ANTONIO

“This is all yours?” Lauren asks at my side as we step foot on the small island I purchased as an escape five years ago.

This place isn’t much. Five acres of sand, palm trees, and a single house I use when I need to get away from society and all the trappings. I’ve never brought another woman here with me. But I couldn’t think of a better place to take Lauren that would allow us to get away from everything and everyone in our life and be completely out of the public eye.

“Yes.”

She turns in a circle, kicking her bare feet in wet sand after the ocean washes back out before crashing down again. “No one else lives here? A housekeeper, maybe?”

“It’s just the two of us and no one else.”

The house had been prepared and fully stocked by the two employees who care for the property on my behalf. They were given strict orders not to interrupt us under any circumstances.

“Wow.” She glances up at the full moon, backlit by thousands of stars visible in the sky. “I could look at this for hours.”

I don’t spend nearly enough time on the beach at night, appreciating the beauty and the splendor of the sky without the intrusion of city lights and civilization. The stars twinkle like diamonds on silk, shimmering slightly as we move below. “How about we change into something more comfortable and have a few drinks down here?”

She tilts her head and studies me. “You’d do that?”

I motion to her with my hands. “Come on. We can sleep out here if you want, but I need to get out of my suit and grab a drink.”

She walks slowly toward the house, carrying her high heels and glances back at me only once. I regret the language in my contract. I brought her here as a guest, wanting to spend more time with her and see if what I felt that night between us was just sex or something more.

But I laid my cards on the table, and now I must find a way to make her see me as something more than the world’s biggest asshole. That title I have down pat, but I want her to see me for who I really am. I worry the hole I dug may be too big for even me to find my way out.

When she steps foot inside the house, she freezes and drops her shoes to the floor.

Maybe I should’ve told her there’s only one bed in my open-air home. Since I’m the only person who stays on the island, there isn’t a need for bedrooms. To make the home feel larger than it truly is, there’s only one room, like a giant studio apartment. I have a large deck that wraps around the entire home, with doors that fold into the walls, making it feel more like an outdoor space than an actual home.

She turns toward me with narrowed eyes. “There’s one bed.”

“I know.” I grin.

“I snore,” she replies quickly. “You won’t get any rest if we have to share a bed.”

“Lucky for you,” I say with an even bigger smile, “I’m a sound sleeper.” I’m lying, but then again, so is she. “You can change in the bathroom while I change into something a little more weather appropriate too. We’ll discuss sleeping later, but for now, I want to watch the world go by. There’s a walk-in closet in the bathroom, and it’s filled with clothes picked just for you.”

She stares at me, blinking a few times like she’s trying to comprehend what I said. I know I spoke the words in English and didn’t fuck up the translation, yet she’s looking at me like I have three heads. She opens her mouth like she’s going to say something, but she snaps it shut just as quickly before heading toward the bathroom.

She glances around the room, running her finger along the table that lines the back of the couch in the center of the room. “I see you have everything planned out, Lou.”

I like that she called me Lou. Things were simpler when we weren’t ourselves. “I leave nothing to chance, Elizabeth.”

“Suave,” she mumbles, turning toward me with a smile as she steps inside the all-marble bathroom.

I can’t tell if she’s happy or plotting my death by that smile on her face. Possibly a mixture of both. She’s outside of her comfort zone, but so am I. This has always been my space, my sanctuary from the world, and for the first time in my life, I’m sharing it with another person.

When she closes the door, I undress and put on a pair of loose work-out shorts that I use when I run along the beach. I grab the champagne and two glasses and place the bottle in a bucket of ice before grabbing an oversized blanket. I carry everything down toward the edge of the water where she had stared up at the sky in wonderment.

I never spent much time wining and dining women, but Lauren deserves that much. She isn’t a cheap fuck or a one-night stand. This is something more, or at least I hope it is.

I’m bent over, unfolding the blanket when she steps onto the deck. Slowly, I straighten and take in her beauty in a black and red sarong that’s tied over one shoulder. The thin material caresses her body, hugging every inch, and the soft ocean breeze causes the bottom to flutter.

I motion to her, calling her down to the blanket where I’m frozen and unable to move. Her long hair is down, blowing in the wind as if being carried away like my breath. She’s stunning. More stunning than she is when she’s commanding a boardroom, jamming her heel into my chest and trying to maintain her dominance.

As she pads down the sand toward me barefoot, in that dress, there’s a softness I hadn’t seen before. I hold out my hand, praying she’ll take it when she’s within a few feet of the blanket.

“You’re going to just sit here with me?” she asks, and I can hear the surprise in her voice.

“We can do whatever you want. If you want to drink and stare at the stars, we’ll do just that.”

With those words, she slides her hand in mine, stepping onto the blanket with a smile. “Thank you.”

“Champagne?”

She nods quickly, and I kneel beside her to make short work of the cork. She follows me down, resting on her heels, and watches me.

“I imagine you’re bored of this view.”

