Saved by the CEO(33)

       
           



       

"Scared," she said, her breath marking the glass.

"I don't understand." He replied.

"Your going to Dominic. It frightened me."

"I made you feel powerless."

She shook her head. "No. You made me feel like I'd met another Prince  Charming. Actually, that's not true," she said, looking over her  shoulder. "I already knew you were Prince Charming. Calling Dominic made  it obvious."

"I still don't..."

No surprise. She probably wasn't making much sense. "I liked that you came to my rescue," she told him.

"And that scares you."

It terrified her. With a small shrug, she turned back to the hills. "I  need to be my own person. When I'm with you, it's too easy to give in  and let you run the show."

"Could have fooled me. In fact, I seem to recall more than one argument over my trying to run the show."

His shadow appeared in the window. Louisa could tell from the warmth  buffeting her back, or rather the lack of it, that he was making a point  of keeping his distance. "Do you know why Floriana and I didn't work?"  he asked.

The odd shift in conversation confused her, but Louisa went along with it. "No. Why?"

"Because she was too perfect. I realized that just now."

"If this is supposed to make me feel better..."

"Wait, hear me out," he said. "Floriana... She and I never argued. She  was always logical, always agreeable, always in tune with my thinking."

"She was perfect." While Louisa was the imperfect American who ran away  from her problems. Both descriptions sickened her. "I get it."

"I don't think you do" was Nico's reply. The warmth from his body moved a  step closer. Not too much, but enough so Louisa could better feel its  presence. "Floriana might have been perfect, but she wasn't perfect for  me. That was why I couldn't truly love her. Do you understand?"

She was afraid to.

"I need a woman who challenges me every single day," he said. "Someone  who is smart and beautiful, and who is not afraid to put me in my place  when I overstep."

"You make it sound simple."

"On the contrary, I think it might be very hard. I don't know for sure. I've never been in love until you."

Until her. The declaration washed over her, powerful in its simplicity.  Nico Amatucci loved her. And she... Panic clamped down on the thought  like a vise.

"I know you are afraid," he said when she let out a choked sob. The  anguish in his voice told her how much he was struggling between wanting  to close the distance and respecting her need for space.

"I know that Steven left you with some very deep scars and that you are  afraid of making the same mistakes. I am not Steven, though. Please know  that no matter what happens between us, I will always want you to be  your own person.

"So," she heard him say, "if you want to run away, that's your choice.  All I ask is that you don't use me as your excuse." There were a lot of  things Louisa wanted to say in response, but when she opened her mouth  to speak, the words died on her tongue. In the end, she stayed where she  was, afraid to turn to look lest she break down when she saw Nico's  face. She heard his footsteps on the tile, the click of the front door,  and then she was alone.

She'd said she wanted to stand on her own two feet. She also wanted  Nico's arms around her. Desperately. What did that say about her?

That you love him. The words she'd been fighting to keep buried broke  free and echoed loud in her heart. No amount of running away or lying to  herself would make them disappear. She loved Nico Amatucci. She was in  love with Nico Amatucci.

Now what? With a sob, she sank to the floor. Did she continue with her  plans? Move again and spend her life being haunted by two past mistakes?

Or did she stay in the village she'd come to think of as home and somehow find the courage to let her love for Nico grow?

Wiping her eyes, she looked out once more at the Tuscan hillside and the  vineyards that stretched out before her. How much she'd come to love  this view. And this palazzo.

She looked around at her surroundings. A lot had changed around here in  nine months. If her ancestors could see this place now, they wouldn't  recognize their old home. It wasn't the same crumbling building she'd  found when she'd arrived.

Maybe she wasn't the same woman either. She certainly wasn't the  impressionable young girl who'd fallen in love with Steven Clark. She'd  loved, lost, withstood public scorn and found a new home. You're a lot  stronger than you give yourself credit for, Nico had once said. Maybe it  was time to start giving herself credit. Time to believe she was  strong.                       
       
           



       

Maybe even strong enough to fall in love with a strong man.

* * *

"I asked Lindsay Sullivan if she would stop by the meeting, as well. It  might be useful to get a professional event planner's input, even if she  does specialize in weddings. Is that all right with you, Nico?"

"A wedding planner is fine," Nico replied. "Whatever you want to do."

"Whatever I...? All right," Rafe said, plopping down on the other side  of the table. "What have you done with the real Nico Amatucci? Usually  by now you would have rearranged the agenda items and brainstormed three  or four new ones. Instead, you've hardly said a word. What gives?"  Folding his arms, the chef tipped back in his chair and waited.

No doubt he found Nico's shrug an unsatisfactory response. "It's your committee."

"That I started with the full knowledge that you would take over.  Honestly, I wouldn't have gone to all this trouble if I didn't think you  would do the bulk of the heavy lifting."

"Sorry to disappoint you," he replied.

"Leave him alone, Rafe. He's nursing a broken heart." Walking past, Dani  gave her husband a playful smack on the back of the head. "Remember how  depressed you were when I left Monte Calanetti?"

"Depressed is a little strong. Ow!" He rubbed the back of his head. "I  was joking. I was also trying to distract him from his problems."

"News flash. The playful banter isn't helping." Each quip was like salt in his already raw wounds.

"We're sorry," Dani said, taking a seat.

"No, I'm sorry," he quickly replied. "You shouldn't have to censor your  happiness for my sake." Then, because he was clearly a glutton for  punishment, he added, "I don't suppose you've heard anything?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. I called a couple of times, but she isn't picking up her phone. She's still in town, though."

"I know." He saw the lights on in the palazzo. Yesterday, while in the  vines, he thought he caught a glimpse of her on the balcony, and he  almost climbed up to join her. But since he was practicing patience,  like his sister suggested, he stayed away.

"Do you think she'll go through with selling the palazzo?" Rafe asked.

God, but Nico hoped not. "It's up to her." He personally hadn't returned  the Realtor's call. Probably should or else risk losing the property  altogether. The idea of someone-anyone-other than Louisa living next  door... Grabbing a fork, he stabbed at a cornetto. Far preferable to  stabbing anything else. "It's her decision to make," he repeated, as  much to remind himself as anything.

"Whose decision to make what?" a beautifully familiar voice asked. Nico  looked up in time to see Louisa walking into the main dining room. She  was dressed in a navy blue suit, the kind a banker might wear. The dark  material made her hair appear more white than ever. Perhaps that was why  she was wearing it pulled back in a clip. This, he realized with a  jolt, was a different Louisa than the woman he'd left the other day. The  woman before him carried herself with confidence and grace.

"Sorry I'm late," she said, setting a leather portfolio on the table. "Oh, please tell me that carafe is American coffee."

"Espresso," Rafe replied. He sounded as astounded as Nico felt. A quick look at Dani said she shared the feeling, as well.

Fortunately for all of them, Dani didn't have a problem saying something aloud.

"We didn't think you were coming," she said.

Pink appeared in her cheeks. "I wasn't sure I was going to attend either. I didn't make up my mind until last night."

"And the suit?"

"Confidence booster," she said, reaching for the plate of pastries that  was in the center of the table. "I have a business meeting after this  one."

"You do?" Nico sat up straighter. This was what he feared. She'd come to say goodbye. "You found someone to buy the palazzo?"

"No, someone to help me turn it into a hotel." Her blue eyes found his. "It appears I'm not leaving Monte Calanetti after all."