Nico waited until she’d accelerated away
from the house then turned, moving inside to find his sister in law locked in conversation with the woman he was sleeping with. He frowned a moment – the description not quite right. Maddie was so much more than that. The realisation came to him out of nowhere but he immediately dismissed it. She wasn’t – she couldn’t be. Nonetheless, he paused on the periphery of the room, silently watchful. They looked…like old friends. They were talking quietly, both smiling, their manners relaxed.
Elodie, who had no family of her own, had quickly been adopted into the Montebello family. Yaya treated her like a granddaughter, doting on her to an almost suffocating degree, and for Nico’s part, he saw her now as his own sister. So seeing her locked in a conspiratorial conversation with Maddie did something funny to his insides. He liked the sight of them together. It felt…right.
Everything about this felt right. A sense of unease threatened the pleasure of that moment, but he refused to let it. He wasn’t a fool. The fact this felt right – damned near perfect – didn’t alter the fact it was temporary. Nothing would.
Maddie lifted her face, as though she’d sensed him, and her eyes locked to his. He smiled, and she returned it, and he put all thoughts of the future and the fact he would say goodbye to her from his mind.
Chapter 10
“YOU’RE BEING RIDICULOUS NOW.”
“Is that a complaint?”
Cradled against Nico’s chest, she considered that.
“Not exactly. But it’s been two days. I can hobble around well enough.”
“But you don’t need to when I’m here to carry you.”
She smiled. “At some point though I should probably get back to La Villetta.”
He eased her down on the edge of the pool, so her feet dangled in the water. It was bliss – a blessed relief from the sting of the day’s warmth and respite for her ankle.
“There’s no rush.”
“Is this some frustrated doctor fantasy?” She teased, running her fingertips through the water and splashing a little his way. He caught her fingers and lifted them to his lips, kissing them lightly. Butterflies burst through her.
He laughed, gruffly. “No. Believe me, I’m as surprised as you are. I’m not really the ‘tender, love and care’ kind of guy.”
It was just an expression but the idea of Nico loving and caring her – really loving and really caring for – set her pulse alight in a way that had her breath catching in her throat. “So why are you doing this?” She looked away, unable to meet his eyes, needing a moment to regroup.
“My nephew. My dog. My grass. I feel responsible.”
“Ah.” She nodded sagely. “Guilt care. I see.”
He caught her chin, drawing her face back to his, and his eyes ran over her features so slowly, so painstakingly intently that she forgot to breathe altogether.
“That,” he agreed. “And I don’t like seeing you in pain.”
Something flopped against her belly. She bit down on her lip, refusing to think of Michael, refusing to remember the pain he’d inflicted. But the comparison was impossible to ignore. Here was a man who was doing everything he could to ease her pain. He wanted, more than anything, for her to be happy.
There was such cruelty in this. Cruelty that he was Michael’s friend. Cruelty that she’d slept with him before realising their connection. Cruelty that even with all those issues put aside, he was adamantly against any kind of relationship. Their time together was like a mirage in the midst of a desert. Seemingly perfect, but not based in reality.
“It’s definitely getting better.” She slipped into the water, the coolness lapping against her sides, relaxing her even as she felt a growing sense of trouble.
“Alessia messaged this morning, to check up.”
Maddie hadn’t thought of the other woman since she’d left. Strange when she’d been assailed by such a strong sensation of jealousy. Then again, maybe it wasn’t strange. Perhaps that was part of this magical mirage she’d entered into with Nico. He made her feel so completely safe, unthreatened and content. She refused to believe he’d ever hurt her. So what if he and the stunning doctor had been together at some point? Did that matter?
Not one little bit, and yet she was a natural born question-asker, so she found herself saying, “You seemed to know her quite well?”
“Yes.” Closed off. He pulled his shirt from his body then stood, diving into the water and swimming a length before circling back and catching her around the waist.
But she wasn’t prepared to let the matter drop so easily. “Yes?”
Something like consternation shifted in his features. “She’s…an old family friend.”