“It was the most perfect shoulder bag ever,” I said, still mourning the loss of the bag that Allie had spotted in one of the leather good stores we’d stumbled across during an afternoon of exploring. “I seriously considered taking her down before she paid—I had my stiletto right there—and shewaschewing gum. I could have totally justified it as honest confusion…”
“You’re a strong woman, Kate.”
“The sacrifices we make,” I said, and we both nodded sagely, then grinned at each other.
“Harumph.” Eddie’s snort drifted the short distance from his recliner in the living room. “You two aren’t nearly as clever as you think you are.”
“We aren’t? Are you sure?”
He made a noise that might have been a laugh, and I took another sip of wine.
Across from me, Laura was examining the purse I ended up buying for her without the aid of bloodshed. “As far as I’m concerned, this bag is brilliant,” she said. “It’s the perfect size, and the leather is so soft I’m tempted to use it as a pillow.”
“You haven’t looked inside yet,” I told her.
Her brow furrowed. “I thought it was empty.” She plunked the bag on the tabletop and peered in.
“Interior side pocket,” I said, then sat back feeling smug when she gasped.
“Kate,” she said, her voice low and a little awed as she pulled out the beautiful glass bottle, about the size of an airplane offering of whiskey, with a tiny gold screw top. “It’s lovely.”
“Back before my time, the bottles had cork stoppers. Screw tops are more practical. Less spillage.”
“Your time?” She held the glass up to the light, tilting it so the liquid inside moved back and forth. “I’m guessing this isn’t a sample of Rome’s finest grappa?”
“More like the Vatican’s finest. You’re holding an officialForzaholy water flask.”
“Oh.”
I saw her hand tighten around it, and her face took on a reverential glow. “Is that okay? For me to have one? I mean, I’m not officially withForza. Plus, not Catholic.”
“Father Corletti himself suggested it.”
“He did? Really?”
“Yup. He suggested I get one for myself too.”
Her brow furrowed. “You didn’t already have one?”
“Broke. Last assignment before I retired, actually.” I’d been heartbroken, but as I was leavingForza, it felt symbolic, and I’d never asked to have it replaced. That Father Corletti both knewand suggested it had felt like a blanket of warm fuzzies around my shoulders.
“This is—wow. Thank you.”
“You earned it,” I said, humbled by how much the gift obviously meant to her. “Honestly, if you’d started a few years earlier, you could have trained as analimentatore.”
“Yeah?” She leaned back, her finger tracing the lines of the bottle. “I’m always afraid I’m in the way. I mean, Cutter’s helping me with the fighting, but let’s get real, Lara Croft I’m not.” She tapped the bottle. “But this—Father Corletti thinking of me like it matters…”
“It does matter,” I said, as she trailed off in a shrug.
“You two getting sappy in there?” Eddie called.
“Maybe a little,” Laura answered, then lifted her wine as if to toast him.
“Phht. A little bottle? You get a silver stiletto with a flask in the hilt—now that’s a gift that matters.”
Laura almost choked on her wine, but recovered well. “You’re the man, Eddie.”
“And don’t you be forgetting it.”
