Page 41 of Mafia Mistress

I mentally shook myself and removed my cover up. A tiny bikini had been waiting in my new closet, and it was a relief to feel the sun on my whole body. “I love it. This is perfect.”

His eyes swept down my body. “You are bellissima, Frankie.”

“Grazie. You are quite bellissimo yourself.”

“Thank you.” He smirked. “I am thinking whoever purchased that bikini for you should be arrested. It is criminal how good you look.”

I glanced around to make sure we were alone. “You are gay, right?” I asked in a whisper.

“That does not mean I cannot appreciate beauty when I see it.”

“Is that how you’re planning on creating the next generation of Ravazzanis?”

Giulio grimaced, his teasing forgotten. “I am hoping to delay that as long as possible. No offense.”

“None taken. I am also hoping to delay that.” Like never. “But you’ll have to make babies some day, right?”

“Of course, yes.”

“Will we be overheard while onboard?”

“Not here. It’s already been swept for bugs and my father doesn’t have cameras installed. I think it’s because he uses the boat with Katarzyna.” His phone suddenly pinged several times from where it rested on the table.

“Should you get that?”

“Would you mind?”

“This isn’t a date, Giulio.”

He grinned and lifted his phone. “I like you, Frankie. You make this easy.” Whatever he read on the screen caused him to frown.

“Trouble at work?”

“My father. He didn’t know I was bringing you out today.”

“Why would he care?”

“I stopped trying to understand him years ago.” He put his phone back on the table. “He is acting strangely. I can’t explain it, but he’s very interested in your whereabouts at all times.”

“No doubt worried I’m going to escape.” Which I would. My first attempt had failed, but it was only a matter of time before I succeeded.

“No, it’s more than that.” Cradling his wine glass, he leaned back in his chair. “I caught him looking at footage of you and Vincenzo in the winery.”

I straightened. “What?”

“It was so strange. He closed the window quickly, like he didn’t want me to know.”

Ravazzani was watching me? Why? If I was on the estate then I hadn’t escaped. “He’s probably worried I will seduce Vincenzo and ruin his plans to marry us off.”

Giulio laughed. “Vincenzo is at least sixty years old. You’d give him a heart attack if you tried to seduce him.”

I would never. Vincenzo was like the grandfather I never had. In a very short time I’d come to really like him.

Unfortunately, there was a lot I liked about Italy and the estate. I was learning tons about grapes and plants, wine and oil. They even had bergamot trees, a citrus species native to Calabria that I hadn’t seen before, and the fruit tasted sour and bitter and delicious.

And I couldn’t handle the baby lambs and their cuteness. I’d already given them all names, and I looked forward to feeding them every day.

We finished lunch and a crew member cleared our plates, while we took our bottle of wine to the deck chairs by the pool. The yacht had stopped in an inlet, a tiny cove with crystal clear water and no one else around. “We can swim here, if you’d like,” Giulio said. “Pool or sea?”

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