Italian Billionaire’s Stubborn Lover Read online

  “Anything wrong?” Adeline asked. She had the expression of someone who was concerned but who also didn’t want to pry.

  “Everything is fine,” Nicolo said, waving a hand through the air. “I’m being called to a meeting, but it’s not until next week.”

  “Work?”

  “Yes, it’s for a prominent construction project in India.”

  “Oh.” Adeline seemed to deflate a little, and she took another sip of wine. “I guess that your work keeps you traveling a lot.”

  Nicolo could hear her unspoken words. She wanted to know where she would fit into his life if he was always on the other side of the world. He wished he had an answer, but he didn’t. He’d had relationships before but they never lasted much longer than the work he did in that location. Work always—always—got the priority of his attention. It had been his truest and most lasting passion that no woman had ever been able to compete against.

  It shouldn’t be a competition, he reminded himself, but the words fell flat in his head. It was his work that embodied all that was important to him in life, with the exception of his family. The women left behind had always faded away and were quickly forgotten as he started in on whatever project was laid out before him as his newest challenge.

  I won’t let that happen to her, he silently vowed.

  “You could come with me,” he said. “I could show you the world.”

  “You mean for a weekend?”

  Nicolo shrugged. “Or a month… or two.”

  Adeline’s attention shifted to look out over the sea, and he knew that his answer had failed to impress. He understood why. Asking her to run around the world while he pursued his life was asking her to put her own life’s pursuits on hold. He would get everything, but she would only get him. Then, if he was gone, she would have nothing left but memories and a life to rebuild. It was a terrible thing for him to ask of her. He knew that, and now he realized that she knew it, too.

  Silence dragged between them until Nicolo could stand it no more. “Tell me what it is that you want to see when you look at the Romano del Mare.”

  Adeline twisted to look over her shoulder at the sprawling building that stood a dozen yards away. Then, she pivoted her hips and pulled her legs up so that she sat with the outside of her thigh pressed against the blanket and her knees together.

  “Lights,” she said. “During the day, nature and the natural surroundings are what is most beautiful. But in the evening, I would love to see the Romano del Mare lit up as the star of the night.”

  It was a very cosmetic answer that did nothing for the structural integrity that would keep the Romano del Mare’s patrons safe, but he liked it all the same. He loved the way she always looked for the best in all she saw. To her, everything glowed with the sparkle of a jewel.

  A half-hour later, Nicolo helped Adeline to her feet, and they headed inside the resort to talk further about the updates that needed to be done.

  “The entire building’s electrical system needs to be rewired, and the electrical systems for the kitchen, laundry and other service areas need to be updated to meet industrial needs. The inspector found several hotspots throughout the building that could have easily turned into fires,” Nicolo said as they stood within the grand foyer. The floor was made of marble and the ceiling reached all the way up both floors to the building’s roof.

  “High speed Internet plug-ins for every room with an option of individually password protected Wi-Fi.”

  Nicolo’s mouth dropped open. “Why not use one Wi-Fi signal for the entire resort?”

  “It would overload it, and the user couldn’t be confident that their data uploads weren’t getting intercepted and stolen.”

  “Oh,” Nicolo said, feeling more than a little bit impressed as he shoved his hands deep inside his pockets. He rocked back on his heels and considered Adeline’s suggestion. What she was recommending was addressing an actual safety issue, though not necessarily one that was life or death. “The plumbing needs to be gutted and reinstalled with a new boiler as well.” It was possible for the current plumbing to introduce lead contaminants into the water, and the old boiler was an explosive hazard.

  “Restore the existing crown molding where possible and replace it in places it can’t be fixed,” Adeline said.

  “Crown molding?”

  “Mmhmm,” Adeline nodded. “When buyers come into the space, while they’re going to care about the updated wiring and plumbing, what they will see is the crown molding.”

