When he took her to a hotel after dancing, she did not demur. Once again, Annette was making her own choices and she chose to spend the night in Carlo's arms.
This time she was fully aware she would not wake up with him beside her.
Their lovemaking was every bit as frenzied as after her sister's wedding. Only this time, it felt like a beginning, not an ending.
Which is what she'd told herself the last time, so she could hardly trust it.
However, Carlo was there the next morning when she woke. Working, yes, but still in the hotel suite. He'd ordered her breakfast again, but this time it was her favorite crepes and cups of the freshly brewed Sicilian coffee she adored.
Annette took her time over breakfast, noticing quickly that again, Carlo was very intent on steering the conversation in decidedly non-personal channels. He even told her about his latest deal, for goodness's sake.
She listened raptly though, interested despite herself.
He asked about her work and Annette found herself telling him about what she'd learned about hiring and salary practices at her organization.
Instead of dismissing her concerns to naivete, Carlo listened and offered his attorneys to help her set things right if she needed. "Even if you don't want to pull that trigger, you can text me any time for advice."
Overcome, Annette swallowed back emotion she knew he didn't want to deal with. "Thank you."
They made love again but took post coital showers separately by silent agreement. She wanted to get back to the villa and see her sister. He had work to do. The fact he'd stayed so late with her on a Monday sent warm fuzzies fizzing through her like just uncorked champagne.
However, when they got back to the villa later, it was to find Valentina in a state. Joyce had insisted on returning home early. She, Fantino and Jocinda had left for the airport right after breakfast. Since they were flying in the company jet, they only had to wait for a takeoff slot, not a scheduled flight.
And the Sicilian airport wasn't nearly as busy as the one in Rome.
CHAPTER 7
As worried as she was for her sister, Annette couldn't help enjoying her time with Carlo. She spent her last day and a half with his parents during business hours and with Carlo after. He worked his schedule so he got off much earlier than usual both days and they visited sites in Sicily she'd yet to see.
As wonderful as their time together was, Annette was very aware how Carlo never wanted to discuss the past or any prospect of a future.
When it came time for her to go to the airport, his father drove her because Carlo had a business call he had to take.
"I could have caught a taxi," Annette said, pretty sure it was true. "Or simply ridden with one of your security people. You didn't have to go out of your way."
As she said the words, she realized how much she wished that Carlo had gone out of his though. But the last three days had been a sexual tryst, nothing else, and if she let herself forget that, she was in for a world of hurt.
"Nonsense, you are family."
Unable to deny that assertion, Annette simply said, "Well, thank you."
When her brother-in-law called two weeks later and asked her to come, Annette was worried, but not surprised. She'd only had one video chat with Joyce since returning from Europe and her sister had swung between snappish and apathetic with erratic frequency.
Annette had already arranged to step down from her new job, and to take a sabbatical from the company. She'd begun packing to move back to New York, so it was simply a matter of getting a storage container and asking her coworkers to come by and help her fill it. Her things would be shipped to New York and stored at a facility until she'd found a place to live.
Although she and Carlo had been texting even more regularly than before, Annette didn't tell him of her plans to move. He was still in Sicily, so Portland or New York made little difference to him, she was sure.
They'd tried sexting, but both had found it far more hilarious than sexy, and they'd advanced to video chats for theirbooty calls. There could be no question that their relationship was mainly about sex, so Annette didn't tell Carlo about Fantino's call either, or her plans for the present to stay with her sister's family and help however she could.
When Joyce called Annette after the Messina jet landed in the small Upstate New York airport, the younger woman was sobbing and begging her sister to come. Annette had never been so grateful for timing in her life, because she was already in the car Fantino had had waiting for her and on her way to their home.
When she arrived, Joyce was in no better state than she'd been on the phone and Fantino looked wrung out, though he was admitting no weakness.
Typical Messina man.
The first week flew by as Annette did her best to take care of Jo-Jo without help. Fantino spent the weekdays in the city and while he did his best to care for his daughter on the weekends, he also had an emotionally fragile wife to contend with.
Annette never knew if she was going to be dealing with weepy Joyce, angry Joyce, or lost and confused Joyce from one minute to the next. She did her best to shield the baby from the tension that laid a pall over the adults in the beautiful Upstate New York mansion, while struggling with unexpected exhaustion.