Annette leaned into him, sliding her own arm around his trim waist. "I was just thinking that it's nice to settle into the villa without worrying what your parents think."
"And that amused you?" he asked as they headed out onto the terrace.
Carlo liked being outside as much as she did, and they had spent a lot of time relaxing together on a luxurious double lounger with a shade covering on their honeymoon. Well, Annette had relaxed, sometimes reading, sometimes napping.
Carlo had been on his phone, no doubt working, but he'd been there with her, and he was the one who would take her book from her hands and kiss her, or wake her from her dozing with the same.
"I was amused at my own lack of logic," she told him as they sat down on an outdoor sofa. It was a large corner shaped seating area, but they sat close together at the end with a chaise. She kicked off her sandals and put her feet up. "We're hardly without prying eyes, not with a whole villa full of staff."
"Does that bother you?" He put his arm around her shoulder, his fingers brushing back and forth over shoulders bared by her floral sundress.
Annette shivered, her nipples reacting to the light touch as if they were in the bedroom and not out on the terrace.
"No," she answered him, her tone husky.
"Papa and Mama will be returning early next month," Carlo said, like he was warning her.
Annette grinned. "I'm so glad things are going so well for Joyce and Fantino that they are able to do that. Besides, I can't wait to see them."
His parents treated her like a beloved, longed for daughter, just like they did Joyce, and Annette reveled in that kind of parental affection after a lifetime without it.
"Bene. I am glad."
"When do you return to the office?" she asked, dreading the answer and yet aware that their idyll could not last forever.
"Tomorrow."
"Oh." So soon.
"You are disappointed. Will you miss me?"
She nodded, seeing no reason to pretend otherwise. Her phone buzzed before she could give a verbal response. Annette looked down. Another text from her father. He wanted to know when they were going to have a formal reception to celebrate the wedding.
"That look is definitely not amusement," Carlo said.
Rather than explain, she showed him the phone.
Carlo swore succinctly. "How long has he been bothering you with this?" Rather than wait for her answer, he scrolled up in the text thread to check for himself and swore again, this time more inventively.
"I've been ignoring their calls and texts. I should have blocked their numbers." But they were her parents and she had felt wrong about doing that.
Again. Five years ago, she'd only blocked them for a few days, but they had been furious. Even though they didn't want her in the family, they expected her to be available to them when they needed something.
Boundaries. She still struggled with them, even after three years of therapy and five years in exile.
"I will speak to your father."
"No, it's my responsibility."
Carlo's jaw tautened, but he nodded.
He really was making every effort to prove that he had no desire to control her life.
Just this minute, she could wish he wasn't trying so hard. It would be so easy to let him field the call. Her father would never say the things to Carlo she knew he would say to her. But Annette wasn't weak. She could handle one uncomfortable phone call with her parents. After all, she'd survived their treatment most of her life.
"I'll go call him back," she said, getting up with reluctance.
Carlo's big body was tense with the need to act. "Are you sure you don't want me to make the call?"