  Nicolo tried to hide his smile. Adeline’s plans seemed to be leaning toward getting the Romano del Mare ready for a new launch rather than a new owner, and he loved her ambition. He loved that when he gave an inch she then asked for a mile. Her drive, fire and passion were exhilarating. She was always ready to push him and challenge him, and his money meant nothing to her beyond what it could do for the Romano del Mare.

  And yet, he was still torn. Restoring the resort would add decades and maybe even centuries to its life. He wouldn’t give someone else rights to the Romano name for all that time, and he was leaning heavily toward making a name change a requirement of any future purchase of the resort, even though that stipulation would likely make selling the place all the harder. The Romano del Mare once held the clout of having within it a Michelin five-star restaurant. For a restaurant to have five stars was as rare as unicorns, and many foodies still remembered the Romano del Mare’s name because of it. Its name had a lot of value, and most buyers would likely be reticent to move forward without it.

  “And how much do you think this crown molding will cost, and do you think that its cost will be supported by an increased value of the property during a re-sale?” Nicolo thought that he was making a sharp point with his question, but to his surprise Adeline smiled with smug satisfaction and marched over to him with her notebook tucked snug under her arm. Pulling it out, she opened it, and then dragged her finger down one of many columns.

  “Here we go,” she said, tapping her finger on “Crown Molding.” He followed the line item over to a column of numbers. The anticipated cost of the crown molding was marked in red, the anticipated re-sale value was marked in black, and then the difference between them was marked in black, indicating an increased value to the property above the loss of the expense of fixing the crown molding.

  Nicolo took the folder from her and started flipping through its pages. “When did you do this?”

  “I started on it eight months ago, right after I signed on with Vero Immobiliare Real Estate. That they handled the account for the Romano del Mare is the reason—the only reason—I accepted the job.”

  Nicolo didn’t know what to say, so he did what he did best. He looked at the columns of numbers. “I know that you told me previously that these are accurate, but I don’t see how they could be,” he said, and then answered his own doubt by declaring, “These can’t be accurate. They’re too low. Anyone willing to do the jobs at these prices would do sub-par work.”

  A tap sounded on the open front door of the Romano del Mare’s main entrance. Looking up from the notebook, Nicolo saw that it was a man who looked to be in his early 50’s, dressed in a rolled-sleeve, button-up shirt tucked into tan slacks that had definitely seen many a day of honest work.

  “Alberto!” Adeline exclaimed and walked toward the man with arms open. They greeted each other with a two-armed embrace and kisses to each cheek. “Alberto, this is Nicolo Romano, the owner of the Romano del Mare.”

  “One of the owners,” Nicolo said, crossing the space between them to shake Alberto’s hand.

  “Alberto Scuderi,” Alberto said, completing his introduction. His face was weathered with deep-set wrinkles from squinting in the sun, but he had a genuine kindness to his eyes. Nicolo liked him instantly.

  “Alberto is a contractor that I’ve requested to come by to talk to us about the restoration,” Adeline said.

  Alberto took in a deep breath and looked around the great room while giving small nods of h
is head. “I’ve seen all of the inspection reports,” he said in a booming voice that could have belonged to an announcer, and Nicolo imagined him having to make himself heard over loud machinery. “I’ve walked every inch of her space and have crawled over much of her on my hands and knees. With regard to the main building and not what's beneath her, I can do this job and do it right. The rest will need a medieval specialist.”

  “Do you have a price in mind?” Nicolo asked, wary of what he was about to hear. He wasn’t sure what renovations Alberto had in mind. They didn’t need everything fixed, only the basics—those items that were issues of safety.

  “One point eight,” Alberto announced with his broad chest puffed out. Next to him Adeline was beaming.

  Nicolo repressed a cough, then leaned in as he asked, “One point eight what?”

  Alberto’s expressive brow shot up halfway to his hairline. “One point eight million euro,” his voice boomed.

  Nicolo did cough. “I’m not sure that our expectations are aligned,” he said in the most congenial fashion instead of blurting, “Hell no!”

