Page 13 of The Roman's Woman (A Singular Obsession)

Her father had hated her legs, along with the rest of her figure. Sophia favored her mother in appearance, a detail he would never let her forget.

“Must you run around chasing a ball all the time?” he would criticize, adding that it made her thighs too thick.

Which was true. She built muscle easily on her legs, and soccer made them grow wide, much to her father’s disgust. Richard wasn’t much better in his opinion of her body, and she couldn’t help but wonder why he had pursued her when she was so clearly not his type. But Gio looked at her legs with ill-concealed appreciation, and she couldn’t help basking in the warm glow of his interest.

All too soon, however, that warmth quickly turned to hot sweatiness as the two of them huffed and puffed their way up to the top of the dome. Once at the top, a hot dry wind whipped her hair as she squinted against the sunlight.

“Are you all right?” Gio asked, noticing that she was hugging the wall of the dome, rather than taking a photo from the rickety railing surrounding the circular balcony.

Tense, she smiled thinly. “Um, yes. I just learned the hard way not to stand close to the edge.”

“Are you afraid of heights?”

“Not exactly,” she said, still plastered against the wall.

Gio smiled and held out his hand. Sighing, Sophia took hold of it and stepped to the edge. She was fine until she looked down, then her head spun and she had to close her eyes as a wave of vertigo swept over her. She swayed slightly.

“Okay, bad idea, bad idea.” Gio put his arm around her and herded her to the stairs.

She laughed weakly and they started down the long winding descent, her hand gripping the rails or stone walls whenever she could.

“This is a recent problem,” she explained as they reached the street.

“Did you have a bad experience?” Gio asked, his brow creased in concern.

“In a way. It’s the damnedest thing. I was in Barcelona earlier this year for a weekend holiday, and I visited all of the Gaudi monuments. I was on the top ofLa Pedrera, Casa Milà. It has those guard-shaped turrets and uneven floors. It’s kind of like a cartoon about knights on acid.”

He laughed. “Yes, I’ve been there and it is a little disorienting.”

“You won’t find an argument here. I couldn't walk up there. I felt ridiculous hanging on to the walls and railings. And now it keeps happening. I step near an edge more than two stories high and bam—vertigo.”

He ran his hand up and down her back in a comforting caress. “No more high places.”

“But I don’t want to miss anything!” she protested. “Let’s just stay away from the edge next time.”

“Okay,” he promised.

After grabbing a quick bite, they wandered some more, soaking up the venerated atmosphere of the city. She snapped a thousand pictures of her favorite statue, Perseus with the head of Medusa, outside of the Palazzo Vecchio. She had loved the piece since she saw it in her favorite movie, “A Room with a View”. When she mentioned that to Gio, she was pleased to learn that he knew it well enough to show her where some of the scenes had been shot. It wasn’t exactly a guy movie, but he seemed to have eclectic taste in films.

Despite the crowds and heat in the street, Sophia had never felt so energized. It was like swimming in electrified water, the fictional kind that didn’t electrocute you. She loved the way the air smelled and the way the sun beat down on her skin. It was a welcome change from English weather.

Later, they shopped on the Ponte Vecchio, a medieval stone closed-spandrel arch bridge over the Arno River. It was lined with stores, most selling jewelry. She bought herself a silver necklace, but had to argue with her earnest tour guide to be allowed to pay for it.

Gio seemed genuinely upset that she wouldn’t let him buy her the expensive piece of jewelry, but she was adamant. He worked too hard for his money to let him spend it on her.

“You can buy me a gelato,” she bargained with him, teasing until he grudgingly agreed and they headed back to theGelateria Carabe.

Gelato led to dinner and dinner led to tomorrow and another city. She mentioned wanting to see the ancient site of Pompeii and suddenly they were there, walking through the baking hot and dusty streets. They pored over the ancient mosaic frescoes that had been buried in ash throughout the preserved cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and refilled a water bottle from quaint spigoted fountains doting the complex. After viewing the famousBirth of Venusfresco, Gio bribed a guard for access to villas closed to the public to view even more works of art.

Throughout the visit, Gio was the perfect gentleman, even when she was blushing her way through the lupanar, the well-preserved brothel in Pompeii. Apparently, the ancient Romans weren’t shy about sex. The graphic depictions were found outside the brothel too, catching her unawares and sending a periodic flood of heat through her body whenever they came across one. The images wouldn’t normally have embarrassed her, but somehow seeing them with Gio made her nervous.

That night, they ate at a casual buffet place calledTodisco. They filled up on a delicious assortment of food. Once they were finished she was given a tour of the kitchens while Gio chatted with the owner, whom he seemed to know well. Later, when she tried to pay, Gio didn’t argue with her because the owners waved her cash away and insisted it was on the house. Then he walked her to the hotel and went off to spend the night with yet another relative.

The next day, they headed to Naples to view more treasures excavated from Pompeii and Herculaneum at the archeological museum. While there, a friend of Gio’s led them through a display of mummies and showed them a few treasures hidden in the storage rooms. They also explored some of the Roman water deposits and a few churches off the beaten path.

Completely spent from the non-stop sightseeing, she let Gio convince her to spend a few days lounging on the beaches of Ischia—a gem of an island an hour’s boat ride from Napoli. He didn’t even blink when she wore a concealing swim tank and boy shorts covered by a gauzy shirt. He simply smiled as if he could see through it and ordered her a cocktail from a beachside bar. They drank them on shaded lounge chairs, enjoying the sun and view of the crystalline water.

Eventually Gio suggested going back to Rome to hit a few ruins and museums she missed the first time, and she went along, content to follow his lead.

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