Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83881 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83881 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
I spoke to some clients via phone and sent some emails, then strolled back to the shop. I’d been gone a little longer than I expected, and I wondered how much money Brianna had spent.
Except when I arrived, Simona informed me Brianna had only stayed for a short time and bought hardly anything. “A swimsuit and a cover-up. That was all.”
“What about the dress?”
“She tried it and one other on, and they look beautiful on her, but she said no. She said no to everything, and she left.”
I was confused. “The shoe store?”
“She left alone, Dante. She insisted she was fine. She paid cash for her purchase.”
“I’ll be back soon,” I promised. Outside, I glanced up and down the street. I hadn’t seen her walking this way, and the other direction led to the less populated business section. And the area the bus went. Confusion gave way to anger.
She had played me. She had cash and a credit card. I’d been gone long enough to give her time. A bus went through here every day, heading to Naples. I racked my brain, trying to recall if I had her passport or she did.
She was running.
Fury beat through me. She was like every other woman out there. I had fallen for her seeming capitulation. She had no plans to stay. She had used the goddamn phone I gave her last night and looked up the information she needed. Planned all this out.
Disappointment hit me like a tidal wave. I was sure she was different. Honest.
But she was…
My thoughts ended as if I had slammed on the brakes, and my mind came to a jarring halt.
Sitting at a table in the shade, at the small café we’d been to yesterday, was Brianna. The chair beside her held a few small bags. A latte was in front of her.
She was here. She hadn’t run. Relief tore through me. The disappointment vanished.
But she wasn’t alone. Standing to one side was the police officer from the other day and seated next to her was Ramon Winters. A former client, an undeclared enemy, and the man I loathed over all others.
Sitting beside my little bee.
At first glance, they seemed to be simply chatting, but as I drew closer, I saw the tight set of Brianna’s shoulders. The tension around her mouth. Her sunglasses covered her eyes, but I knew even without seeing them, they would be upset.
“Amore,” I called out.
Her head turned quickly, and she stood. “Darling!” she replied. “I have been waiting forever!” she scolded.
Her words and the effusive way she flung her arms around my neck surprised me, but I caught on quickly, dropping a kiss to her neck, then her mouth as she eased back. “You left me alone so long, I was famished.”
I chuckled and kissed her again, knowing we had a rapt audience. “I was caught up in paperwork, my love.” I lifted her hand to my mouth and kissed her knuckles. “Forgive me.” Then I glanced up. “But you have such charming company.”
Officer Rossi smiled at me. “I saw your little prisoner sitting here and came to check on her. I thought perhaps she had run to Mr. Winters for help. Maybe you had angered her again.”
Winters frowned, glancing between us. “Prisoner?”
Brianna laughed. “Inside joke.”
“I am the one in prison,” I inserted. “Her prisoner of love.”
“Oh hush, you,” she laughed and slapped my chest playfully.
Officer Rossi laughed. “So funny. I am glad all is good.” He touched his hat. “Until we meet again.”
He strolled away, and Winters and I stared at each other. Brianna stayed beside me, and I looped an arm around her waist. “You did not do much shopping, my love,” I murmured to her, watching the way he looked at her.
“Later,” she responded.
“We were having a nice coffee together,” Winters spoke. “I saw the lovely lady alone and was persuaded to join her.”
I felt Brianna tense up. His words were carefully chosen to upset me. I knew Brianna would never ask a stranger to have coffee with her. A male one, anyway. I pressed a kiss to her temple. “Maybe you shouldn’t be listening to the voices in your own head, Winters. They’re often misleading.”
His glare intensified, and Brianna tugged me to the table, sitting down across from him and patting the chair next to her.
He scowled at me. “How’s the gallery?”
“Business is excellent, thank you.”
Brianna looked between us. “Dante is going to show me around this afternoon. Such a lovely little town.”
Her words defused the situation, and he leaned back. “Have you been here long?”
“No, only a few days.”
“You are from America?”
“Canada, actually. We met while Dante was there, and he brought me back with him.”
“How lovely for you,” Winters said, his tone and gaze saying it was anything but lovely.
“Oh, it is,” Brianna replied, not responding to his tone. “Such a wonderful surprise. I couldn’t bear for him to leave me behind.” She grasped my hand clenched on my knee, lifting it to her mouth and kissing my knuckles in such a sweet fashion it caught me off guard. Her lips lingered, and I had to smile at her.