  Adeline waved her hands in the air as if to halt Nicolo before he could say anything else. “He’s quoting that price for doing everything that is in that binder.”

  “Everything?”

  “Everything,” Adeline assured.

  “Just a moment,” Nicolo said, excusing himself from Alberto. “I need to confer with Adeline.”

  Alberto waved them off, the whole of his attention already absorbed in the building within which he stood.

  Taking Adeline by the hand, Nicolo led them down the nearest corridor and around the corner where they would be out of sight and most likely out of earshot.

  “What exactly is he offering to do?” Nicolo asked as he started with the first page of the binder and began scanning down the list. It was written in small print, and the number of items listed on each page was extensive. “This list is everything that would be needed to get the Romano del Mare completely operational again, save for the staff, stock and the catacombs,” he said in amazement. He flipped to the back of the binder and looked at the final total of estimated cost. “Three point nine million euro. He’s offering to do it for almost half! There’s no way he could do it. He’ll do a terrible job and cut corners in dangerous ways. How could you even recommend him, Adeline?” He turned sharp eyes on her and was surprised to see that her shoulders were back and her head was held high with determination in her eyes. She wasn’t backing down at all.

  “He’s offering to do it at cost!” she said, jabbing her finger at the notebook. “Those numbers are based on what a builder would traditionally charge.”

  “At cost?” Nicolo exclaimed, not convinced. “How would he even pay his workers?”

  “It’s a family business, four generations—his father, his uncle, him, three brothers, fourteen nieces and nephews, two sons, and eight grandsons and two granddaughters. One of the granddaughters is a master electrician and he”—she motioned to where they had left Alberto—“is a master plumber. His father is a master carpenter, and one of his cousins is a journeyman roofer who is scheduled to be considered for master status in another year. They have experience with buildings this old, and they can even do landscaping.”

  Nicolo wasn’t sure what to say. “That’s a lot of mouths to feed. They have to make a living. What’s in this for them?”

  “Recommend me and my family for all future maintenance of this resort,” Alberto’s voice boomed from all the way in the foyer.

  Adeline tried to keep a straight face but giggles overtook her, and she buried her face in Nicolo’s chest.

  Nicolo chuckled as he kissed her head. Then she lifted her face to him, and he kissed her mouth. “What have you done, t’amu?”

  “Everything,” Adeline whispered against his lips as her fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt.

  “You are everything, t’amu,” Nicolo whispered back before losing himself in another kiss. Adeline had convinced him that the Romano del Mare had a future beyond demolition. Now he needed to convince his brothers of the same.

  10

  Adeline

  Adeline stood at the bottom of the long, curving steps that led down to the water at the Romano del Mare, a huge camera hanging around her neck. She wore a white, cotton shirt that she’d left unbuttoned with a rose colored string bikini top underneath, and her tan roll-bottom shorts were perfect for showing off her legs. Next to her sat a huge tote stuffed full of all the various items she’d packed for her adventure-promised day.

  “What are we doing here?” she asked.

  “You said you wanted adventure.” Nicolo laughed from where he sat in the rear seat of a two-seater kayak. “It’s time to have one.” He was dressed in charcoal grey shorts that reached halfway down his muscled thighs, and his button-up, light blue, short sleeve cotton shirt stood open to expose his tan and toned chest.

  “But here? I’ve been here,” Adeline complained, not at all convinced that whatever Nicolo had planned would measure up to the fun day of new experiences that he had promised. “And where am I going to put all my stuff?”

  “Exactly, bedda! Stuff… it’s just stuff.” He pulled on a string that was attached to the back of the kayak and lifted a wet-bag out of the water. It was designed to keep items dry as the bag floated along behind the kayak. “This one is for you to fill.”

  Adeline eyed the bag he held up. It was much, much smaller than her tote.

  “It’ll be okay. This is what adventure is. It’s leaving things behind so that you can embrace what’s to come.”

