“What is this?” Gianpierre roared as he stormed his way into the courtyard with a pink notification from the local inspections office. “Luciana!”

Fat raindrops started to fall from a sky that was already dark with night. Floodlights wired with weatherproof extension cords lit the entire center courtyard of the Romano del Mare with the brilliance of day, and instead of his usual crew of eight, no less than thirty people were hard at work. Just as Gianpierre had promised, he and Luciana had put together a round-the-clock crew operating with the sole purpose of finishing the Romano del Mare’s inner courtyard before he left for Dubai. It was why he was here. It was what was most important.

Another five days had ticked past, and now all that he had left was nine days before he was scheduled to board the plane that would take him away from everything that meant the most to him. He didn’t know how he had found himself in this predicament, but he had. He’d woken up one morning to discover that what he’d thought he wanted most—being unequivocally recognized as the best of the best—was no longer that important to him and that it had not been important to him for some unknown amount of time. It was as if he didn’t even need to grieve the letting go of a lifelong dream. It was simply gone, and he was happy.

Despite that, nothing had actually changed. He was still leaving, and he was working like a maniac to make it so that he never had to come back. It was why the paper that he held aloft in his clenched fist seemed to burn his skin. “Luciana!” he bellowed for the fifth time. Finally, he saw her trotting toward him as she weaved in and out of equipment and pockets of people. He’d been working her harder than anyone, and if it had not been for the presence of Signora Esposito to make sure all of Natalia’s needs were cared for, he was sure that Luciana would have already quit in order to restore her home and family life to a healthy balance.

“What? Was the shipment wrong? He swore to me that he had exactly what we were requesting!” Luciana turned her attention to punching through windows on the screen of her tablet.

“No, this.” Gianpierre shoved the offending notice into Luciana’s hands. “They’re refusing to do the final inspection. They want to conduct benchmark inspections throughout the process. They’re saying that because we did not get each stage of the repairs approved in advance that they are refusing the final inspection. All of this”—he waved a wide arm to take in the entire courtyard and all the work that was being done—“will be for nothing!”

“No, no…” Luciana said, snatching the letter out of Gianpierre’s hand and straightening the edges of the crumpled paper, her head bent over it to read it. “They can’t do this. They sent us no notifications of this requirement!”

“You were supposed to be on top of this. I was counting on you.” He knew that the accusation wasn’t fair. Luciana had become the best Project Manager he’d ever had, and she had been working harder than anybody, even himself. While he would go home for dinner, rest and would work with Natalia to finish the fairy castle, Luciana would still be going through emails, double checking schedules, handling payroll and an infinite number of other details he knew he had no comprehension of. He didn’t even know when the woman slept, and it was showing. She had dark circles under her eyes.

He hated himself for working her so hard, but a part of himself hoped that if he made her crack and the project failed to be completed on time that she would allow him to continue to oversee the project from Dubai while remaining a part of her and Natalia’s life. But she wasn’t cracking. She was remaining strong, and he could feel the life that he now craved slipping out of his grasp.

“I’ll take care of this, Gian. I can fix this.”

“Whatever,” Gianpierre said, shoving his hands into his pockets and stalking away with his shoulders so tight that they were up around his ears. He wanted to hit something. He wanted to shut the whole renovation down, send everyone home, and to come back tomorrow with just his regular crew… and Luciana. They could set up a more proper daycare in one of the more finished suites inside the resort so that Natalia could be near them all the time. Her laughter in the morning at breakfast had become his favorite part of the day, and Luciana’s sweet sighs after the others had gone to bed had become his favorite part of the night. He hated that Luciana was willing for all of that to be thrown away. They could still have more of those moments. Sure, it wouldn’t be every day, day in and day out, but he would be able to make it back from Dubai often enough to keep everyone feeling connected. What they had didn’t have to end.

“No, he can’t stay with us.” Those had been the words that Luciana had said to Natalia the night before when she’d tucked her into bed when the little girl had asked if Gianpierre could be her daddy. Doing her best to hide her tears within the dim light of the little girl’s room, Luciana had made a silent vow that nothing—absolutely nothing—was going to stand in Gianpierre’s way of leaving as soon as possible. That was why Luciana now had on to-die-for red pumps and a body hugging olive green dress that looked like a throw-back to the gogo dresses of the sixties. Luciana had long legs by nature, but in that dress and with those shoes, she looked as though she had legs long enough to walk on the moon.

