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She laughs at how outlandish I sound. “You… you really did buy a whole media companyjustto see me?”

My grin spreads. “Too much?”

“Ever heard of a phone call? A text? Hell, an email?”

“You would’ve hung up on me. Blocked me. Sent my email to spam.”

“All true,” she laughs some more.

“I wanted your attention… and I wanted to save your network. I’m a regular viewer.”

“Something tells me just why you were tuning in.”

“Will you let me take you to dinner tonight?”

“Rafael…” she moans softly, the simplest sound of hers turning me on.

“Just the two of us,dolcezza. I’ll send a car to pick you up. I’d say wear something nice but you look good in anything.”

With a final squeeze of her hip, I turn to press the button that opens the elevator doors, stepping out into the hall like it’s business as usual. I can feel Portia watching every step I take in the seconds before the elevator doors close again.

* * *

Portia gasps when I escort her onto the rooftop of the Walden Tower, the tallest building in Newport City. I let her feast her eyes on the magnificent view of the skyline. Her jaw drops open as she tentatively inches forward and then peeks over the edge.

I grip her shoulders to keep her safe, easing her back toward me. “Do you like the view?”

“Like the view? It’s amazing! Even better than the photos. We’ve flown over the tower before when riding in the Metro News chopper, but this is next level.”

“Good thing it’s where we’re having dinner.” My hand seeks hers out as I gesture to the neat table and pair of chairs in the middle of the rooftop. A canopy has been set up over our seating to ward off some of the night’s winds.

“Dinner on top of the Walden Tower? I didn’t even know that was a thing.”

“It is now. I called in a favor with Chef Veltri. His staff will be serving us.”

“You mean the same Chef Veltri who has a world-famous restaurant in this building?”

I chuckle. “Yes,dolcezza. Tonight is for us to celebrate.”

We take our seats at the table and toast to the dinner ahead. Portia goes from jubilant and excited to uncertain and quiet in only a few minutes.

“Tell me what’s on your mind. Something else is bothering you.”

She sighs. “Rafael, I want to enjoy this. I really do. It’s just… I can’t get out of my head. I can’t stop thinking about Sicily. Everything seemed so perfect. Then it wasn’t. It changed in a blink of an eye, like some kind of optical illusion wearing off.”

“You’re concerned it will happen again.”

“Do you blame me?” she asks, a rawness about her. Old wounds that are still fresh in some way. “I really… liked you. The time we spent together meant something. And then you just disappeared and never spoke to me. I’m not the kind of woman who just gets over stuff like that. It’s very hard for me to open up again once someone hurts me.”

Portia has been hurt deeply. First by her ex-husband and then by me.

I’ve hoped she could move on from the past, but it seems difficult for her. She’s untrusting after what she’s been through and I’ve provided no specifics as to what happened.

I never will due to the nature of the situation.

But this is my opportunity to reassure her. Show her how she should be treated.

“It won’t happen again.”