  “Mmhmm, is that what you tell yourself every time you board that flying house of yours?”

  Nicolo threw back his head with a bark of laughter. “You have me. Guilty. I need to learn from your example and travel light.” He wiggled the empty wet-bag in the air, and his eyes sparkled with mischief.

  To her chagrin, Adeline couldn’t stop Nicolo’s infectious laughter and smile from reaching her, and she found herself smiling just as big back at him. She had been wanting adventure, and now was her chance. So what that it didn’t look the way she had imagined it would? After all, having everything you experienced planned out wasn’t an exciting way to have an adventure. She needed to let go and trust.

  Leaning over, she snatched the bag from Nicolo and then dumped all of her belongings out of her tote onto the small boat landing. She selected the snack bars, bottled water, sunscreen and an assortment of other small items before piling her change of shoes, clothes and towels back into her tote. At the bottom of it all, she stashed the heavy camera, deciding her cell phone’s camera would have to do. As for her sunglasses, she perched them atop her head.

  “I’m ready!” she announced, tossing the wet-bag back into the water. The look that Nicolo gave her was full of adoration and pride, so much so that it made her cheeks heat in a blush. A part of her knew that his affection wasn't deserved, though. She'd lied to him and had manipulated him into doing what she thought was right. The more she got to know him, the more she regretted using him in that way. He meant something to her. He was important to her, and his opinion of her was important to her. If he knew the truth... She pushed the thought out of her head.

  Taking hold of Nicolo’s steadying hand, Adeline made her way into the kayak. It swayed precariously to and fro but steadied quickly once she’d sat down.

  Nicolo pushed them away from the boat landing with the tip of his paddle, and then they were off, gliding through the gently rippling waters. They both paddled, but Nicolo steered, guiding them out of the Romano del Mare’s small bay.

  Rounding the edge of the bay to have open sea on one side and the island on the other, Nicolo kept them within easy swimming distance of land as they made their way down the rocky and cliff-riddled Sicilian coast. The land was arid and jagged but with a beautiful resilience that had withstood salt, storms, and the pounding seas for centuries. It was a testament to strength and endurance, and its startling bea
uty could be found in the most unexpected places. Adeline marveled that she had never taken the time to see Sicily beyond what was offered to the everyday tourist. She had overlooked so much of Sicily’s beauty.

  Forty-five minutes into the trip, Nicolo angled the kayak’s nose toward a sheer rock face.

  “What are you doing?” Adeline asked as they neared the sheer wall of granite. The cliff towered above them, taller than the Romano del Mare would if they were to stand at her door.

  “Do you trust me?”

  “Of course I trust you, but…” Adeline held her breath as the kayak’s tip got closer to the rocks, but then the kayak’s angle changed—and so did Adeline’s whole world. With the side of the kayak practically touching the cliff face, the kayak’s nose now pointed at an opening—a channel with walls as high as the cliff itself. It had not been visible from further away because of how the rocky face of the cliff jutted out and blocked the opening from being seen.

  Adeline instinctively pulled her paddle from the waters and held it against the side of the kayak as Nicolo navigated them through the narrow channel of rock. Ten feet in, the channel curved and the tip of the kayak’s bow scraped the wall in front of it, but Nicolo managed to keep them moving forward.

  Adeline gasped as the end of the channel came into view and the entire world as she knew it changed yet again. Just like stepping through a door, Adeline found herself in an island bowl of stone and water. The cliffs towered above in every direction, and when she looked at the clear water below, she could just make out an underwater bottom that she guessed to be about ten feet down. It looked to be stone as well.

  “How did you find this place?” Adeline asked, her voice full of awe.

  “It was actually Leonardo, one of my older brothers. He showed it to me when we were kids. Touch the water, bedda.”

  Adeline dipped her fingers into the clear, glass-smooth water as the kayak glided forward. She gasped again. It was as warm as a heated swimming pool.