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“No. I don’t.” I shake my head. “One of the last things my mother said to me was to find a love that feels natural. And this, Antonio, feels so natural. It feels like home. More like home than any house ever has.”

His hands grab onto either side of my face, and much like I did earlier, he pulls me closer and crashes his lips into mine.

“I love you,” he says against my lips. Hearing the words and feeling their effect against my lips, he continues to kiss me. Not leaving any room for me to breathe or answer.

“Hmm,” I hum and pull back. “I love you, too.”

Chapter thirty-seven

Antonio

Whenwereachthehotel, I’m relieved to see that Theá has calmed down. It took me by surprise to see how quickly she spiralled into that dark place, but another part of me is glad it happened. Because if it didn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to tell her how I feel about her.

The entire day, especially on the yacht, I was biting my tongue to hold back from blurting it out in a random moment. But with how things ended up going, it just felt right to tell her then.

“Why don’t you take a shower, and I’ll order us some snacks?” I offer as we enter the room and find our bags already delivered.

She stays silent, but nods. I grab her arm, pulling her back. She wraps her arms around my waist, and I can feel the dampness of the fabric. I push her curls out of her face and gaze down at her sad face.

Tear stains still linger against her skin, and her eyes are slightly puffy. All I want to do is take away her pain and make her happy and giggly, like she was before we stumbled on that place.

“Do you want to be alone right now?” I ask, trying to gauge the situation.

“Not really.” She presses her head into my chest.

“Okay, how about we run a bath, then I’ll join you?”

She nods her head slowly against my chest. “Okay.”

We head to the bathroom together as I turn on the water while adding in bubble bath, the steam quickly filling the room.

There’s a knock on the door, and her head perks up. “I’ll be right back, make sure it doesn’t overflow.” I chuckle and slip out of the bathroom.

When I open the door, one of the hotel staff is standing with a plastic bag. “Mr. Vitale, these are the groceries you asked be delivered once you arrived.”

“Thank you so much,” I say, handing him a hundred Euro note before closing and locking the door.

My phone vibrates, and I look down to see more messages from Valerie. She’s been messaging non-stop since we landed, but I’ve just been ignoring it.

“Who was it?” Theá asks from the bathroom, and I can hear she’s shut the water off.

“Something I needed delivered,” I say as I walk into the bathroom. I freeze in the doorway as she’s stripping down. “Wow, I’m fucking lucky.” I fall against the door frame and stare at her adoringly. Everything from the curve of her hips to the way they perfectly frame her gorgeous ass to her full breast. Her body is beyond perfect, and I can’t believe I’m lucky enough to get to witness it in such a natural state.

“You’re staring.” She chuckles as she steps into the bath.

“Can you blame me?” I ask, dropping the bag next to the bath.

She stays silent as I pull my hoodie over my head along with the white t-shirt I had on underneath. When I toss it over to where her clothes are, I catch her staring up at me.

“Who’s staring now?” I raise a brow as I kick off my shoes and pull off my sweat pants.

“Can you blame—” Her words catch in her throat once I’m standing in front of her, fully naked.

“Sorry,” I say sheepishly as I attempt to cover the semi I’ve had the entire day, now growing from seeing her naked.

“Why are you apologising?” she asks.

“With what just happened, I don’t want you thinking that I’ve just been thinking about sex…” I say.