Before I had the chance to see the view, Achille had jumped off Nico and tied him to a nearby tree, slipping his bit from his mouth so he could graze on the grass. He came over to me and Rosa and flicked his head. “Come on.” I smiled at the excitement on his face, and waited for him as he tied Rosa up beside Nico.
He placed his hands over my eyes. “Let me show you why this estate got its name.”
I laughed, pulse racing, as Achille led me forward. “Keep your eyes closed until I say so,” he said as he guided me down to sit. He sat down behind me and wrapped me in his arms.
“Can I open my eyes yet?” I asked as I melted against his warmth. The flannel shirt smelled so much of him that he was all I could feel in all of my senses.
I had never been so happy in my life.
“Not yet . . . just . . . wait . . .” he said as though he were waiting impatiently for something. So I waited, eyes closed, as he tucked me closer, keeping me safe.
“Okay, mi amore,” he whispered. “Open your eyes.”
I opened my eyes and blinked in utter amazement. We were up on the highest of hills, Achille leaning against a thick tree. We had a perfect panoramic view of the Umbrian countryside around us. Vast, seemingly unending, rolling hills stretched for miles into the distance, the valleys painted with Mother Nature’s autumn browns and deep forest greens.
“Bella Collina,” I whispered.
“It was why it was named Bella Collina, because of this view. Because of this spot, right here. Beautiful hill.”
“It is perfect,” I said, quietly, so I didn’t disturb the tranquil peace of the dawn.
Achille pointed over a far hill, and I gasped when I saw the golden brow of the sun rising to bring in the break of day. The horizon shimmered as the sun cast out its red and orange rays—not yet yellow—as it too roused from sleep.
As I watched the waking sun grow higher in the sky, Achille’s hand landed on mine and gently stroked over the vine ring.
He was so worried that he couldn’t give me what Zeno could, that he didn’t have money and status and a mansion. But not even the greatest riches in the world could give me this.
Only Achille could give me this moment. Brought here on the back of my dream horse. Being held tightly in his arms. Being roused from sleep after a long night of making love to the other half of my soul in front of his fire.
Money, titles and mansions had absolutely no place in my happiness at all. Even if I could have only this, I would still be the richest woman to grace the earth.
We stayed that way until the sun was in perfect view, a golden orb hovering in the blue sky. “I need to have this,” I said aloud. Achille tensed behind me. I turned my head to face him. His jaw was clenched as he watched the sun . . . as he avoided my gaze.
“Why are you marrying the prince?” he asked, still without meeting my eyes.
My gaze narrowed at his question. This time it was my hand that sought out his vine ring. I let my fingertip ghost over it. I let it give me comfort when sudden nerves and doubt accosted my heart. “It was an agreement from our childhood, but now it is mainly because of the king.” I inhaled, feeling the intrusion of the rest of the world raise its head. “Savona Wines has not been doing well since Santo’s death. My father can only do so much from America to help. My marriage to Zeno will help strengthen and stabilize the business here in Italy. But it’s also just what we do in our circle, Achille. Status marries status.”
“So it is mostly to help your family?”
“I guess,” I said quietly.
Achille leaned his head back against the tree. I scrambled to sit up and face him. This time he had no choice but to meet my eyes. “Achille, amore,” I murmured echoing his endearment back at him. His eyes softened as he heard it. “I want you. Yesterday, last night—the ring, the banquet, the festival—they all made me realize that I don’t want this. None of this. I want you and only you.” I gripped his left hand and brought it to my lips. “Zeno doesn’t love me. And I certainly do not love him.”
When he still didn’t speak, or even react, I pressed, “Tell me. You’re scaring me. Why aren’t you speaking to me?”
“What about my wine? My home? My horses? My vines?”
He seemed so lost as his blue eyes searched mine for answers. I sat back, casting my eyes to the horses grazing beyond the peak of the hill. “I don’t know. I don’t know what will happen when I tell my parents, tell Zeno. But I won’t deny you.”
A loving expression engulfed his face, swiftly followed by an expression so fearful my heart dropped. “The Marchesi family has made wine on that land for decades. It was my father’s home. It is my home. That land is in my blood. I . . .” He winced. “I would not know what to do with my life if I did not make the merlot.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. I tried to imagine Achille without his land and his simple but worthy life here at Bella Collina. It would devastate him to lose it. And Savona Wines would never recover if the merlot were lost.
“Then we buy more time,” I said, desperate to try and think straight. Of a plan. Of something . . . “I will talk to Zeno. I will talk to my parents. I will make them understand. As harsh as it sounds, this marriage is about money. Your merlot is essential to my father and Zeno’s business. They wouldn’t let you go . . . not even for this, I think.”
Achille’s shaking hand cupped my cheek. “I won’t come between you and your family. Family is the most important thing. You will not know this until you have to live without it.”
“Achille,” I whispered sadly.
“Wait until this year’s vintage is complete. I . . . I need to concentrate this month on finishing the process. Then comes the bottling . . . then . . .”
“Then we can tell them,” I said, realizing that would give me until mid-December. It was close to the wedding, but I hated how fearful Achille was of losing all he ever knew. So we would wait. What were a few weeks anyway?
“Okay,” I said soothingly, pressing my forehead to his. “We will wait. But there’s no going back now, Achille.” I dropped kisses to his cheeks, to his head and finally to his lips. When I broke away, with his hands running through my hair, I said, “I need to kiss you and touch you and make love to you. I will help with the wine, your reading and writing, and the horses. And I will find a way to love you each night, until I can have you forever.”
“You promise?” he said, so quietly that I lost my heart to him all over again.
“With everything I am.”
Achille brought his mouth to mine, and I kissed him against the breathless backdrop of an Umbrian dawn. I kissed him until the sun’s rays began to caress the back of my neck and the brightening sky told us it was time to go.
As we rode back toward his house, we passed the botanical garden. Achille abruptly dismounted Nico and jumped the fence. I panicked, wondering what he was doing, as he disappeared inside a greenhouse. But that question was answered when he walked out clutching a single white rose. His lip hooked shyly up at the side as he stood beside me and offered the rose to me.
I took it, as I always would. “Thank you,” I said, smelling the fragrant delicate petals.
Achille jumped back on Nico and we continued our ride back to his vineyard. He picked up Zeno’s engagement ring from the field. “You will need this for now,” was all he said as he tucked it into my pocket. Then I left Achille with a long slow kiss, a promise that I would see him soon.
My walk this morning was slow. I allowed myself the luxury of time, drinking in the countryside around me. I held my single rose in my hand, breathed in Achille’s scent from his shirt. I kicked up the dust from the track and tried to imagine Zeno playing on it as a child. I wondered if he knew Achille. If he had ever even spoken to him. And I tried to imagine what would be said, weeks from now, when I told my family I wouldn’t go through with this marriage. When I told Zeno that I chose my heart over wealth.
And I prayed that, whatever happened, Achille didn’t regret me.
That would be a punishment worse than death.
When I entered my rooms, I went straight to the bathroom and showered. I was hungry from the long, sleepless night, so I decided to go downstairs and get an early breakfast.