I glance up, taking in her beauty. “I could never grow bored of the beauty in front of me.”

Even in the dim light, I see her cheeks turn a bright shade of red as her eyes dip toward her hands for a moment. My fingers push harder against the cork before it pops, shooting into the air. I grab the glasses, holding them between my fingers and pour, but I keep my eyes on her.

Her silhouette is illuminated by the moon, creating shadows across her feminine features. “Thank you,” she says as I hand her a glass of champagne before stretching out next to her on the blanket.

“A toast.” Holding up my champagne, I take in her beauty as she turns toward me slowly and lifts her glass. “To the stars, to us, and to this moment in the universe.”

I clink my glass to hers, our eyes locked as we both take a sip. She’s appraising me, trying to figure out when I’m going to pounce. She looks like prey, waiting for the predator to find the weakness and strike, but that’s not my intention.

She leans backward on one hand, tipping her neck toward the sky. Even with the champagne still dancing on my tongue, my mouth feels dry. I want to touch her. Lick my way down her neck to her beautiful breasts until she’s begging me to bury myself inside her.

“Do you ever want to go there?” she asks, not looking at me when she speaks.

“Go where?” Right now, all I can think about is her body and mine, moving together. There’s no room for anything else.

“Going up there.” She tips her chin skyward.

“Never. You?”

Being the head of Cozza was more about power and less about moving the human race spaceward. It’s what we do, but it’s never been my dream to step foot in the outer reaches of space.

She sighs as her eyes move around and settle on the Big Dipper. “Ever since I was a little girl.”

Her answer surprises me. How does the dream of a little girl to walk in space turn into a CEO of the second most powerful aerospace company in the world?

“Why haven’t you?” I’m intrigued to find out how her dream altered and made her the woman she is sitting before me tonight.

She takes another sip of her champagne before burying the base in the sand deep enough that it’ll stay upright. She still doesn’t speak as she leans back and settles against the blanket with her hands flat at her sides, staring straight up. I follow suit, repeating her motions, lying down next to her, only inches apart.

“First, tell me why you don’t want to go up there. You’re the head of Cozza, the current biggest aerospace company, and I figured a man with your status would dream of the stars just like me.”

I place one hand on my stomach and inch the one between us closer to her hand. “I was always a science junkie. Figuring out how things work kept me busy as a kid, but the fear of the unknown has always stopped me from even thinking about going into space. I want to help other people get there, but I’m quite happy with my feet on Planet Earth.”

“Fear stops a lot of people. We’re all afraid of something.”

“Why has it always been a dream of yours?”

“Well…” She pauses, and the moonlight glimmers off her eyes as I turn to face her. “It started with my father.”

She doesn’t say another word, and I don’t rush her. Some things take time, and the last thing I want is for her to start closing off walls that seem to be crumbling to little pieces. I turn back toward the starry sky, giving her time and space to speak freely.

I don’t know if I’ve ever lain in such a comfortable silence with another person. The only sound is of the waves crashing against the shore near our feet. The stars twinkle on and off as if fighting over my attention, but there’s little room for anything other than Lauren.

“My dad wanted to be an astronaut. He trained for years.”

“Did he go?”

“He wasn’t able.”

I turn my face toward her. “Why not?” I’m genuinely interested in her story and hearing how her father’s dreams turned into hers.

Her eyes are glassy, but she hasn’t stopped staring toward the sky. “He finished training and was assigned to a specific mission, but…” Her voice trails off.

Oh God. I’m flooded with guilt.

She doesn’t have to say another word. I know I’ve opened up an old wound that she’s kept hidden and locked away from the world. We’re no longer in business mode or even Lou and Elizabeth world. This is Lauren and her feelings for the taking, and she’s spilling them to me, or at least trying.

I roll over and prop myself up on one arm, peering down at her. “You don’t have to tell me.”

She glances at me with a pained smile. “No, I want to tell you. You need to understand why Interstellar is so important to me.”

I nod and remain silent.

Her eyes slowly slide across the sky, not focusing on one particular area. “A few weeks after he finished his training, there was a terrible accident.”

“I’m sorry,” I say, interrupting her.

“Don’t be. It wasn’t your fault.” She smiles softly at me, and the ball that had formed in my stomach starts to loosen. “It was my parents’ date night. Every Friday, they’d hire a babysitter to look after me, and my dad would take my mom out to dinner and dancing. I never minded because I thought of Mindy, my babysitter, like an older sister. We’d play dress-up, and she’d put makeup on me. I loved Friday just as much as my parents did.”

I can imagine her as a child, with her long hair, prancing around in her mother’s shoes, covered in too much red lipstick and blue eyeshadow, much like my nieces do when my sister allows them.

“But then a car crossed the center line and struck them head on. My family shattered that day, along with my father’s dream.”

I’ve never dealt with the loss of a parent. Mine are still at home in Italy, probably arguing over what to have for dinner or some other mundane thing. They drive me crazy at times, but I can’t imagine not having them in my life, especially as a child.

