A.N. Sorry for making all of you wait! Thank you for your patience ♡

Catalina did not even try to hide her surprise when she saw him get out of his car parked in front of the vineyard house. The exterior of the wide house boasts a wide rocky path lined with low boxwood hedges in rectangular shapes enclosed by lilies and some occasional peonies in other areas. The villa is known for the exquisite taste of its wine and the meticulous process of creating it.

Today is dedicated to tasting the wine of this particular vineyard to see if it will fit the standards brought to fruition by the partnership between the cruise line and the hotel. If ever it passes such standards, they will be creating a collaboration with the company to serve their wine at the hotel and the cruises. She would treat this day lesser than something of rest and recreation but more on work and business.

She just didn’t expect Domenico to be here too.

“Oh, look!” Domenico exclaims, closing the front door of the Rolls-Royce. Antonio proceeds to exit from the driver’s seat at the same time. Domenico flashes her his beguiling smile. “My hardworking colleague is with me today!”

“Nemo, now is not–”

"Are you surprised to see me?” He cut her off. It was puzzling for him to see that she was standing by the open doorway, astonishment written on her face. “We see each other at work every day. And this trip is related to work too. Of course, you’d expect to see me here." He went up the stairs and stopped where she stood. Once near, he leans forward, bringing his lips close to her ear to whisper, "And you look beautiful as always, darling."

Just as he wanted to cheekily leave a swift kiss on her cheek, another voice calls him from inside the house.

"Signore Domenico!"

Domenico stands erect in alarm and his eyes widen when he sees Catalina's siblings walking toward them with Hilario leading them.

"S-Signore Hilario!" Domenico calls back. He then throws his gaze at Catalina. "Why–"

She grabbed his hand and shook her head slightly, an action that would be unnoticeable if one was to not pay careful attention to it. "Not now. Just try to go along with my siblings."

“It is great to have you with us today, Signore,” Siena speaks, moving to stand beside Hilario. Narni and Loreta stand behind their brother. Siena then eyes Catalina's hand who is still holding Domenico. "I see that you've made yourselves acquainted with each other. That's great to know." There was no geniality in her words, simply strict business.

Catalina instantly lets go of his hand and clasps her hands before her. "I merely was welcoming Signore Domenico." She turns to look back at the man. "It is a great honor to have you with us here."

"Yes, it is," Hilario chimes in. "Although," he pauses as he spots Domenico's stern bodyguard standing behind the group, "I thought you were bringing a representative in your place."

Domenico breaks off into a confident smile. "Signore, forgive my boldness, but I am aware of my abilities as a wine connoisseur. Now that I know the di Fronzo siblings are here as well, all the more I am thankful for my decision to come here." And in light of his short speech, he hides his face from the rest of the siblings so that Catalina is the only one to see him wink at her.

Of course, he would do that, she thought and shakes her head slightly. Catalina knows the real reason why he's here. And it's not to butter up her siblings.

Still…a part of her is uncharacteristically relieved to have him with them today. She wouldn’t want to be spending time with her siblings alone.

Narni suddenly steps to the front. "Now that we've exchanged our pleasantries, it is time for us to enter the house. The wine has been prepared for us already."

"Of course." Hilario bows his head and then stands straight to bring his arm to the side, presenting the huge oakwood main doors that would lead to the main house of the vineyard. "Please, follow and enjoy some wine with us, signore." Hilario enters the house first with Siena and Narni following right behind.

It is Loreta who stays rooted in her place. She and Catalina share a hesitant look before Loreta hurries back inside the house without a word.

Catalina purses her lips and casts her eyes to the ground. She knew Loreta wanted to say something but decided against it. What she wasn’t aware of was that Domenico saw the whole silent exchange.

“Sneaky of you to let your siblings tag along,” he says once it’s only the two of them (of course, with Antonio standing silently a bit farther away).

“Are you afraid of their presence?”

Domenico holds his head high and smirks at her. “No. I enjoy some challenges. It makes me begin to wonder…who will my darling choose to spend the rest of this visit with? Me, a man whom she has known for only a few months? Or her siblings, the people she grew up with?”

Catalina scoffs and spits out, “Don’t you have more important things to take care of whether they be legitimate or not, fish? Or are you really here because of me?” She begins to go up the stairs to the main door and Domenico follows close behind, not missing a step. 

“I cannot pass an opportunity to be with you, darling. After all, we have not been talking to each other that much at work.”

