**GRACIE**
The villa took my breath away.
I'd seen pictures, of course. Gabriel had shown me on his phone during the flight but nothing could have prepared me for the reality of it. Perched on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean, the villa was a masterpiece of white stone and terracotta, with bougainvillea cascading down the walls in explosions of pink and purple.
The late afternoon sun painted everything golden, and the sea below was so impossibly blue it looked like something from a dream.
"Gabriel," I breathed, stepping out of the car. "This is..."
"Not enough," he finished, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist. "Nothing could be enough for you, baby girl. But it's a start."
I leaned back against him, feeling the solid warmth of his chest, the steady beat of
