It was his mother who was pleading with him but Rome was past listening. His father had pissed him off in the worst way and he didn’t know if he would ever forgive him.
After he stalked out of the library room Rome didn’t know what else was said and he really didn’t care. He had more important things to worry about, like the woman his family had hurt so badly, a woman who didn’t deserve any of that.
When he got back to the green room Arie was sitting exactly where he’d left her, waiting for him. He went over and took her hand. “Come on,” he said gently as she looked up at him, her eyes searching his face. “Time for us to get out of here.”
Like she could guess what had just happened, as if she understood that he didn’t want to talk, Arie simply nodded and followed him to the car.
But as they drove away Rome’s mind was in turmoil. Was his family really forcing him to choose between them and Arie?
If it came down to that, they weren’t going to like his decision, not one bit.
***
Arie couldn’t wait for Rome to leave their hotel suite. When he’d said he needed some air and was going to take a walk she couldn’t get him out of there fast enough. The fact was, she wanted him gone. She needed some time alone to think.
The evening before, when they’d arrived at the hotel, he’d told her about his quarrel with his parents. That had been bad enough but then he told her of some sort of ultimatum his father threw down. Rome should give her up or else he would no longer be part of the Milano family? Was that what he’d said? Arie couldn’t believe it.
And she felt terrible. Rome was in conflict with his family and it was all her fault. She was the one who had created this rift and there was nothing she could do about it.
Or maybe there was. She could forget about her own happiness and do what she knew was right for Rome. She could just leave.
At the thought, Arie’s heart sank to the pit of her stomach. To have to leave Rome, just when she thought she’d found the man of her dreams, just when she thought she would have the perfect family. How would she bear it?
Tormented by the possibility, terrified by the likelihood that she could lose him, Arie jerked out of the armchair and went over to the window overlooking the tree-lined street. She was staring out at the scenery but she was seeing nothing. The only thing that loomed before her was a lonely future without Rome.
“What are you doing?”
Arie jumped. When she whirled around it was to see Rome standing in the doorway. “I…thought you were going for a walk.” Her words came out quick and breathless, almost like she was the one who’d been walking.
“I came back to get you,” he said, a slight frown marking his brow. “Are you all right? Were you crying?”
“No, I wasn’t.” Her answer was quick and sharp and just in case a tear had escaped and was sliding down her cheek she whipped back around to face the window so she could lift a furtive finger and get rid of any evidence of her desolate rumination.
“Don’t give me that,” Rome said, his voice both stern and gentle at the same time.
She heard his footsteps as he approached and then his hands were on her shoulders and he was turning her around to face him. “You’ve been thinking too much. I can see it on your face. I don’t want you sitting here, making yourself depressed by what’s happened.” He turned her toward the bathroom. “Go get ready. We’re going out on the city.”
As much as she wasn’t in the mood for any tours Arie did as she was told and soon she was on the way to her first real view of the city of Rome, the place for which the man by her side had been named. And if he’d thought this day of sightseeing would do her any good he’d hit the nail right on its head because, if even just for those few hours, her trouble ducked its head and shuffled off to the back of her brain where she totally ignored it and focused instead on the beauty and elegance of the historic city.
To Arie’s delight their first stop was the Sistine Chapel, the exquisitely lovely chapel of the Apostolic Palace where the Pope himself resided. It didn’t matter that, after paying their sixteen euros each, they’d had to jostle with a few thousand people just to get inside. As far as she was concerned it was well worth the wait. Outside, the building was pretty plain but inside it took her breath away.
On the walls were frescoes by Perugino and Botticelli and more paintings by della Gatta and Rosselli, but most impressive of all – and the one that she’d really come to see – was the ceiling with the world-famous paintings, ‘The Creation of Adam’ and ‘The Last Judgment’ by Michelangelo Buonarroti.
Her head thrown back, Arie gazed up at the beauty above her. “Awesome,” she said in a reverent whisper, “and I mean that literally.”
“I’m with you on that one,” Rome whispered back, his face upturned and his eyes glued to the ceiling.
She spared him a quick glance. “This is your first time, too? You’ve never seen this before?”
“At least ten times,” he responded, looking like he couldn’t pull his eyes away, “and I’m in awe every single time.”
After they left the Sistine Chapel Rome took her to see the Colosseum and then the grand Pantheon and by the time they’d fought those crowds it was already late afternoon and they were both exhausted.
“Had enough of Rome?” he asked with a wide grin as he snaked his arm across her shoulders.
Feeling tired but more relaxed than she’d felt since arriving in Italy, Arie returned the smile. “For today, yes,” she said as she leaned against him. “For now I’ve had enough of Rome, the city, but Rome, the tour guide…” she turned her face to nuzzle his neck, “…I can never get enough of that one.”
“Glad to hear it,” he said, then he placed a finger under her chin and raised her face to his and there, in the middle of St. Peter's Square he kissed her soundly, sending all her cares sailing away on the breeze.
“Let’s go back to the hotel,” he said, his voice suddenly husky. “We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”
She knew exactly what he meant. Since arriving in Italy they’d had issues on their minds, chief of which was the frosty welcome Arie received from the Milanos. Now, though, they were miles away from that bunch and free to do whatever they so desired. And if Arie guessed right, what they both wanted would leave them even more exhausted than they already were…but blissfully so. She could hardly wait.