning to wonder if you might be made of stone under all that muscle.’
‘I think we both know that I don’t run cold with you, tesoro.’ He reached out to trap her in the circle of his arms, pulling her close.
Nicole laid her coffee down on the table beside them, placing her hands flat on his chest. ‘We communicate well in bed—that much is true. But I’m talking about when we’re not in bed, Rigo. It makes me uncomfortable to think that you know practically everything about me while I still know so very little about you.’
‘What would you like to know?’ he asked, leaning back against the balustrade.
‘I don’t know.’ Nicole laughed. ‘That’s like asking me how many grapes grow in this vineyard.’
‘About five and a half tons per acre, give or take.’ He smirked at her answering glare. ‘I’m joking—that’s just a guess.’
‘Isn’t there a Rigo Marchesi that you have never shown to the world?’
His expression faltered for a moment, and the emotion in his eyes was so intense it made her breath catch. But just as quickly as it had appeared it was gone, making her wonder if she had simply imagined it.
‘I have never lived under any pretence like you have, Nicole. The Marchesis don’t have the luxury of keeping secrets,’ he said nonchalantly, taking another sip of his coffee. ‘If you want to know more about my secret wine collection, now, that is something I can do.’ He smiled—a brilliant expression that transformed the previous shadows in his face.
Nicole looked at his smile and felt something bloom inside her. That small little seed of silly hope that she knew she was clutching tight to her chest. He was still holding back a lot of himself. But was she naive to hope that their attraction might bloom into something deeper if given the chance? They would be here together for the next couple of weeks, and she was determined to make the most of her chance to dig under the protective armour he seemed to wear.
After they’d washed and dressed they spent the day exploring the grounds of the estate, with Rigo seeming more at ease holding Anna as he pointed to all the different types of grapes that grew in the massive vineyard.
Nicole tried her best to step back and let him take the lead. She hadn’t expected him to be so interested in his daughter. She didn’t want to get her hopes up that he would be an involved father when she had already seen how much he worked. But as Rigo leaned down and dropped a kiss on Anna’s cheek she felt another layer of the armour around her heart crack apart. Anna nestled her face into his shoulder and Rigo’s brows rose in surprise.
‘I think she’s starting to like me.’ He looked to where Nicole stood, watching them.
She tried to laugh, ignoring the way her heart soared at the sight of him holding his tiny daughter. That pesky glimmer of hope bloomed once more in her chest, making her want things she couldn’t have.
RIGO MOVED AWAY from the doorway after watching Nicole lay their daughter down. She had fallen asleep in her arms. The little girl was exhausted after a morning of paddling in the pool followed by an afternoon visiting the stables. The past week, since they’d landed in Tuscany, had passed for him in a comfortable routine of long days exploring the surrounding towns followed by long, hot nights with his wife.
Nicole followed him out to the veranda, plugging the monitor in nearby as Rigo grabbed two glasses of wine.
‘I don’t think I will ever settle for another wine again after tasting this.’ Nicole sighed deeply, leaning her head back as they sat down on one of the loungers, side by side.
‘All the wine from this vineyard is exceptional. But this particular one is from their vintage collection—my personal favourite.’
‘So are you going to explain your behaviour earlier?’ Nicole smirked, a knowing smile playing on her lips.
‘You mean when I saved Anna from having her fingers bitten off?’ Rigo shook off the sheer anxiety he’d felt at having the small child in the stables, surrounded by his huge stallions.
‘The horse was at least two feet away, Rigo. And I was holding her tightly.’
‘She was getting too excited—flapping her tiny fingers in front of it. It was only a matter of time before something happened.’
‘Oh, Mr Serious, you really do need to learn how to relax.’ Nicole tutted. ‘Anna was in no danger today. You seem to have bonded with her a little over the past week. Am I sensing some kind of overprotective-father syndrome?’
‘It’s hardly overprotective to want to make sure she doesn’t get hurt, is it? I mean, maybe I was a little over-cautious. But what was I supposed to do? Just let her have her hand bitten off?’
Nicole burst out with low laughter, her shoulders shaking from the force of it. ‘Welcome to parenthood, darling.’ She smiled at him. ‘One long endless road of worry and self-doubt.’
Rigo paused, absorbing her words. Was that what had been wrong with him today? The tension in his body at having his tiny daughter so close to the animals had almost driven him insane. In the end he had just herded them all back to the house so they could swim in the pool while he caught up on some emails.
Nicole had been pushing and pushing for him to spend more time with Anna, and he knew he was being unreasonable by keeping himself at a distance. So all week long he had tried to be more interactive—swimming and talking and trying to form some sort of bond. But he was beginning to think that maybe he just wasn’t built for fatherhood.
‘Rigo, can I ask you something?’ she asked, turning to him. ‘It’s just something that’s been playing on my mind after meeting your family and seeing you here with Anna.’
He nodded and took a sip of wine, waiting for the question he had known she would ask eventually.
‘Why did you decide not to have children at such a young age?’ She frowned. ‘You come from such a tightly knit family, it just doesn’t make sense.’
‘Nicole...’ he began, not quite knowing what to say. He didn’t want to talk about the past—that was for sure. But the look in her eyes told him that she was serious about this.
‘I just want to understand the man I’m married to. Is that so terrible?’
‘I had a vasectomy because I came to the decision that fatherhood was not for me. Is that so hard to believe?’
‘And now...?’
He paused. And now he could feel himself caring more and more for his wife and daughter every day. He’d spent this whole week with Nicole and Anna, doing various activities around the countryside. And each night he had lost himself in his wife’s passionate embrace, making love to her until they were both spent. He had never slept so well as he had since coming to his villa.