Flashing her best smile at the young man behind the front counter of the inspector’s office and leaning forward a little to let her gold dangling earrings work their mesmerizing charm, she said, “Could I see Signore Barone? It’s very important.” She batted her eyes. Never before had she been so willing to flaunt what her mother and the Lord above had given her, but she was desperate. Gianpierre had to go.

The young man stammered and blushed before disappearing down a hallway. Popping into view a minute later, he waved Luciana to the back office of Signore Barone. A handsome man in his mid-fifties, Signore Barone stood and greeted her with a two-handed handshake when she entered the room.

“Signorina, what can I do for you?” the silver fox asked as he motioned her to sit before he sat once more behind his sturdy wood desk.

“Signorina Vivaldi,” Luciana offered, giving her last name as she smiled warmly at him. Then, she let worry and sadness take over her features and gave a deep, shaky breath. Not wasting any time, she said, “Sir, my job is in jeopardy.” She pulled the crumpled, pink letter out of her purse. “I oversee the courtyard restoration project at the Romano del Mare, and we received this letter that your office would not perform the inspection needed to conclude the build so that the space could be opened to the public.”

“Ahhh, yes. Those types of restorations are very complicated, and much of the structural integrity is based on the quality of the foundation elements that are put in place. But, as the build continues, those foundation elements tend to get covered up and are no longer visible for inspection.”

“But your office has been aware that this restoration has been ongoing for a couple of months now.” Luciana crossed one of her long legs over her knee in a slow movement that had Signore Barone’s eyes drifting down to watch. “If we had been aware of this stipulation of your office, we would have gladly complied. But, as it is, what you are requesting is that we undo much of the restoration work in order to uncover those base elements. If we do that, my boss will walk away from the job unfinished and will not have the property inspected. He will simply fence off the entire section and leave it unavailable to those who visit the resort. Certainly there is some way we can work this out? There must be some other inspection techniques that could be used. We have kept excellent photographic records of the build’s progress at every stage. We could offer those photographs up for inspection, gladly.”

Signore Barone pursed his lips in thought as he leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers together. For a man a good twenty years older that her, Luciana was surprised at how fit and handsome he was. Sicilian men certainly aged with a charming sophistication that seemed to have been left off of the rest of the world’s genetic makeup.

“Signorina Vivaldi, possibly you would be so generous with your time as to let me take you to dinner tonight to talk more about this situation.” Then, he added quickly, “No strings attached, I assure you. Just dinner, some wine and good conversation. We can of course continue to talk about this here and now, but I would find your company delightful in a more relaxed setting.”

Luciana’s gaze shifted to the man’s hands. No wedding ring.

Gianpierre… She knew in her heart that she couldn’t go out to dinner with Signore Barone, even if what he was offering promised to be innocent and even if it was the one thing she could do to ensure that she got the inspection of the Romano del Mare approved. She’d lied about what Gianpierre would do if the inspection didn’t go through. She didn’t think that he would close up the restoration and walk away. Too much of his pride was tied up in completing it and doing a job that his family name could rest on for years to come. No, he wouldn’t walk away. Well, yes he would, it’s just that he’d come back… and back… and back, waltzing in and out of Luciana’s and Natalia’s lives and making it impossible for them to move on. She couldn’t allow that. She had to stop it from happening, and that meant that she had to get that inspection approved. But… she couldn’t make herself say yes to Signore Barone’s invitation, as nice as it was. Someone else was already in her heart, blocking the way to even a dinner out with nice wine and good conversation.

Damn you, Gianpierre. He had to go.

“No, Signore. It is a gracious offer, but I can’t.” The sudden recognition of love had crept up to weave itself into every corner of her heart, leaving Luciana feeling dizzy. How could she have let it happen? She’d always known that Gianpierre was leaving. He had never promised anything less, and he had never said that what they had was a relationship that he wanted to nurture and grow. She was a sidebar or a pastime to him, that was all. But him… he was everything to her after Natalia. She loved him.

“Signorina Vivaldi,” Signore Barone said, sitting forward in his chair with concern in his eyes. “Are you alright?”

Luciana sat in her chair doing her best to hold back the tears until finally, shaking her head, she said, “No, Signore. I’m not.”