Afterward, they found their way to the bedroom, where they dozed, woke, made love, dozed, woke, and made love again. For the first time in months, Aida didn’t think about anything except how grateful she was for the beautiful man in whose arms she slept.
But then she was being jostled awake, the last vestiges of a happy dream abruptly slipping from her mind. “Aida, get up, get up. Get your clothes on now!”
Aida blinked, confused, then realized where she was. She scrambled from the bed and rushed to the living room, where her clothes were still all over the floor near the door. “What’s going on?” she asked, dread filling her as she pulled on her panties and socks.
Luciano handed Aida her pants. “Yumi’s been texting over and over, but I’m just now seeing it. She says your MODA phone has been buzzing for the last hour. She’s getting really worried. We should have set an alarm. It’s already ten.”
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Aida looked at her personal phone and saw all of Yumi’s messages, missed because her ringer was off. She dressed faster than she ever had in her life. “How on earth did I forget my MODA phone? I must have left it on the counter after I texted you. Damn it.
“I love you,” she said, giving Luciano a hasty kiss as he opened the door for her.
She was only a few steps away and ready to break into a sprint when she heard Luciano call after her.
“Aida, did you mean that?”
She turned around. “Mean what?”
He waved his hand at her. “Go, go, you can tell me again later. Go!”
Aida didn’t hesitate. She made it the block and a half to Yumi’s in record time and banged on the door, falling into her friend’s arms when she opened it.
Yumi shoved Aida’s phone into her hands. “It’s Trista, and she’s starting to sound pissed.”
Panting from the run, Aida opened her messaging app to see at least fifteen messages from her aide. The last one was ominous.
CALL ME NOW.
After taking a second to calm herself, she dialed the phone with a shaky finger.
“Where have you been?”
Yumi had been right, Trista was pissed.
Aida tried to sound like she had just woken up. “I’m so sorry, Trista. We overslept and I had my phone in the bottom of my bag with the sound low. What’s wrong?”
“I arranged for you to be at Castel Sant’Angelo this morning. I texted you but you haven’t been responding. You were due there over an hour ago. They opened the site just for you, and you aren’t there.”
This was beyond unusual. Trista hadn’t given her any early indication she was supposed to be at Castel Sant’Angelo. She never did things last minute. Was this a test to make sure she had her phone on?
“This is not acceptable. I’ll have to report your lack of responsiveness to Fran.”
In moments like this, Aida thought of Trista as a version of Mussolini reincarnate. She wanted all trains to run on time, and she would not take no for an answer, or heads would roll. “Trista, you don’t need to report this. It was an accident. I just overslept. I’ll head there now.”
“Don’t dally, Aida.” She hung up.
Yumi put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “That didn’t sound good.”
“It wasn’t.” She started stripping down on her way to the bathroom. “Can you call me a cab? I’ll be out of the shower before they get here.”
“You got it.”
Seven minutes later, she hugged Yumi goodbye just as a heavy calm descended over her. Gritting her teeth, she opened the door to find both the cab waiting and a black car, the latter of which Fran was leaning against, her arms crossed, her face impassive. She was dressed head to toe in sapphire, her red hair a stunning contrast.
Aida dismissed the cab driver with a five-euro bill and went to the waiting car. Fran held the door open for her, then went around to the other side and climbed in.
“I didn’t know you were in town,” Aida said as she buckled her seat belt, a good excuse not to look at Fran until she had to.
“I thought I would be seeing you at the palazzo. But I understand you missed the alarm on your clock.” Fran didn’t sound angry or frustrated, but Aida wasn’t sure that was any better.
