Chapter 1
Bree
It was the most beautiful place I'd ever seen. A tall grotto facing the Tyrrhenian Sea, in a private cove with turquoise water and a white sandy beach. At this time of night, just before sunset on the Amalfi coast of Italy, the reddish-orange sunlight reflecting off the sparkling water illuminated the cave like the dome of an ancient church. With the shimmering light dancing over the etched surfaces of the chamber, it mimicked the effect of frescoes painted on the walls, as if God Himself were smiling down from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
"I feel like I've died and gone to heaven," I said, gazing into Paolo's eyes while we treaded water together in the shallow water of the lagoon.
"Don't die quite yet," he smiled, pressing his naked body against mine under the opaque surface. "We've still got a bit of unfinished business."
"Mmm," I hummed, feeling his hardening erection slip between my legs. "Are you sure you can make love to me and stay afloat at the same time?"
"I'd sure as hell like to give it a try," Paolo grinned, pulling my thighs upward while he kicked his legs harder. "Like you said, this might be the closest we'll get to heaven without actually being there. We only live once..."
He slipped his hands under my ass, and when I felt him enter me, I groaned in sublime pleasure. I'd never made love without some kind of support beneath me, and the feeling of him holding me while we floated in suspended animation only added to the surreal sensation of the experience.
"Oh my God," I squealed, curling my arms around his neck. "This is insane. Where have you been all my life?"
"I love you, Bree," Paolo panted, flapping his legs harder while we rocked our bodies slowly together under the rippling water.
"I love you too, Paolo," I said, mashing my lips against his and kissing him passionately while I scissored my ankles over the back of his flexing buttocks.
But just as I began to feel my pleasure building toward an inexorable climax, Paolo's eyes suddenly flew open and he was pulled away from me.
"Paolo!" I cried, reaching out to him while he vainly stretched his arm toward me. "What's happening? Where are you going?"
"I'm sorry, Bree," he said with beseeching eyes. "I thought this could be more than just a summer fling. I didn't want to leave you–"
When he disappeared under the surface, I plunged my head into the water, watching him slowly drift into the abyss while a strong current carried me in the opposite direction.
"No, Paolo," I choked in the burbling water. "Nooo...!"
Suddenly I woke up in a cold sweat, realizing it was all just a dream and that I was lying in my small college dorm room, panting to catch my breath.
"Jesus, Bree," my roommate Mila said, peering over the edge of the top bunk at me. "That must have been a hell of a dream. I couldn't tell if you were in the throes of ecstasy or agony."
"A little bit of both," I said, sitting up and curling my arms around my still-shaking shoulders.
Mila hopped down from the upper bunk and nestled up beside me, interlacing her fingers with mine.
"Do you want to talk about it?" she said, peering into my watering eyes. "It's obvious neither one of us is going to be able to sleep anytime soon after that."
"It's the same nightmare I've been having on and off these past few weeks," I nodded. "I'm having a rapturous time traipsing all over Italy with my new boyfriend, when suddenly something horrible happens and he's wrenched away from me."
"Is this the same boy you mentioned meeting on your backpacking trip of Europe?"
"Yes."
Mila paused for a long moment, then she turned her wrist to glance at her watch.
"Why don't you text or FaceTime him?" she said. "It's getting close to noon over there, and I'm sure he'd love to hear from you. Listening to his voice might help settle you down–"
"That's the problem," I sighed. "We didn't exchange contact information when we separated. I have no way of reaching him."
"Why would you do that?" Mila said, peering at me with a wrinkled forehead. "I thought you said he was the man of your dreams?"
"I thought he was, at the time. But I knew nothing could come of it with me going back to the States and heading off to college for four years. I didn't want to complicate our perfect summer romance."
"Does he feel the same way?"
"I dunno. It was pretty intense while it lasted. Like a fireball streaking through the heavens."
"Maybe it's time you guys reconnected. That kind of love doesn't come around very often. Italy isn't so far away–"
"I've been thinking about it," I nodded. "But I don't even know where he lives. All I have is his first name and that he comes from a small town somewhere near Naples."
Mila looked at me blankly, shaking her head in disbelief.
"You guys must have been making love a whole lot to know so little about each other."
"Pretty much," I laughed. "Between traveling all over Europe and making out in every little hideaway we could find, there wasn't much time for anything else."
"Do you remember the name of the town where he lives? If it's small enough, maybe you can find someone who knows him."
"Greta, Gaela, something like that. I just remember it starts with a G and ends with an A."
"Come on," Mila said, pulling me off my bunk and dragging me toward our work desks. "Let's Google Map it. It can't be that hard to find."
She booted up her computer and opened Google Maps, then she typed in the search location for Naples, Italy. While she slowly panned out from the city, our eyes darted over the screen, reading the names of the surrounding villages. It took a few seconds of zooming in and out to locate the smaller towns, then my eyes widened when I saw a familiar-sounding name on the map.
"Gaeta!" I said, pointing excitedly at a small dot on the coast halfway between Rome and Naples. "I remember it now. That's where he said he was born."
Mila opened another tab on her browser, then she typed in the search box for the population of Gaeta. A webpage popped up showing a sleepy seaside village with a population of twenty thousand.
"That's not so bad," she nodded. "How many Paolos can live in a town that small?"
"I'm not sure he even lives there anymore," I said, leaning back in my chair. "He said he was going off to college to study architecture. He could be anywhere in Italy by now."
"I suppose it would be too much to expect that you asked the name of the college?"
I tilted my head and stared at her blankly, signaling that we'd hit another dead end.
"Okay," she said, twisting her chair around toward mine. "No biggie. All you have to do is go there and ask around in the coffee shops. Once you tell people how old he is and what he looks like, somebody's bound to remember him. Then you can find out where his parents' house is and they should be happy to steer you in the right direction."
"You don't think it'll seem a little weird?" I said. "Showing up on his parents' doorstep after stalking him all over town?"
"Not at all," Mila grinned. "You know how those Italians are, all passionate and romantic. It'll be like something out of a Fellini movie. Now the only question is, how long are you going to wait to reconnect with the man of your dreams?"
"Actually," I smiled. "I'm way ahead of you. I've already spoken with my parents, and they've approved my transfer to the University of Milan. I haven't contacted the registrar yet, but I'm hoping to switch in time for the next semester starting in January."
Mila grabbed her computer mouse then she shifted the position of the map northward toward Milan.
"It's a bit of a hike from your boyfriend's hometown in the southern part of the country," she said. "But at least it's in the same time zone."
I nodded, drawing a mental line down the map from Milan toward Naples.
"The train service in Europe is way better than here in the States. It shouldn't be too hard for me to travel there from the northern hub. Or anywhere else, for that matter."
"Then what are you waiting for?" Mila said, opening a new webpage and navigating to the University of Milan website, then clicking on the Registrar link. "The sooner you get started the application process, the sooner you can finish that hot dream you started tonight."
"Yeah," I said, still feeling the wetness in the crotch of my pajamas. "That's not the only thing I plan on finishing when I see him again."
