“It’s okay.” I brushed the hair back from her eyes, more touched by her words than I knew I should be.
“No, it’s not okay. What they did to you was not okay. They’re evil, and I—”
“And you are not.” I pressed my lips to the tip of her nose, swiping the tears from her cheek. “You’re my angel. My salvation. The only family that matters to me. I know that, Natalie. And I love you, so much more than you will ever understand.”
She drew back a breath and met my gaze in the dark. “I-I love you too, Luc. Desperately.”
Her love wrapped around me like a blanket, and as I kissed her, I let her be that salvation, that light counteracting all the darkness I’d battled my whole life.
I brushed curls away from her eyes. “There’s something I want to show you. Will you come with me? It’s not far.”
“Now?”
I nodded and pushed to my feet, pulling her up with me. “It’s on the property. I planned to show you on our wedding night, but things kind of got away from us then.”
When her eyes darkened, I knew she was thinking about Dante and everything that had happened since. I pressed a kiss to her forehead, wanting only to banish the sadness from her mind. “Grab your shoes.”
She let go of me and moved into the bedroom. When she returned in her sneakers, I noticed she was wearing slim leggings that showed off her shapely legs and a sweatshirt that fell open over one shoulder. But I also noticed something else in the low light. A dark patch all across her left cheek.
“Okay, I’m ready.” She stopped in front of me, her brow wrinkling as I looked down at her. “What?”
I tipped her face toward the light, recognizing the start of a bruise. My heart dropped like a lead weight right into my gut. “What happened to you?”
“Oh, that.” She lifted her hand to her cheek, covering the mark. “I slipped.”
It didn’t look as if she’d slipped. It looked as if someone had hit her. I stared down at her, my heart racing.
A sheepish look crossed her face. “It’s nothing, Luc. After you left, I went into the bedroom to change my clothes, and I slipped on the rug when I was pulling this sweatshirt on. I smacked my cheek against the dresser.”
I pushed her hand aside. “You slipped on the rug?”
“Yeah. It’s embarrassing. I-I was upset. I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing. It’s not as bad as it looks.”
My gut told me that couldn’t be true, but my brain screamed she had no reason to lie. She needed me to trust her as I needed her to trust me. But even as I pulled her in and held her close, hating that I was the reason she’d been distracted and upset, I still wasn’t entirely convinced she was being honest.
“Did you put ice on it?” I asked, trying not to be suspicious.
“Yes, it’s fine. I promise. It barely even hurts.”
I wasn’t sure I believed that either, but more than ever, I wanted to show her just how much I loved her. I pressed a soft kiss to her injured cheek and slid my hand to hers, then pulled her toward the door. “Come on.”
I’d left the golf cart waiting out front. After helping her in, I moved around and slid behind the wheel, then turned the vehicle on.
“Just how far are you taking me?” she asked.
“Not that far, angioletto.”
She sighed and wrapped her hands around my arm closest to her, leaning her head against my shoulder in a way that warmed my heart.
With a hand on her knee, I traced tiny circles over her leg as I maneuvered the cart around trees and brush, the lights illuminating the uneven ground. It took longer to find it than I’d planned—the foliage had grown quite a bit since the last time I’d been here—but once I recognized the cluster of oaks, I knew we were close.
I pulled the cart to a stop and killed the ignition. Natalie lifted her head from my shoulder when she heard the roar of water. “Is that—?”
“Falls. Yeah. But special falls.” I climbed out of the cart and reached for her hand, tugging her my way across the bench seat.
We headed toward the sound, and I used the light on my phone to illuminate the way so she didn’t trip. When we reached the edge of the water, though, I flipped the light off. Marco had set up solar lights around the outside of the tiered pools, and the rocks, white from the sulfur in the water, reflected the light, illuminating the entire area and the rising steam.
“What is this?” Natalie asked, wide-eyed.
“Hot springs. They’re all over this part of Tuscany.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. These are about thirty-eight to forty degrees Celsius, which I think is between a hundred to a hundred and four Fahrenheit. Just like a hot tub. Want to get in?”
“Is anyone else out here?”
“Nope. Just us.”
Her eyes glimmered, and a smile stretched across her lips as she reached for the hem of her sweatshirt. “Then heck yes.”
I chuckled because she looked so excited. And I loved seeing her smile like that. It had been weeks since I’d seen her so relaxed.
While she toed off her shoes and stripped out of her leggings, I shucked my own clothes. She was already in the water, naked and sighing and sinking back into the pool, when I grabbed the box from the pocket of my slacks and joined her.
“What’s that?” she asked as I held the small box above the water and crossed her way, letting my lower body adjust to the heat.
“Something I meant to give you before.” I handed it to her and sat beside her on the rocks that formed a natural seat on the far end of the pool. The water hit us both at the chest, and I licked my lips as it teased the tips of her nipples.
She shook the water from her fingers, tugged the top off the small, flat box, and stared down at the platinum objects inside.
“It’s a bracelet. And a necklace.”
“It’s a special bracelet.” I lifted the necklace on the long chain and held it up so she could see the small key dangling from the end. “And a special necklace. A set. This part’s for you.”
She tugged her hair to the side as I latched the chain around her neck and looked down at the small key floating on the water between her succulent breasts. “And the bracelet?”
Whereas the key and chain were delicate, the bracelet was thicker, with small diamond shapes carved into the band around the outside. “The bracelet’s for me.”
“You don’t wear bracelets.”
“I’m going to wear this one.” I took the bracelet and the box from her. The box, I set on the side of the pool. The bracelet, I snapped closed over my left wrist. Then I held my arm out to her. “Try to take it off me.”
She smirked and reached for the band, turning it around my wrist as she searched for the clasp. Her cute brow furrowed when she realized she couldn’t get it off. “Okay, I give up. Where’s the release?”
I twisted the bracelet until I found the diamond that wasn’t like the others and pointed it out to her. “Right here.”
“That’s a hole, not a clasp release.”
I laughed. “It’s a keyhole.” I reached for the key between her breasts and lifted it, showing her it was the same size as the opening in the diamond. “Short of having my hand cut off, you are the only person in the world who can take this off me.”