These Tangled Vines(56)

“For what?”

“For being here.”

Lillian drew back. “I’m grateful that you hired me. I know it might sound strange, but I feel completely transformed by this place. For the better. And you’ve been in my thoughts, Anton. Quite a bit.”

“You’ve been in my thoughts too. Ever since the first moment I saw you.”

His words filled her with exhilaration, and she couldn’t think about Freddie. He didn’t even exist for her in that moment. All she could do was tremble with the hope that all her powerful bottled-up longings would finally be fulfilled. Anton stroked her hair. The next thing she knew, she was pressing her cheek into the firm muscles of his chest. He held her close, tight against him, his big hand cupping the back of her head, and she felt as if she were dissolving into him somehow, that everything in her life had brought her to this moment. For the first time in her trifling existence, all seemed right with the world.

She had never been the type of woman to romanticize anything. She had always been overly practical, sometimes to a fault, but on that night, in Anton’s arms, she felt as if she were being swept away on a powerful current of soulfulness. Her desire for him was unfathomable, and it wasn’t just physical passion. It felt, unbelievably, like love. The kind of love that people wait for and dream about all their lives. The kind of love people died for. It hardly seemed possible that she’d only known him a few weeks. It seemed like he had been inside her heart forever, just waiting to step out of it, into her world.

The apartment was sweltering. Lillian felt almost dizzy. Her flesh was damp with perspiration. She lifted her gaze and looked up at Anton with a sense of wonder, and he smiled. His happiness moved her to tears.

“I’ve been smitten,” he said, “since you climbed out of that mangled car, fell to your knees, and seemed to worship the ground beneath your feet. Then I took you to the hospital . . . and your husband was in the back seat . . . but it was as if he didn’t exist. I told myself it was the shock of seeing your car go off the road. That it was adrenaline or something. But every day since, each time I saw you, I’ve loved you more.”

Lillian felt weightless. “It’s been the same for me. Freddie picked a bad time to leave me.”

She wished she hadn’t mentioned Freddie. She didn’t want to think of him. She didn’t want to face the dread of an inevitable pain that would come when she woke from this beautiful dream and had to face reality. Being in Anton’s arms was the only reality that mattered to her now.

His hands at the small of her back invited her closer, pulling her snug against him. “If you were mine, I’d never leave you, and I would do anything to make you happy.”

He stared at her for a few heart-stopping seconds, gauging her expression, seeking permission to move things a step further.

She did not discourage him.

Anton lowered his mouth to hers. His lips were soft and searching, hungry with passion. Her arms slid up and around his neck, and she returned the kiss with reckless abandon. She wanted to take hold of him and never let go, for this moment to go on and on.

This time, she didn’t think of Freddie. It was as if he had ceased to exist because Anton had taken up all the space in her world. She hadn’t known emotions like this were possible.

Finally, she drew back and took Anton by the hand. She led him to her bedroom, dark except for the moonlight streaming in through the open window. Her heart raced as he gathered her into his arms and eased her onto the bed. He moved over her like a shadow, filling her with rapture and joy.

They made love through the night, pausing only to sleep for brief spells until one of them woke and reached for the other. Breathlessly, Lillian whispered in his ear, “Is this even real?”

“I don’t know. It feels like a dream.”

They shared Lillian’s bed until the sky brightened at dawn. Then they rose and got dressed, walked hand in hand across the dewy grass to sit on a stone wall overlooking a vineyard on a sloping field below. The sunrise bathed the Tuscan hills in a soft pink mist. Anton and Lillian marveled at the beauty of it, and in that perfect moment, there was no knowledge of pain or unhappiness anywhere in the world. They were together in their own private version of heaven.





CHAPTER 18


FIONA


Tuscany, 2017

It wasn’t easy to keep a secret that made your heart want to burst out of your chest. Ninety million euros. Cash in hand. A done deal without an audit. I could board a plane back to Florida in a week, and this secret of mine—and my mother’s—would be swept under the rug forever.

But how would I explain the money to Dad? And what would I do with it? Split it with Connor and Sloane? How would I divide it?

Walking briskly across the parking lot toward the gift shop, I looked down at my feet and listened to the sound of my sneakers crunching over the clean white gravel. The movement grounded me and reminded me that none of this was set in stone. Connor still wanted to fight the new will, so I would be wise not to let any dreams of financial freedom get too out of hand.

I entered the gift shop and found a dark-haired woman on a stepladder, filling a top shelf with bottles of wine. She wore navy trousers and a red golf shirt with the Maurizio Wines logo on the breast pocket.

“Buongiorno ,” she said, climbing down. “You must be Ms. Bell?”

“Yes. I’m here to meet Vincent Guardini. But please call me Fiona.”