Sweet Temptation by Cora Reilly

Despite the cold weather, we took a stroll along the beach the next day. Simona
was strapped to Giulia’s front in the sling while Daniele and Loulou jogged
along the edge of the water. The dog barked at the waves, trying to snap at the
frothing water.
What a stupid thing, but it made Daniele and Giulia smile, so it could stay
for now. Seagulls soared over our heads. Giulia held out her hand, and I linked
our fingers after a moment of hesitation, worried about Daniele’s reaction, but he
didn’t seem to care. His attention was on the dog and the ocean.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I took it out to find a message from Faro.
Call me ASAP
Frowning, I pushed the phone back into my pocket. The wind roared too
loudly for a phone conversation.
“What is it?” Giulia asked.
“We need to head back to the house. I need to call Faro.”
Her face fell, and for half a second I considered ignoring Faro’s message, but
I’d told him not to bother me unless it was important. “Oh, sure.”
I squeezed her hand. “We can head out tomorrow morning again.”
She nodded then called, “Loulou, Daniele, come here!”
Both the dog and my boy turned to her and skipped toward us. For a moment
Daniele’s face reminded me of the past, almost as childishly innocent as back
then.
The moment we were back in the beach house, I called Faro while Giulia
cleaned sand off the dog and Daniele.
Simona crawled on the floor, chasing a ball that rattled in the most annoying
way. “What is it? I hope it’s important. I didn’t want to be disturbed.”
“While you were busy banging your young wife, Luca went berserk. He