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‘Wow, thanks!’ I planted a kiss on his lips. ‘I’m so lucky to have you. I love you so much.’
‘I love you more. Andweare lucky to have each other.’
Awww.
I jumped up, gave him a hug, then went to the bathroom. Soft music was playing on the portable speaker. There were candles all around the bath, which was filled with bubbles and a glass of Prosecco on the side.What an amazing man.I couldn’t wait to slip into the warm water. A relaxing soak was just what I needed.
I locked the door, stepped out of my clothes and climbed underneath the mass of bubbles.
Ahhh. This is heavenly.
For what felt like the first time in ages, I started to get excited. A weekend away did sound like bliss right now. My mind started to wander, imagining all of the things we could do whilst we were there. Maybe I could have a pampering afternoon. Either a massage or facial would be amazing. Luckily running a beauty PR agency meant I had enough products to help maintain my hair and skin whilst I was here, but it’d been ages since I’d stepped foot in a salon. In my old life, I used to go at least once a week. Then again, Lorenzo and I hadn’t had a weekend away with just the two of us since before Leo was born, so I didn’t want to spend our precious time apart whilst I was getting pampered. It was important for us to be together. I’d ask Geli if she could recommend somewhere local I could go before the weekend, so I could get my colour done and a fresh blow-dry before our trip. I’d picked up a lot of tips from clients over the years, so could do a decent enough job myself, but there was nothing like getting it done by a proper professional.
Lorenzo knocked on the door.
‘You okay?’ I glanced down to check the bubbles were covering my body just in case he wanted to come in.All good.
‘I just speak to Mamma,’ he said, talking from behind the door. ‘She will come early on Friday morning and we will leave straight away.’
‘Great! Thank you again!’
Amazingly, I’d still managed to avoid seeing Marta since the BJ incident, and even though I knew coming face-to-face was inevitable, if it meant I’d be able to have some time away from real life and be with Lorenzo, I would find a way to deal with it...
Friday was finally here. Since I’d got my head around the idea of taking a break, I’d been wishing away the days, hours, minutes and seconds. The weekend couldn’t come quick enough.
Any minute now Marta would be round to collect Leo. It was bound to be awkward, but I was ready.
I feltgood.Not just because I was having a mini break, but also because I’d had a fun day yesterday with my new friends.
I’d started off having coffee at Holly’s place. It was the third time I’d been (because Holly always had to tidy up after breakfast and prepare lunch for the family, she said it was easier if I could keep going there) and I was enjoying our little catch-ups. Well, when we weren’t being disturbed.
We were having a good chinwag about her last steamy date with Umberto. She was explaining how he’d picked her up on Saturday night, had a pizza in his car, then driven to a secluded spot. The story was just getting juicy when Silvestro came home early again (thankfully, about ten minutesafterI’d been to the loo) and so we’d had to stop.
There was something about Silvestro. Something was niggling me and I couldn’t put my finger on it. There was the bathroom incident for a start. I knew he could walk around however he wanted to, but if there was a guest in the house, would you really do that? Especially if you had a dodgy door?
When I told Holly about my encounter with him, she’d cringed and said it’d happened to her too. She explained that even when you tried to close it, the door often crept open by itself. The lock had fallen off and Silvestro hadn’t got around to fixing it. His wife was forever complaining about him sorting it out too.
I get it. Lots of people didn’t do odd jobs around the house, which they knew they should. But I’d been thinking about it. Confident or not, wouldn’t a normal person be at least a little embarrassed about someone walking in on them?
Hmmm.
Secondly, Silvestro was a bit too friendly for my liking. Rather than just say hello, he’d always take it a step further. Throwing his arms around me, planting a sloppy kiss on each cheek, then hugging me for longer than I was comfortable with, like we were long-lost lovers who’d just been reunited after decades apart. It was a bit OTT. Particularly considering he was practically a stranger.
Okay. Maybe that was just me being overly British. We weren’t so good with physical contact when greeting people. Handshakes were more our style. Whereas in countries like Italy, France and Spain, cheek kissing and getting up close and personal was the norm.But even so…
And he always had to bother us. I knew that sounded crazy, considering it was his house, so he was free to come and go as he pleased. But he just seemed to linger like a bad smell.
I didn’t feel comfortable when he was around. Holly kind of clammed up too. Even though he could barely understand English, I didn’t feel like we could speak freely. Whenever I was there, he always seemed to make a point of coming into the kitchen. Just for the sake of it. He’d stand right behind Holly. And I mean, so close that his body was almost touching hers, then he’d reach over Holly to get something.
He would open the cupboard in front of her and quickly shut it again. Or take something out, but put it back immediately. So unnecessary.
Last time, I could have sworn he sniffed Holly’s hair as he stretched over her head. It was only for a split second and I may have imagined it, but I’m sure he closed his eyes and inhaled as if he was smelling a sweet bouquet of roses. Sent a shiver down my spine. I asked Holly about it once he’d left, but she brushed it off.
Something told me I needed to keep my eye on him…
Anyway, like I said, apart from our interruption, I’d had a fun morning with Holly. She’d said that as well as a friend, she saw me as a mother figure, which did make me feel old. But I knew she meant it as a compliment. It was kind of sweet. Holly also seemed to like asking my advice about men. Ha! Nowthatwas funny. I hardly considered myself an expert, but it was nice that she valued my opinion.
After I caught up with Holly, I headed back home to make lunch and then Geli came round to do my hair.
