Page 118 of Chasing Caine
“You’ll miss your flight if we do that.” He traced his fingertips along my arm.
“I don’t wanna leave.” As much as I’d protested delaying my flight a day, it had been a wise decision. I’d barely been able to sit up until last night, let alone trek through airports. And spending a quiet day wrapped in Antonio’s arms had been magnificent.
He kissed my head again and squeezed back. “I don’t want you to leave, either, but you have to get back to Cassandra. And your work would likely want you to return eventually.”
“I hate my job.” Not entirely true. I was good at investigating insurance claims, which brought me some pleasure, but unless I was working on a fraud or art case, it was just a way to pass the time.
“Then quit.”
I laughed and lifted my head to look at him. The sun was up, but hadn’t reached his corner of the villa yet, so the golden flecks in his eyes weren’t on full display. My time in Naples had seen some success on the art crime side, but not enough to leverage the FBI to let me work from Brenton. “Hardly. And live on what?”
“I have more than enough money for both of us.” He brushed back the hair which fell over my face.
I crawled on top of him, his naked body warm where I’d been in contact with him all night and rested my chin on his chest.
He sighed deeply, scanning my face, eyes lingering on the stitches at my hairline longer than they should have. I’d never had a man try to protect me like that before. Not a single boyfriend or my ex-husband would have run into a potentially deadly situation like Antonio attempted. He didn’t make me soft and weak. He made me safe.
All the same, who’d gotten there first? Who really saved my life?
“We have two hours until we must leave for the airport.” He leaned up to me and I met him. We kissed slowly, tenderly, and I moved my hips from side to side, eliciting a small moan from him.
He lay back on the pillow, running his fingers through my hair. “Did you see enough of Napoli, bella?”
“Yeah.”
“And of Pompeii?”
“Yeah.”
“Anything else you want to see this morning?”
My heart grew at his soft smile. “Just you.”
“So, what comes next, amore?”
“I go home and we move on with our lives?” I tried to be playful, to look serious, but from his grin, it was clear I’d failed.
“You’ve been spending too much time with someone who tells bad jokes.”
My body shook with a laugh. “Alright, then how about video chats every weekend?”
He feigned offence. “Only on the weekends?”
I smacked his chest. “Six-hour time difference!”
“Fair enough. Texts every day?”
“That I can do.” I kissed the spot on his chest, moving down a few inches so I could feel him hardening underneath me.
He latched his hands under my arms and pulled me back to where I’d been. “You promise not to move away from Brenton while I’m gone?”
I froze. How could he ask that? It was a major reason I was staying in Brenton. Every time I chose him over the investigation… of course he was asking the question. I’d chosen the fresco over him too many times.
“I want you, Samantha. Only you.”
What was the truth? That giving up so much of my lifestyle to be with him still scared me? That the prospect of losing him scared me even more?
“You said something at the hotel yesterday. It was in anger, but between that and what you said at the nightclub, I suspect there’s truth behind it. You said I’m just like all Italian men.” He caught my hand when it moved toward my face, to rub, to put a barrier between us, to think. “Matthew’s not the only one who hurt you, is he?”