Keira sat back against the pillows, her mouth twisted to the side in consternation.

“What is wrong?” Cristiano asked her. “You have your frown on.”

Keira sighed. “Elliot isn’t sure about my last passage. He thinks it’s a bit sinister. Inappropriate to talk about in a romance article.”

“You thought it was sinister too, once,” Cristiano reminded her. “When I first wanted to take you to the cemetery you said it was morbid. Without experiencing it, it must seem a bit jarring for American eyes.”

“You’re right,” she agreed. “But I really want that passage in there. It’s important to me. It’s when things clicked into place for me. For us.”

Cristiano grinned and stroked her arm. “Because we made love that night?”

Keira grinned. “Amongst other things.”

Though they’d been sleeping in the same bed for the last few days, the fact they were staying with Cristiano’s parents had tempered the passion somewhat. That fact that in Verona it would just be the two of them again was the main reason why she was excited to be heading off today. Keeping her passion under wraps was proving very, very difficult.

Keira also realized, sadly, that Verona indicated that her time in Italy would soon come to an end. It was her final destination, the last stop on her trip. They had just one weekend there before her trip was to come to an end. On Monday, she was to fly home and leave Italy behind her. Whether she would also be leaving Cristiano in the past, Keira did not yet know. They hadn’t talked about it. She got the impression from him—and everyone she’d met in Italy thus far—that they tended to live in the moment and not spend much time worrying about what the future would bring. She was bracing herself for it to be bad news, for things to end with Cristiano in much the same way they had with Shane. Distance would be hurdle that he was not willing to overcome.

But Keira took a leaf from Cristiano’s book. They still had Verona, a whole weekend together. And she was determined to enjoy every second of it.

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

Beneath Keira, the Vespa thrummed. She and Cristiano had decided to road trip together on the scooter, even though it meant couriering her suitcase and his satchel onward to Verona. But it would be worth it, and Keira was looking forward to the romantic journey through Tuscany and into northern Italy.

She turned and waved at Sabrina and Francesco, who were standing in the doorway of their villa in order to bid them farewell. Then she wrapped her arms around Cristiano’s middle, and they were off, careening down the hillsides at top speed.

The journey was to take three hours, starting off in the Tuscany countryside to the north of Florence, before cutting through Cristiano’s university city of Bologna. Some of the journey was undertaken on large, wide roads carved straight through the valleys of the mountains. Some was on smaller, single-track roadways which were lined either side by tall fern trees and evergreens.