—
Hours later, after we’ve explored each other, eaten all the leftovers and drank all the wine, we lie at the edge of the opening. My head is on Tag’s chest and the only sound other than our breathing is the steady beat of his heart.
“We can’t sleep here,” I say, breaking the silence.
“Why is that?”
“If we roll over too far, we’ll roll all the way down the mountain.”
His hold on me tightens. “I won’t let anything happen to you. You’re safe with me.”
I wonder at his words as I gaze out over the whitewashed field below. “My father can’t understand why I would even consider not marrying Michael when he’s the answer to our prayers.”
“Not to play the devil’s advocate, but maybe he’s just willing to do anything for his family. Some men would go to any extreme for the people they love.”
Although I find his remark a bit peculiar, I don’t comment on it or ask what lengths he’d go to for the well-being of his family.
“Maybe some men, but not him. I have no delusions about where I fall on his list of priorities.” I sigh, hating that I brought my father and my worries to this peaceful sanctuary. “If it weren’t for the kids at Safe Passage, I wouldn’t even be worrying about this. I don’t worry about what will happen to me. Or to Mom and Dad. I’m sure he has enough money stashed away to live well for the next hundred years. But the kids . . . If he cuts me off, he cuts them off.”
“Is he really that much of a bastard?”
“If it means getting what he wants? What he thinks is best? Yes. He is. He was always absorbed with his work, with becoming more and more powerful, but it wasn’t always this bad. Things were better when I was a little girl. We had some good times, especially here at Chiara. Before he became so driven. But the more he got, the more he wanted. And the more he wanted, the more ruthless he became until he got it.”
“Then we’ll find a way to work around him.”
“We?” The thought makes my heart shiver in delight. I don’t know why, but it does. Maybe it’s because Tag seems so capable and it would be wonderful if he could fix this. Or maybe it’s just the thought of him wanting to help me. That pleases me. Probably more than it should.
I feel him pick up his head to look down at me, so I lift mine and meet his luminous eyes. His lips curve into a lopsided smile. “Yeah. We. Unless you don’t want me to get involved.”
“No, it’s not that. It’s just that . . . No,” I finally say, returning his smile. “No, I like the ‘we.’”
“So do I.” He kisses my forehead and we rest our heads back down. Tag drags his fingertips lazily up and down my bare side. I drag mine lazily up and down his bare torso.
“So, you’d do pretty extreme things for the people you love?” I ask when the quiet has settled back around us like a soft, invisible blanket.
“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for the people I love.”
“You were raised in a very loving home, I guess.”
“I was.”
“Tell me about it. Tell me about your family.”
My head rises and falls with his chest as he takes a deep breath and lets it out. “My dad took this job before I was born. Moved Mom and me here when I was just a baby, to live full-time in the caretaker’s quarters. This place was all I ever knew for most of my life. I grew up with my hands in this dirt, surrounded by Chiara grapes and Chiara wine.”
“I wish I’d known you then,” I admit quietly.
I feel almost cheated that I was kept so far from the “common” people, as I’m sure Dad thought of them. While I was enjoying a luxurious family retreat in the mountains, Tag and his parents were working the fields that kept this place running. They are the backbone of Chiara, not my family.
“I saw you several times over the years. You were like a beautiful princess, kept in the highest room of the tallest tower, far away from the common folk.” I doubt Tag knows how accurate that statement actually is. “I never dreamed the little girl that I saw from a distance would grow into such an amazing woman.”
I hide my smile against his muscular pectoral. “I saw you from a distance once or twice. It’s probably a good thing they never let me get too close. I bet, even then, you’d have fascinated me.”
“Oh absolutely,” he says without one hint of doubt. I laugh and look up at him. He’s grinning down at me.
“I’m sure you were every bit as humble back then, too.”
“Of course.”
“When did you leave?”
“I enlisted in the Army when I was nineteen. I’d had enough of working the vines and just wanted out. I met some great guys, saw the world. Did a lot of different . . . things.”