Page 115 of Enduring Caine
“Grazie mille.” I tapped Gio’s driver on the shoulder before kissing Samantha’s temple. “Let me open your door.”
She rolled her eyes but waited patiently for me.
I got out and rounded the vehicle, giving Mario a tight smile before opening her door.
Samantha wore black cargo pants and the robin’s egg blouse that turned her eyes blue. She smiled when she saw Mario.
“Buongiorno, bellisima.” He bypassed me to give her an enthusiastic hug. “It’s been too long.”
“It has.”
He clapped me on the back, frowning at my arm in its sling. “I rescheduled your doctor’s appointment for Tuesday. Can you make it until then?”
I nodded. “It’s just a scratch.”
“Good god,” muttered Samantha.
The driver placed our bags next to us and tipped his head before getting back into the car and driving away.
Mario picked up my duffel before I could, not even asking. He knew it was far more than a scratch, but he wouldn’t mention it out loud unless we’d been drinking first. “I have an important question for my love.”
Samantha chuckled as we followed him through the courtyard to the double front doors. “And what’s that?”
“Now that you’ve met the darker side of the Ferraro family, are you prepared to leave my miserable cousin for me?”
She stifled her laugh, picking up her small suitcase when we reached the winding central staircase inside the villa. “Sorry Mario, but I seem to madly in love with him anyway.”
“Madly?” I said, patting her ass.
Mario said over his shoulder from the first floor landing, “Your loss.”
Samantha laughed again, a sound like music. “Give it a few more months. We’ll see.”
“Bella!” I smacked her ass as we arrived at the second floor. “All I get is a few months?”
“Smart woman,” chuckled Mario.
“Don’t make me do something drastic, amore.” I’d foolishly left the engagement ring at home in Brenton. That would serve her right if I’d brought it and proposed. I had her trapped in Napoli with me for another week, so there’d be no way to avoid it that long.
“Okay, okay,” she said, waving a hand in the air. “But you have to promise to take me not only to that hotel with the amazing bed and back to the Vista dell’Ovo restaurant, but also up Vesuvius. We didn’t do that last time.”
“You’ll be mine forever if we do all that?”
“Don’t get greedy,” she said with mock disapproval.
We arrived at my room, and Mario dropped my duffel next to the bed. “You both look exhausted. Should I get food ready or will you be turning in early?”
I looked at Samantha, dark circles under her eyes, just like the last time she’d arrived at Mario’s villa. “Sleep?”
She nodded, sinking onto the bed. “Dozing in the car was alright, but I think I need to check my messages, then nap. Maybe a late dinner?”
Mario nodded and winked at her. “It’s Saturday night. Late dinner and club?”
“We’ve been over this.” I smacked his shoulder playfully. “No winking at my girlfriend.”
Samantha’s shoulders shook in quiet laughter. Now that we had true privacy, she pulled her phone out of her bag, which began pinging as soon as it was on.
I walked Mario to the door and he finally gave me a hug, tighter than usual.