Chapter Text
October 2024 — Sorrento
Anthony Bridgerton had never looked more handsome than in Italy, Kate decided.
Was it the sun? The Mediterranean air? The clothes he’d chosen to wear on their vacation?
Upon reflection, Kate thought it might have been the clothes.
At this very moment, Ant was lying back in his lounge chair, face tilted up to the sun, legs stretched out. He was bare-chested and wearing swim shorts, and Kate didn’t even try to stop herself from reaching out to touch him from where she lay beside him on her stomach.
Her fingers trailed down his bare thigh.
A muscle in his leg twitched and she looked up to see him smiling at her.
She grinned. “I’ve just realised — have I never seen you in shorts before now?”
Anthony just shrugged, his delighted gaze never leaving her.
“Is it a modesty thing?” Kate went on. “I wasn’t allowed to see you in shorts before marriage?”
“Couldn’t give away the farm,” he teased. “Had to make sure you were committed first.”
Yes, whatever the reason, whether it was his bare legs or the sunshine over the coast, Kate thought Italian Anthony just might be the sexiest of all the Anthonys she had seen thus far in their relationship.
Or maybe it was the fact that he was so relaxed here.
Or maybe it was the fact that he was now her husband.
Or maybe it was all of it put together.
Kate remembered the two of them in the days just after their engagement, lying in bed late into the night talking about their wedding, trading dreams about what the big day might be like. What it would be like when they were finally married. And now it had come to pass.
Was that really just a year ago?
She could barely believe it. So much seemed to have changed since they started this journey together during fall days just like these.
Well, maybe not just like these.
This was hardly an English autumn, Kate mused as she took in her surroundings.
They were in Sorrento, tucked away just a stone’s throw from the famous Amalfi Coast. They were spending their afternoon on a public beach, so they didn’t exactly have the run of the place, but they had pushed their two lounge chairs beside each other to make a sort of bed for themselves.
Anthony was planning to take her sailing later. He said it was to make up for the Valentine’s Day cruise they’d missed back in February. They’d be able to sail up and down Italy’s most iconic coast at sunset, and share a few drinks under the stars.
At just that moment, Kate’s left hand caught the light and she looked fondly at her engagement ring — now nestled in alongside her wedding band. She still remembered the night Anthony presented it to her, all sweet romantic gestures and nervous energy. Now, it sat proudly atop the intricate patterns of her mehndi.
Things really had changed in a year.
Then again, maybe they hadn’t. Kate felt Anthony’s hand grip hers, their fingers intertwining, and she looked up at him fondly.
Things had changed, but they also hadn’t, at the same time.
Anthony was still the same man, sitting beside her, holding her hand, staring at her adoringly, steady and constant.
Kate felt her heart flutter and she bent down to kiss the back of his hand, never taking her eyes from his. She felt the ripples of the spark between them, the current of it as strong as ever.
And then had to remind herself that they were on a very public beach.
Laughing a little at herself, Kate tried to turn her attention back to the book she was reading, but truth be told, she’d never really been one to sit still and read for long, except in the days when she’d had to read to Edwina. Now it seemed she was out of practice.
(Anthony was also holding an open book, but Kate noticed his pages hadn’t turned in nearly an hour. She flattered herself that perhaps her bikini was the reason he couldn’t concentrate.)
Turning in her seat to lie on her back alongside Anthony, Kate abandoned the pretense of her book entirely. She closed her eyes and simply surrendered to the sensation of doing nothing — for once in her life. She lay under the sun until her skin began to prickle with perspiration and she felt a delicious drowsiness begin to claim her.
Soon she felt the brush of Ant’s fingers threading through her hair, massaging her scalp.
Yes, this was the definition of paradise, Kate thought with a smile.
And this was only the beginning of their honeymoon. They had both taken time off from work — and their families — for two whole weeks. Actually, Kate had taken an entire semester off of work. Between her wedding in the countryside, her relatives visiting from halfway across the world, and helping Edwina move into her new flat near her university, it had just made sense. She would use this sabbatical in Italy to gain perspective on art — its history and creation — and foster some new inspiration.
Anthony, for his part, wasn’t even responding to work emails. There would be no crises demanding his attention on this trip. No business and no busy-ness until they were back in London. That was his rule.
Instead, they would take their time, touring Italy from the bottom to the top. They were starting in Sorrento, and from here they would travel up through Rome, and then on to Tuscany. They would end the journey somewhere near Lake Como.
It felt so nice, for a change, not to think about schedules or obligations or lunches or football games or dinner parties… even wedding things. The timeline had gotten so hectic toward the end. Now, for the first time in months — maybe years — Kate had nothing whatsoever on her to-do list.