And that statement poses as the truth. In fact, Catalina rarely talks to him at the hotel during work hours. Whenever she would ask – and that is because she needs to as the head of operations – her employees would always inform her that Domenico is busy making sure that construction is following their schedule and designated deadlines. Thus, he does not quote-unquote ‘flirt’ with her during those times. She is thankful that he respects those boundaries and is pleasantly surprised with his professionalism when dealing with matters at work.

Well, today may be an exception.

It is clear that Domenico has another purpose aside from tasting wine today.

When one is surrounded by lush greenery, blooming flowers, aromatic breeze, and exquisite wine, that is always an invitation to something that could be considered romantic. Domenico is clearly taking that chance for this trip.

“So you chose to come here because you want to talk to me? You have my phone number. Just call me.”

“And would you answer the phone knowing that it’s me who’s calling you?”

Catalina turns silent and keeps her mouth shut.

“Hm, thought so,” Domenico mutters in a singsong voice. “That’s alright…I’ll go back to the question I asked you before: me or your siblings today? Hmmm, I look forward to your answer.”

“...I’m never telling you my answer, Nemo.”

—---------

Domenico felt a great surge of pride in him when he knew that Catalina chose to stay with him throughout the entire visit.

She never voiced out her answer. That woman has her own sense of pride – one of the things he deeply admires her having – she wouldn’t have it in her to tell him directly that she would rather spend the rest of the day with him than with her siblings.

He knew her answer when she spent the entire time standing or walking beside him during the whole tour around the vineyard and even through the building where the special line of wine was carefully processed for consumption.

The icing on the cake was when she would discreetly pass him some homemade crackers made by the owners of the vineyard. She would throw him a look as if telling him that he needed to eat those crackers after tasting the different wines laid out for them. His hyperacidity would act up if he wasn’t eating anything to neutralize the wine he’s been drinking for the past hour.

Catalina’s siblings tried to make the whole tasting experience engaging for Domenico, whom they consider an important guest.  But he paid no heed to them at all. His eyes were only focused on Catalina.

Catalina, on the other hand, aside from making sure that Domenico was eating something to accompany his drinking of wine, seemed to be in her own world. If Domenico only gave his attention to her, she did not give her attention to anybody.

Domenico would carefully watch his darling seem to get lost in her thoughts from time to time. Through the expressions on her face, it looked as if she would have debates within herself. None of her siblings noticed it, but Domenico clearly did.

So when the tour ended, and when the guests were given the freedom to go around the vineyard on their own, Domenico – who made sure that Antonio wasn’t with him – did not hesitate to follow Catalina who was heading straight to the garden.

Boxwood hedges of different flowers lined like a drawing of the swirling rays of the sun that met at the center where a marble statue of angels playing with each other stands. Water sprouts upwards from the pipes and splashes down to the mossy pool. Beyond the horizon are only a few more rows of grapes before a forest teeming with trees and other kinds of greenery.

Catalina passes through the whole garden and enters a walkway leading to the forest. She is still buried in her thoughts since she has never stopped walking ever since leaving the house. Domenico still follows her like an obedient servant, a curious and amused one at that.

Even in this hot weather in the afternoon, Catalina still has her blazer on and is confidently making her way to the forest without tripping on her own feet despite the uneven surface.

Domenico liked watching her walk in front of him. There is this certain aura she gives off at all times – something mysterious and cunning and yet, he is not afraid of her. No, it makes him all the more intrigued. He couldn’t help to say from behind her, “Dio, sei bellissima!”

Catalina stops out of shock and turns to look at him. “W-What are you doing here?!”

“Darling, what do you mean by that? I’m here to spend the extra remaining time here with you.”

She points toward the house, looming behind the man in the distance. “I thought you stayed behind with my siblings!”

“Why should I stay with them? Are they the ones I’m in love with?”

“Dio, enough with all that ‘love’ and bullshit.”

“Hey,” Domenico begins sternly, “my love for you is not any kind of bullshit. If you think that way then you need to stop because I am serious about all this between us, Catalina.”

“Nemo, don’t talk about your feelings for me. Now is not the best time.”

He takes a few steps nearer and she doesn’t move back. Out of confusion, Domenico peers at her thoughtfully. And only now he notices the pinkish hue in her cheeks and ears, and the slight movement of her staggering on her own feet. “Wait a minute…are you drunk?”

“Not to the point that I could lose my consciousness, but enough to know that you are looking extra fine under this warm day.”

Her straightforward words made Domenico inexplicably amused. “You said ‘extra’ fine,” he points out, continuing this game of his. “Does this mean that I look fine to you every time you see me?”

“Yes,” she answers without any hesitation.

He watches her gaze drop a bit, seeming to have locked on his lips. “Catalina,” he continues, “do you want to kiss me?”

