had given her one answer when she asked him what it was like in New York - noisy. It drove him to distraction sometimes, he’d told her, back when they still had discussions. He’d grown up in that noise: the constant thrum of motor vehicles, people, machines, all of it came together to form some vibration of sound that was never, ever quiet, even in the most sound-proofed homes. You could still hear the noise, he’d said.
Could she get used to that, she wondered? Where would she go if she couldn’t? She watched the sunset and heard Matteo’s car drive up a little after six o’clock. She stayed in her place, even though there was a chill in the air now. She wanted to absorb all the quiet that she could.
“Marie? What are you doing out here in the cold? Are you alright?” He came out to the porch, his deep-set eyes, powerful cheekbones, and that strong jaw of his beckoning her to him. He could blink at her sometimes and it would make her knees weak.
She turned away with a frown and sat back in her chair. “I’m enjoying the quiet while I can. I remembered what you said about New York when I saw all that luggage you ordered for me. About how noisy it is. How you can never get any peace, even in your own home.”
“You get used to it,” he started, but then shook his head ruefully. “No, that’s not true. I think you just learn to cope with it. I don’t think you ever really get used to it.”
He sat down, poured coffee out of a carafe he’d brought out with him, then added cream. He held the carafe out to her and she shook her head no. “I’ve had my fill today, I think.”
It was the most relaxed they’d been around each other since before her mother passed away. It was nice to have him back, and relaxed, if only for a little while.
“I will miss this when we go.” His face was trained to the woods beyond the perimeter, lost in his own world. “It’s so damn peaceful here.”
“We can come back,” she assured him and hoped she was right.
“We can, and that will make this place all the more special, won’t it? We know we always have this to come back to when it becomes too much.” He sighed and drank his coffee in silence.
She was ready to eat but decided she could wait. Let him enjoy what she’d spent the last couple of hours enjoying. She’d enjoy the peace that came from being near him, even if she didn’t admit that to him.
9
The staff was all in their quarters by the time Marie and Matteo walked up the stairs to their bedroom. They each had their own small set of rooms and would go there in the evenings. It was one of the perks of working in the house, they didn’t have to rent a place out if they didn’t want to. There was the cook, two housekeepers, and the guy that answered the door that Marie suspected was more of a bodyguard/assistant/doorman. She avoided him, he just gave her the creeps with his watchful eyes and quietness.
They’d had dinner a few hours before and had sat down to watch a movie in the living room after. Marie had decided to go up to bed and Matteo followed along with her. She went to her room, grabbed a nightgown, then went back to her bathroom to have a shower.
“Marie, are you alright?” She heard him call out about five minutes after she got into the hot water to let the steam roll away the aches she’d accumulated throughout the day.
“Yeah,” she called back, “just decided to have a shower before we go to sleep.”
He didn’t answer and she was about to turn the water off to ask if he was alright when he opened the door, completely naked and more than ready for her from the looks of him. She stepped back to let him in.
As usual, he was quiet as he looked at her. He filled his brain with wet images of her before he reached out to tip her head back. His kiss was hungry, wild, and she let herself go as he forced her jaw open with a thumb against her chin. It was rough, the way it always was since they were married, and that confused her.
She’d thought he’d calm down after a while, take his