CHAPTER 70

“Ponte Vecchio is a beautiful place, I assure you you'll have a splendid time”

Sharon nodded. She looked out the window of the tourist bus, her eyes were fixated on the scenery, but her mind was somewhere else

She was thinking about him

Apparently, her tour was slightly different from his, so while she was going to see the great ponte Vecchio, he was going to Sicily.

He had texted her that morning that they weren't going to see each other, probably till the end of the day.

So she was stuck with Georgia

And that was painfully depressing.

She had the unrepressible urge to be with him, to feel him wrap his arms around her

But it was just her wishful thinking

“Lost in thought huh?”

“Um, yeah I guess”

Sharon said, bringing her attention back to reality

“It's the Italy effect”

“The what?”

“The Italy effect. This place has a way of changing people, some say you'll never be the same person that came here, when you're leaving—”

“That's the second most ridiculous thing I've ever heard”

“Really? What was the most ridiculous?’

“It was ‘Come to Italy with me’”

“With who?”

“Nevermind, it was just a thought”

The bus approached their destination, and light filtered through the windows. Sharon could see the river, Arno. And for the first time since she arrived Italy, she was fixated on the scenery

“Ooh you're smiling, it's the Italy effect”

“No such thing”

They merged with the small crowd of people who were headed in the same direction. There was a Tour guide who narrated the history of the place to the tourists.

But Sharon had her personal tour guide, and she was hell bent on doing a better job explaining

Every now and again, the other tour guide cast side glances at them, for making noise and interrupting his flow.

But how was Sharon supposed to explain that her husband turned situationship hired her a personal tour guide, assistant and professional noisemaker for the duration of their love trip?

“Did you know that it used to be a place for butchers, but was turned into a shopping complex for precious items like gold because of the door?”

“Wow, I had no idea”

Sharon said in a sarcastic tone

They walked inside, and Georgia couldn't stop blabbing about how they were standing on a living piece of history

True to Georgia's words, it was a hub for precious items. Sharon marvelled at a gold necklace that caught her attention

The gold merchant saw her interest, and offered to sell it to her. Georgia translated everything

Sharon touched the show glass, and a feeling of nostalgia hit her. She felt something familiar, she could smell it too. There was only one person who could make her aware of his presence like that, only one man with an aura strong enough for her to sense that easily—

Sharon looked back, but she could only see the crowd

“The piece has been sold already, it's unfortunate”

Georgia said. It made Sharon realise that she had been lost in thought for a very long time.

“It's fine, I didn't come here to shop for jewellery anyway”

Sharon said, squeezing her hands together

“I want to use the bathroom, I don't need escort, I'll be back soon”

“Okay, I'll be right here, I won't move an inch”

“Right”

Sharon walked through the crowd, towards the bathroom. She received directions from a random individual, which was weird

But as she got closer, she couldn't ignore the feeling she had

She opened the toilet door, dropped her purse on the marble slab, and looked at her reflection in the mirror

But all she felt was Luca's presence—

******************

“You dropped something”

Sharon gasped

She could swear she heard Luca's voice

She grabbed her purse, in an attempt to leave, but she stopped dead in her tracks when she felt something cold on her neck. There was a dangerous aura around her

She felt large fingers caress her, and draw a line from her neck, to her back

“Luca?”

Sharon felt her heart race. The thought of not knowing who it was frightened her, but she didn't want to believe it was him

He was in Sicily

“Sharon”

His voice sent shivers through her spine. She could hear the possessiveness in his voice

“Luca”

She felt his lips on the crook of her neck, he trailed slow kisses down to her spine, and she melted into his arms. Her purse left her fingers, but he caught it

“Careful”

He said, before he turned her around

“It looks beautiful on you”

Sharon's eyes darted towards her neck. It was the necklace she admired earlier. He was the buyer, and he bought it—

For her

“I— I don't understand. I thought you were in Sicily”

“I missed you”

He grabbed her hands, and placed them on his neck

“So I turned around”

Luca's hands grabbed her by her waist, and he carried her to the marble countertop. Her legs dangled in the air, and he stood in front of her, towering over her.

“Luca”

She fixed her eyes on his nape. His first three buttons had come undone, and her eyes trailed down his chest

She used her right hand to touch his face, but almost immediately, she stopped touching him

He grabbed both her hands and placed them on the sides of his face, and guided them down to his chest

“Don't be scared”

Sharon felt him tense at her touch, he grabbed her legs and wrapped them around his torso.

And she closed the distance that was left between them with a kiss.

Luca used his hand to still her head from the back, and push her even closer to the kiss that was consuming them both

His other hand crawled inside her top, and he felt her shiver

“Breathe”

He whispered into her ear

His fingers grazed the lace of her bra, and pulled slightly at it

But he could hear her heartbeat, feel her tense up, feel her lose interest in the kiss that glued them together

So he pulled his hand out slowly

“It's fine, I'm not going to hurt—”

Luca felt his hand slide back inside her top, but Sharon was the one slipping it in

“It’s— it's okay”

Luca gave her a peck on the lips, then another, and in the third, he deepened the kiss. And they continued like nothing had ever happened

But they were interrupted by a knock on the toilet door—