“Yes,” she whispers in a heartbeat.

Domenico could only blink at her. He never expected her to be so upfront about it. Lord, grant me divine strength, he thought.

“Porca miseria,” Catalina curses under her breath and holds her head in her hands. “This is why I don’t want you here. I finished all the wine we tasted and it’s getting to my head. You definitely are going to relish in this moment of my weak reticence.” She squeezes her eyes closed and breathes out a sigh of defeat. “Dio, just leave me alone and tease me about my weakness tomorrow at work. I’m used to your kind, Nemo.”

Is that how Catalina sees him? Does she think that he’s someone who only loves to tease her and play with her feeling from time to time? She talks as if she’s used to his antics, but she shouldn’t be saying any of those things at all. Because Domenico knows that isn’t the kind of person he is. Yes, he may be brute and manipulative to get things done in his world, but it doesn’t mean that he’s like that to the person he cares about. Catalina apparently thinks differently and that is a huge jab to his pride as someone who would readily give his life for her. “No,” he speaks out loud.

Catalina’s eyes flutter open then she furrows her brows at him. “Excuse me?”

“I’m not going to do any of the things you listed down. I’m not going to kiss you, I’m not going to leave you, and I’m not going to tease you about your weakness tomorrow.” Slight anger punctuated his voice. He is angry over the fact that Catalina still could not determine his pure intentions for her. Yes, he would want to kiss her, though, but it doesn’t mean that he would take her for granted. Despite being a notorious man in the underground crime ring brought by his family and others, he has his morals for a few people.

Domenico walks toward her and reaches over to gently take one of her hands. “I’m going to make sure you sober up a bit before facing your siblings again.”

“And how are you planning to do that…?” She warily eyes him for a moment.

“Simple. I’m sure that there is a bench at the end of the path we’re on. Say, let’s sit there beside each other…in silence? Is that what you want?”

“You’re not going to tease me? You’re not even going to kiss me? I-I gave you the invitation. Haven’t you been waiting for it–”

“I’ll let you realize that I’m not that kind of person,” he cut her off gently, but his words seemed to be so sharp that they sliced through the air of tension between them. “Come on,” Domenico says, carefully leading the way to the end of the path while still holding Catalina’s hand.

There really is a bench situated at the entrance of the forest and Domenico makes sure that Catalina takes a seat on it first before he does. There is space between them to ensure that Catalina is comfortable in her own space. And just as he said, Domenico stays quiet.

In their shared silence, he keeps his gaze on the view before them – the limitless rows of grapes surrounding the vineyard house and its colorful garden. Through the corner of his eye, he could see that Catalina’s gaze is not on the scene before them but on him. He could feel the weight of her stare on him and he knows that a lot of thoughts are running through her mind now.

“Got a question for me?” he breathes out, albeit impatiently, without taking his eyes off the view before him.

“...What is your verdict on bees?”

He turns to look at her, bewilderment clearly written on his face. He was not expecting that question. “Did you say…bees?”

She nods, waiting calmly for his answer.

Is this the effect of wine on her? “I find bees fascinating,” he finally answers, which actually is the truth.

“That’s good to know. I like bees,” she tells him, “I grew up taking care of them. Only Loreta and I enjoyed our summers together taking care of the beehives my family used to own. The rest of our siblings may be afraid of them but we never were. Saying that bees are harmful creatures is a travesty.”

I guess we’re going to talk about bees and other random things now. “There are more harmful things in this world than bees, but you should still be afraid of something with the potential to become harmful.”

“Then I would have to be afraid of every single thing and person in this world.”

Domenico wanted to scoff, but he kept his composure. Instead, he asks, “Isn’t that your philosophy? Isn’t that why you are cautious at all times?”

“We all have to be to survive. Allowing our feelings to get the best of us could lead to a downfall.”

“Help me understand you then. You told me you like chrysanthemums and now I know you like bees. Yet, you look at me as someone who could bring danger to your life.” He pauses before adding, “Why slowly open up about your life to someone you think you shouldn’t fully trust?”

Catalina couldn’t seem to answer his question. Silence loomed between them, tearing at his heart.

Domenico sighs quietly and keeps his gaze on her as he admits, "Catalina, darling...I pray every day that you'll soon see how genuine my love is for you." And he meant every word he uttered.

“...I like sitting beside you,” she murmurs at length.

He casts her an understanding smile, one that didn’t reach his eyes and was clearly forced. “That’s the wine speaking for you, darling.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey, I'm back! I hope you enjoyed this chapter ♡ Life has been hectic for the past months (T⌓T)

Vote?
Comment?
Thank you!