Of course, the quiet was a little deafening.
A little overwhelming, even. A brand new sensation… but it was lovely all the same.
Kate shifted on the lounge chair.
She’d always had trouble sitting still.
With a jolt, Kate realised that she and Anthony had never actually had a long, uninterrupted stretch of time together like this, all by themselves.
Looking up, she met his stare. He wasn’t even pretending to read his novel anymore.
Anthony was already pulling Kate into his arms by the time she’d fully straightened up in her seat, his book thrown carelessly down on its face, still on the same page as it was an hour ago.
Kate brought her hands up to his face, taking in the warmth of his brown eyes, matched by the warmth of the sun on her skin, making her tingle and glow all over.
His smile made her feel like she was home, even hundreds of miles from London.
And when his lips met hers, she couldn’t help the little sound that escaped from the back of her throat. She decided nothing was more important in that moment than kissing him deeply, public beach or not.
***
Food simply tasted better in Italy, Kate decided, and she told Anthony so over dinner.
From their very first evening abroad, when they’d indulged in the most delightful pizza she’d ever had, to the locally made limoncello they drank afterward, to the freshly caught seafood from the local village they were having for dinner tonight.
When they took to the sea just before sunset, they snuggled together in the back of their boat with a bottle of prosecco, pointing out all of the landmarks along the coast that they’d seen in pictures but never before in person.
Just one more piece of this big world Kate had never imagined she’d get to see for herself.
”You’re so beautiful,” she felt Anthony’s whisper against her skin as he touched his lips to her neck. “Italy agrees with you.”
Anthony seemed intent on never having fewer than three points of contact between them on the boat, sitting as close to her as possible, holding her hand, brushing his shoulder against hers. Kate wasn’t complaining. She wouldn’t have had it any other way, and she reciprocated in kind, twining her fingers between his, leaning in to kiss his cheek and touch her temple to his at every single opportunity.
Kate hummed in contentment, watching the last sliver of sun vanish beyond her sight, even as its rays painted the coastline gold. “I could say the same to you. Part of me still can’t believe we’re really here.” She leaned her body against him. “We’ve really gone and gotten married. We’re on our honeymoon.”
“It’s perfect,” he agreed softly. “You are perfect, Kathani.”
Kate felt herself flush with pleasure, still giddy whenever Anthony used her full name like this.
“And tomorrow,” Ant was saying with a squeeze of her fingers. “I was thinking we could sail out to Capri for some lunch and some shopping. There’s a piazza that’s a bit of a hike to get to, but it’s supposed to have the most beautiful panoramic views.”
Kate nodded, her hair billowing around her face as the breeze danced around them. The night was beginning to fall properly now, the sky ever-darkening, making the light from the moon and the stars and the boats on the water sparkle across the waves.
“I think that sounds incredible,” she said. “I love a good hike, and if there’s more pizza waiting at the end of it, so much the better. Unless you had other plans?”
Anthony grinned. “Didn’t we agree to not overplan this trip? We can get pizza, or have three kinds of gelato for lunch if we’d rather.”
Giggling, Kate turned to look at him, sarcasm in her eyes and in her voice. “Gelato straightaway after a hike? I’m surprised at you, Anthony Bridgerton.”
He pinched her side. “My point is, we can do whatever we want.”
”Whatever we want,” Kate echoed, a bit of awe in her voice.
“Bit strange to have several days in a row with no plans, isn’t it?” Ant asked, reading her mind.
“Completely unnatural,” Kate laughed. “Do you think we’ll be able to make it a whole two weeks without finding some way to be productive?”
Anthony nudged her knee with his own. “We’ll just have to keep each other accountable,” he teased. “No worries allowed. No to-do lists. No stress.”
“Hmm,” she breathed, feeling his body against hers, steady even in the ebb and flow of the tide. On the shore, the lights from the shopfronts added to the twilight glow. “Do you think our families are getting on all right without us?”
“I think they’d let us know if anything catastrophic happened,” he replied, his eyes also roving over the breathtaking sight before them. “To be honest with you, I’m trying really hard not to think about it.”
“We’re going to get home in two weeks and everything will be on fire,” Kate said with another little giggle.
“And all of our siblings will be running around like Muppets with their arms waving in the air,” Anthony chimed in, laughing along with her.
“Well, then we’d better enjoy these two weeks of peace if we’re going to have to put out fires and wrangle frenzied puppets the minute we get back,” she declared, sealing their mutual promise with a chaste kiss to his lips.
Looping her arm through his, Kate leaned into Anthony’s side, turning her face up to the moonlit sky. Gazing at the stars, she felt Ant kiss her hair and reaffirmed her thoughts of that afternoon.
She’d never felt more at home anywhere in the world.