Page 209 of Marcello

But I realized in that moment how hard I’d fallen for him.

In fact, I was pretty sure it happened at Castel dell’Ovo when he said, You were already beautiful… but you looked like you were happy, and enthusiastic, and in love with life – and alive. And that’s what made you even MORE beautiful.

“I love you, too,” I whispered…

And we made love for the first time.

Not just sex, which had been fantastic…

But made love, which was somehow even more wonderful.

When I had to leave, he tried to get me to stay with him.

Then he blurted out, “What if you moved in with me?”

I was totally taken aback.

I wanted to scream, YES! –

But I knew exactly what would happen.

My father would track us down, throw me in a car, and take me back to the castle where I would never be allowed to leave again.

Romeo? Best case scenario, Papa’s thugs would cripple him for life. Worst case scenario, they would kill him.

Rather than admit to the dark reason why I couldn’t say ‘yes,’ I tried to play it off. “Isn’t it a little early to be moving in together?”

“No.”

We bantered back and forth a little, but I still put him off – until he got dressed and came down to the street with me.

As I was about to get into the taxi, Romeo stopped me. “I meant what I said earlier.”

“About moving in?”

“That… and I love you.”

Again, I was utterly overcome with happiness. “I love you, too.”

We kissed one last time… a fairytale kiss…

And as the taxi whisked me away, all I could think was, He loves me… he really, really loves me…

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Twice I’d snuck out without incident, which meant I could do it again.

And I did – over and over.

I had to pay a king’s ransom to Eugenio, but it was worth it.

God, was it worth it.

And not because we were in love, although that would have been more than enough.

With Romeo, I got to see the beauty and wonder of Naples.

I knew he thought parts of the city were trashy and rundown, and I guess they were…