pain from losing him. I might be willing to gnaw off my own foot to break free. Meaning, I’d risk myself to learn the truth.
But if Paolo is dead, you can’t bring him back. And if he’s not dead, you can’t save him. I dropped my gaze to my trembling hands resting on my lap. I need to talk to my father. He’s the only one who might have a chance of helping.
No, I couldn’t trust my dad to tell me the truth, but I could trust that he’d do anything to keep me from harm’s way. I’d have to appeal to his heart and help him understand that there would be no moving on until this situation ended one way or another. I needed to fly back to St. John and talk to him face-to-face.
I took a deep breath and released it.
“You all right?” Horse asked.
“ Signore? Dove stiamo andando ?” said the driver.
“He wants to know where is your hotel?” asked Horse.
“Oh.” I dug out a little card from my purse and handed it to him.
Horse looked at me like I was nuts.
“What?” I shrugged. “They don’t give us a lot for expenses.”
“Now I know why you’re so unhappy.” Horse told the driver where to go, and during the entire ten-minute drive, he talked about how Rome had the nicest hotels in the world but that I’d managed to pick the only one where people were regularly shot.
When we pulled up to the front of my fleabag, he offered for a fifth time to put me up in one of his uncle’s hotels. “You won’t have to pay for a thing,” he assured me.
“Thanks for the offer, Horse, but I’m fine here.”
I slipped out and then remembered. “Oh dangit. Will my rental car be okay? I left it parked about a mile from Nikki’s house.”
“You didn’t take a taxi to the party?” he asked.
“No.”
“I will come by in the morning and take you to your car.”
“Oh. No, that’s not necessary. I can take a cab on my way to the airport.”
“You’re leaving Italy?” he asked. “But you didn’t get your time with Nikki for those photos.”
I’d forgotten about that. “I got enough last night outside of the restaurant and bar,” I lied.
“What time is your flight?”
I didn’t want to tell him because I felt an impending offer of hospitality coming my way.
“Not sure, actually. Six a.m., I think? I’m on standby.”
He looked very disappointed. I guessed he wanted more time to get into my pants.
“Sorry,” I said. “But it was really nice meeting you and—”
“Well, then. I will take you to dinner right now.”
I looked at my watch. It was almost 1:00 a.m. “It’s kind of late.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. This is Rome. We only go to bed when we have someone sexy and warm to put in it.”
“I really can’t—”
“Please?” He pressed his palms together in the prayer position. “Besides, you cannot leave Italy without having tried the best meatballs in all of Rome.”
“I’m actually not a big meat eater. I’m more of the tofu type.” Although, I had to admit my earlier sandwich had made me reconsider my vow to eat animals only on special occasions like Christmas or Thanksgiving or when I was in Italy hanging out with violent cokehead mobsters. Yanno, special.
Horse’s big green eyes blinked at me, and it was hard to resist that beautiful face, even though I wasn’t into him.
“Please?” he repeated. “What are you going to do other than sleep for ten hours on a plane tomorrow? And who knows if you will ever return. You must seize the moment in life, and this is something you won’t want to miss.”
He’d successfully pushed one of my buttons. I really hated to go home without seeing more of Italy. And Spain. And Greece. And…okay. I wanted to see the world. “All right.”
“Yes!” He scooted over to let me back in the limo.
“What convinced you?” he asked.
“I can’t stand seeing a man beg.”
“I will remember that.”
CHAPTER NINE
Within about twenty minutes, the limo pulled up to a set of iron gates in a very posh-looking
But if Paolo is dead, you can’t bring him back. And if he’s not dead, you can’t save him. I dropped my gaze to my trembling hands resting on my lap. I need to talk to my father. He’s the only one who might have a chance of helping.
No, I couldn’t trust my dad to tell me the truth, but I could trust that he’d do anything to keep me from harm’s way. I’d have to appeal to his heart and help him understand that there would be no moving on until this situation ended one way or another. I needed to fly back to St. John and talk to him face-to-face.
I took a deep breath and released it.
“You all right?” Horse asked.
“ Signore? Dove stiamo andando ?” said the driver.
“He wants to know where is your hotel?” asked Horse.
“Oh.” I dug out a little card from my purse and handed it to him.
Horse looked at me like I was nuts.
“What?” I shrugged. “They don’t give us a lot for expenses.”
“Now I know why you’re so unhappy.” Horse told the driver where to go, and during the entire ten-minute drive, he talked about how Rome had the nicest hotels in the world but that I’d managed to pick the only one where people were regularly shot.
When we pulled up to the front of my fleabag, he offered for a fifth time to put me up in one of his uncle’s hotels. “You won’t have to pay for a thing,” he assured me.
“Thanks for the offer, Horse, but I’m fine here.”
I slipped out and then remembered. “Oh dangit. Will my rental car be okay? I left it parked about a mile from Nikki’s house.”
“You didn’t take a taxi to the party?” he asked.
“No.”
“I will come by in the morning and take you to your car.”
“Oh. No, that’s not necessary. I can take a cab on my way to the airport.”
“You’re leaving Italy?” he asked. “But you didn’t get your time with Nikki for those photos.”
I’d forgotten about that. “I got enough last night outside of the restaurant and bar,” I lied.
“What time is your flight?”
I didn’t want to tell him because I felt an impending offer of hospitality coming my way.
“Not sure, actually. Six a.m., I think? I’m on standby.”
He looked very disappointed. I guessed he wanted more time to get into my pants.
“Sorry,” I said. “But it was really nice meeting you and—”
“Well, then. I will take you to dinner right now.”
I looked at my watch. It was almost 1:00 a.m. “It’s kind of late.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. This is Rome. We only go to bed when we have someone sexy and warm to put in it.”
“I really can’t—”
“Please?” He pressed his palms together in the prayer position. “Besides, you cannot leave Italy without having tried the best meatballs in all of Rome.”
“I’m actually not a big meat eater. I’m more of the tofu type.” Although, I had to admit my earlier sandwich had made me reconsider my vow to eat animals only on special occasions like Christmas or Thanksgiving or when I was in Italy hanging out with violent cokehead mobsters. Yanno, special.
Horse’s big green eyes blinked at me, and it was hard to resist that beautiful face, even though I wasn’t into him.
“Please?” he repeated. “What are you going to do other than sleep for ten hours on a plane tomorrow? And who knows if you will ever return. You must seize the moment in life, and this is something you won’t want to miss.”
He’d successfully pushed one of my buttons. I really hated to go home without seeing more of Italy. And Spain. And Greece. And…okay. I wanted to see the world. “All right.”
“Yes!” He scooted over to let me back in the limo.
“What convinced you?” he asked.
“I can’t stand seeing a man beg.”
“I will remember that.”
CHAPTER NINE
Within about twenty minutes, the limo pulled up to a set of iron gates in a very posh-looking
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