Page 64 of The Breaker
Constantine took me out to dinner throughout the week, and tonight, we ended up at his favorite spot, Trattoria da Nino. He’d taken me there before, during that first week we met, and he knew everyone on the waitstaff ... as always.
We had a nice table outside, but it was too dark to see the water now. A summer breeze flowed over us and brushed through my hair like soft fingertips. The dress had been a little tight when I’d put it on, somy body was subtly starting to change. I didn’t notice it with the naked eye, but clothes didn’t lie.
Constantine merely glanced at the menu before he looked at me again. “What are you thinking, sweetheart?”
“The pappardelle pasta looks good.”
When the waiter came over, Constantine ordered wine for himself, the bruschetta to start, and then ordered our entrées. As always, he wanted the fresh catch of the day and requested to clean it himself.
After the wine was poured, he sat with his elbows on the table and stared at me. “Think I found a spot for the restaurant.”
“Yeah?”
“It’s kinda tucked away off the main street, but I like that.”
“The best things in life are always off the beaten path.”
“Sometimes,” he said as his eyes stayed on me. “Excited for that doctor’s appointment next week.”
“You’re the first man ever to say that,” I said with a chuckle.
“It’s the start of a new adventure. I’m excited.”
“Well, you aren’t the one who has to push this adventure out of your vagina.”
He gave a quiet chuckle. “That’s fair. Wish I could do it for you.”
“I wouldn’t fight you on that.”
He smiled again before he filled his wineglass. “We should take a drive and get some shopping done. There’s a lot of stuff we’re going to need in a couple months.”
“We have like eight months.”
“But it’ll be here before you know it,” he said. “I like to be prepared.”
The first man I’d ever met who had his shit together, who wasn’t afraid to be proactive about tasks, who was on his game every single day. I loved his boss energy, and I loved his ambition ... among all the other things I loved about him. “Can’t believe this is real.”
“Yeah.” He looked out to the dark coastline, his eyes warm in their version of a smile. “Pretty great, huh?” He reached for his wineglass and lifted it by the stem. “La dolce vita, right?”
I picked up my water glass and gently tapped it against his. “La dolce vita.”
I had that Monday off, so Constantine asked if I wanted to spend the day at the beach.
And there was no way I was going to pass that up. I packed my tiny little bikini that I wouldn’t be able to wear in a couple months ... or maybe ever again. I took my sun hat, my shades, and a cover-up.
Constantine had a driver drop us off at Belmond Villa Sant’Andrea, and we walked down the path and the stairs to the beach club below. It was the same place we’d been to with his friends, and I was excited to go back, especially since it was just the two of us.
He checked us in to a private cabana like last time, but we used the set of loungers closer to the water, right in front of the rock we’d recklessly climbed and jumped off months ago. The waiter came over and brought us drinks, and we lounged in the shade together and watched the boats in the cove.
He was in his black swim trunks, a muscled hunk covered in tattoos, an eleven out of ten. I noticed a few girls looking at him, but I wasn’t even mad. Who could blame them, right? He ordered a mortadella and pistachio pizza like the last time we were here, but he was so fit, it didn’t look like he’d ever had pizza in his life.
“When your mom showed me your family photos, you didn’t look the way you do now.”
One arm was propped underneath his neck as he gazed out at the water, a slight smile on his lips. “I left a boy and returned a man.”
“What made you make that change?”
“Because no one respects you unless they think you can kill them with your bare hands. When I came home for the first time, my mother nearly didn’t recognize me.” He released a quiet chuckle. “And then she made all my food portions bigger, like they weren’t already big enough.”