“The police said my mother died instantly, but my father survived.”

I don’t know what to say in this moment, so I don’t speak. I can’t say that I’m thankful her father survived because there’s still the sadness at the loss of her mother. I can’t imagine being in love with someone and having them die by my side in the blink of an eye. The man had to be broken, not physically, but emotionally, with no way to ever repair the hole that had been left in his family.

“He broke his back, and the healing process took a long time. He was eventually cleared to reenter the space program, but he declined.”

“He did?”

“Yes. He didn’t want to leave me behind, Antonio. He always worried about me, never himself. He could’ve touched the stars like he always dreamed and left me with my grandparents, but he chose to stay and be there for me. It took me years after his death to get over the guilt that he gave up his dream for me.”

“Sometimes dreams are just that…dreams. Just because he never stepped foot in space doesn’t mean he gave up his life, Lauren. Men are simple creatures. At times, we can be self-absorbed, but when push comes to shove, we’re loyal and protective.”

She giggles softly and turns, propping herself up and staring me straight in the eyes. “It took me a lot of years to figure that out. I meant more to my dad than his fanciful dream to touch the heavens. I was the last bit of my mother he had left, and he couldn’t stand to part with me, even for a few weeks up there.”

“I would’ve made the same choice as him. I think most men would in his shoes.”

She glances down to where our hands are almost touching in the open space between us. “He and I would lie under the stars like this and talk. That became his new Friday night ritual as soon as he could walk again. He’d tell me that my future was up there and pushed me toward where I am now. I became the head of Interstellar because, even though I was too afraid to go into space myself, I wanted to make the dream come true for so many people like my father. I want to allow people to go further, deeper than we’ve ever been able to go before. Every day when I go to work, I picture my father cheering me on, propelling me toward my destiny.”

And I’m the asshole who’s trying to take it all away from her. Not only is Cozza attempting to take her company, but she knows that she’ll no longer be at the helm, and in a sense, I’d be killing her dream as well as her father’s.

“You’ve achieved it.”

“Not yet, Antonio. The engine’s done, but it hasn’t carried a human beyond the moon yet. Once it’s done that, I’ll feel like I’ve fulfilled my father’s dream. Not a moment sooner.”

“You’ve achieved more than I ever thought possible, Lauren. More than I’ve ever dared to dream.”

She smiles and shakes her head. “Oh, please. You have a giant team of researchers that have been working on a similar engine, I’m sure.”

“Yes, but I’ve never found the right combination of people to make it a reality. Never in a million years would my team have thought up something so simple, yet so perfect. They’re too busy studying dark matter as a means of propulsion and trying to solve the riddle of how to stop it from destroying the craft with the chain reaction.”

She smiles brightly, knowing exactly the type of stupidity I’m talking about when it comes to dark matter. “My team is pretty impressive.”

“It takes a great leader with enough knowledge to push their people to achieve such greatness.”

“Why, Antonio, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you’re impressed and maybe a little jealous.”

The lightness in the air between us makes me hopeful. I scoot my body closer, placing my hand on top of hers. When she doesn’t recoil or pull away, I know I have her.

“I’m very impressed by you,” I say, reaching out and tucking a flyaway strand of her hair that’s been blowing in the breeze. “I wouldn’t have brought you here if I weren’t.”

“Come on. I’m sure you bring plenty of women here and show them your private island. It’s pretty impressive.”

It’s my turn to laugh. She doesn’t understand how far from the truth her words really are. “Besides the caretakers of this island, you’re the first person to step foot on this sand besides me since I purchased this little slice of heaven.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Completely. This is my escape from the world. I come here to be alone and think. It’s not my sex palace or used to impress anyone. It’s mine and mine alone.”

“Why did you bring me here?” she asks with a sigh. “I just don’t understand why me.”

I push her hair off her shoulder, letting it fall down her back, and rest my hand against her cool, wind-kissed skin. “I felt something with you that night at the W. Do you believe in destiny, Lauren?”

“I don’t believe that things happen for a reason. I think we’re all just particles, scattered across the universe, and if we bump into each other, we cause a reaction. There’s nothing fated about what happens. It’s all happenstance and chance.”

I slide my hand down her arm, warming her skin with my touch and relishing the feel of her against my palm. “I don’t believe a word of that. Out of all the bars in Chicago, you ended up in mine.”

“It was mine first, Lou.” She smiles.

“Either way. Our paths crossed for a reason.”

Her smile fades. “For you to steal my company.”

“Maybe you were placed in my life at that moment to push me onto another course. Ever think of that?”

She contemplates my words, blinking at me while chewing on her lip before she raises an eyebrow. “The universe is conspiring against you?”

“Possibly.” I move closer and slide my hand up her arm. “Or maybe reminding me of what’s really important in life.” My fingers trace her hairline on the back of her neck before tangling in her hair.

I lean forward, waiting for her to pull away, but she closes her eyes and gives in to me.