Her eyebrow went up.“Together?In those first-class reclining seat bed things you showed me you booked?”
I bit my lip.“I sold him Johnny’s ticket.”
“Yousneaky dog.”Kat held up her hand for a high-five.
“There was a barricade between the seats so we really couldn’t do much more than talk.”Sexual banter was more accurate of a description.We both pondered the logistics of mile-high sex.I picked up a coaster and fanned my over-warm face because thinking about it made me remember other things.
“And then?”
“We landed in Venice.He did the touristy stuff with me for the first part of the day.Then he had ‘business’ so had to leave.That’s it.”
Kat was really confused.“I could have sworn you implied that you had sex with him.”
“I did.Later.”
Realization dawned on her face.“He came back for you.”
I nodded, trying to tamp down the flutter that my started somewhere between my stomach and my heart.Even after finding out he killed people for a living, that memory sent tingles through me.
“And he cameherefor you.”
“No, this is just business.”
She held up a hand.“Flag on the play.Let me clarify something for you.If he were only here on business, he’d have stayed in whatever hotel room he was holed up in and not come here.”She pointed at the rug under her swirly Keeyahri heels.
That flutter?It went south to my stomach.The discomfort didn’t stop my heart from doing a little dance.
“Okay, what if his business here, in this room, is to keep me safe?”
Kat’s face took on a little gray.“From?I need you to elaborate here.”
I glanced around.The party had wound down.Only a dozen people remained.Some of the usual regulars and a few of the girl posse Kat and I cultivated chatted in little groups.Some of them had even paired off.Which had been the point of all this.I mean, just because I was single didn’t mean that my friends couldn’t find love, right?And because the focus was no longer on me, I could admit a little to Kat.
“Allie’s husband is kind of a—um…” I tried to gesture my meaning.
“Italian?Duh.I spotted that a mile away.”
“Sardinian, actually.”
She blew out a raspberry.“And that’s a crime?”
I let my eyes go a little wide to indicate that yes, very much yes it was.“And Ringo is his best friend,” I finished.
Her head tilted, and she used a tone I was certain to interpret correctly.“Girl?”Her hand wiggled as she tried to imitate Ringo’s earlier knife juggling act.
“Yeah.”
My breath was shaky.Even admitting that much out loud was dangerous.
She lowered her volume and deliberately did not look anywhere incriminating.“Does Casey know?”
“It’s likely.He’s probably run at least three deep searches on him.”
“Do you think he’ll find anything?”
I shrugged.“Rumors probably.I don’t know.It’s better for him if he doesn’t find out, if you know what I mean?”I winced.That was too bold of me.
She took a longer look at Ringo this time.“And yet, he came back, twice.”
