Our Little Secret by Rachael Stewart (free ebook novel txt) 📕

I feel a small stab of guilt that it’s not quite the full truth. That in actual fact my few encounters with her brother have shown me another side to him, one that Dani doesn’t seem to know exists, and it’s that knowledge of him that has me wanting to go to him now.

He’s done so much to ensure this wedding comes off without a hitch that to get up and walk out during dinner isn’t something he would do lightly.

But I can’t let her know any of that. Not right this second, at any rate. Instead, I give her one more squeeze. ‘Save some Eton Mess for me, won’t you?’

She taps my hand, her smile one of gratitude now. ‘Will do. And don’t let him keep you too long. We thought we’d play cards after dinner. If you can coax Raf away from his work, it’d be nice if he could join us too.’

‘I’ll see what I can do.’

One last smile and I’m walking in his direction, hoping he has stuck to the softly lit path, because if he hasn’t I’m never going to find him. It’s hard to hear anything over the chatter back at the table and the ripple of the insects in the undergrowth. The further I walk, the more the insects take over, and I realise I have no idea where he is. I’m almost at the pool when I sense movement off to my right and see a shadow in amongst the vines. Rafael?

I squint into the darkness but it’s no use. I start blindly in that direction, hoping there’s nothing in the undergrowth about to attack me. I feel oddly vulnerable leaving the path behind, the vines running either side of me, the trill of the insects even louder now; I breathe in deeply and let the scent of Tuscany soothe my elevated pulse.

‘Rafael?’ I call out softly and the shadow becomes a definite figure as he turns to face me. His eyes glitter in the darkness, the moonlight cast through the vines streaking across his face, and I can make out his hands shoved deep into his pockets. ‘Is everything...is everything okay?’

‘What are you doing here?’ His tone is hard, so hard I wonder if I’ve misjudged the situation. Maybe I’m the last person he wants coming after him.

‘Sorry, I just wanted to make sure you’re okay. I can... I can go.’ I start to turn away and he steps forward, his hand closing softly around my wrist and sending a zip of warmth right through my arm.

‘No, I’m sorry.’ He stops to stand before me, so close I can feel his breath brush against my hair. ‘Like I said before, my family—or, rather, my mother—brings out the worst in me.’

I look up into his eyes and search their harrowed depths for the answers I so desperately want, even though I hardly know him. It’s been less than twenty-four hours, yet it feels like a lifetime, and I can’t stop the question from surfacing. ‘Why did you leave?’

He shakes his head and rakes a hand through his hair as he looks to the darkened vineyard rather than me. ‘You won’t understand.’

‘Try me. Please.’

He flicks me a look and I can see the hesitation in the line forming between his brows.

‘I want to understand.’

He wets his lips and I sense his nervousness. The severe, strong, confident Rafael is nervous and my heart flutters with the realisation.

‘My mother never speaks of my father. She never speaks of Tuscany or our time here. It...it was a shock.’

‘It hurt you.’

He scoffs. ‘It made me uncomfortable.’

‘Why? Because it makes you realise that perhaps you and your mother have more in common than you think?’

‘We are nothing alike.’

I place a palm on his arm. ‘She seemed very genuine.’

Another scoff.

‘You don’t think she was?’

His mouth is a grim line and I don’t press. I wait patiently, hoping he will open up.

‘No, I think she meant it, that’s why...why it got to me.’

Why it hurt so much, my brain supplies for him, because it does hurt him; I can see it in his face as I turn him to look at me.

‘You should talk to her about it, let her open up to you, and you can do the same in return. Life’s too short not to try to salvage a relationship with her, Rafael.’

I feel the pain of my own loss, my own mother, who I’d give anything to have back in my life once more.

‘Perhaps.’

His eyes are so dark in the low light, dark and pained; the lines bracketing his mouth, severe. I want to reach up and smooth them away. I want to kiss his lips and make them soften, make them smile or slacken with desire. Anything but this.

And it’s something I have the power to do. He’s opened me up to new possibilities, to pleasure, wild and abandoned... My lips feel parched with the memory of it all and I wet them, watching his eyes flare as they trace the move, and I know I’m not alone in riding this fresh wave of heat.

The air seems to thicken and wrap around us, the sound of the insects falling away as our elevated breaths blend into the same rhythm.

‘You should go back to the table before you are missed.’

He says the words, but his hand doesn’t release me. Instead, his other hand lifts to cup my cheek. His fingers are gentle and his eyes roam over my face, intense, searching.

‘I want you to come back with me.’ I remember that’s why I’m here. To make sure he’s okay and bring him back for dessert, for cards with his family. But my feet are as rooted as the vines around us.

‘I will...’ His gaze rests on my lips and his head lowers slowly, so slowly. ‘Soon.’

And then his mouth sweeps over mine and the tiny little tremors that have been building ever since he grabbed my wrist take off inside. The whimper I utter,