“No. Yes. I mean…she’s not going to talk to me!”
“She will.”
“How are you so sure?”
“The attention will be on her.”
Okay, so I could see that about her. But I had no clue if she was going to want to delve into her personal life and open up to me. I had only wanted to know because I wanted to feel like his death was worth something, even if it was over someone I didn’t feel was.
Nazzareno checked his watch. “Let us eat, then we will do some shopping.”
“When do I…talk to her?”
“Tomorrow night.” He watched me for a second. “Are you not up for it?”
He knew damn well what he was doing—egging me on. And it was working. My spine started to stiffen, I started to sit up taller, and my curiosity pulled at the scent of blood.
Even if I had changed, there were some things that would always stay the same.
Instead of the thought scaring me, I was relieved. If I always followed my passion, that meant some things had staying power in my life.
Including love.
I smiled. “Lunch better be a good one, then, because if you’re treating, we’ll be shopping for hours.”
He threw back his head and roared with laughter. “I will see how much damage you will do.”
Challenge accepted.
THIRTY-TWO
AVA
I lookedout over Napoli from our fancy suite. A grin still lingered on my face as I toyed with the straps of my soft robe.
Nazzareno had just stood behind me, his arms wrapped around me, making some wisecrack about having to put his credit card out because my shopping trip yesterday had set it on fire.
In all fairness, I had warned him.
It was a bad idea to challenge me to make a dent in his funds.
He had it, so…I spent it without worry. The proof was still packed in an insane number of bags in our room and hanging up in the closet.
He was only joking, though. He seemed…proud to do it, like it made him feel like a man to provide for me. It was the same look on his face when he told me about the villa, though he had admitted that Lucila and Lilo had put up the original money for it. Then he went and paid them an absurd amount for a one-euro villa to make a point.
He was the only man going to take care of me in that way.
Even though I didn’t mind spending his money out on the town, I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about it long term, given our…arrangement. An arrangement I had not fully committed to. And if I did, I wanted some independence from it.
I lifted my shoulders and brought the fabric up to my nose. His scent clung to it. I turned away from the window to go and find him, but he was making his way back toward me. He’d been dressed in a suit, the tie undone, and now his shirt sleeves were rolled up, and he was just so…fucka-licious.
His eyes met mine and lowered. He knew what was on my mind.
Except…he was followed by what seemed like a team of women, who had a team behind them carrying bags. He introduced them to me. The women were a group of stylists he’d hired to get me ready for the night.
I’d casually mentioned to him the day before how nice it must be to have an entire fashion team at your disposal, and…tada, I had one.
That Fausti influence and money was like magic.
