“For tomorrow we die?” she joked, finishing the biblical reference. “I hope not.”
“You never know.” He lifted his glass of wine toward her as if in a toast. “Either way, we’re on vacation, so it’s time to cut loose.”
“I can go along with that.” Sloane clinked her glass against his before turning back to Charlotte. “There are so many ramifications to what you’ve learned.”
Charlotte wasn’t sure what, specifically, she was referring to. “Like...”
“You could have several other siblings! Getting into contact with Lilly could open up a lot of... issues.”
Charlotte waved her off. “Don’t start pointing out all the possibilities quite yet. First let me adjust to what I’m facing now.”
Sloane frowned. “You haven’t submitted to one of those ancestry sites, have you?”
“I did, actually. Just a couple of days ago. I thought it might help me find other relatives—maybe someone it will be important for Lilly to find or know.”
“When will you get the results?” Julian asked.
“In four to six weeks.”
“So not long after we get back,” Sloane mused.
“I wish it was sooner,” Charlotte said.
Sloane drained her glass. “I can see why.”
A ding signaled that Charlotte had received a text message. She was surprised because she knew her folks would be asleep back in California. Even Cliff would be asleep at four in the morning.
But it wasn’t someone from America. This person lived in Italy.
This is Luca Versetti. You coming to Italy?
First contact. Heidelman had told her to text him when she got in and set up a time to meet Lilly, but she hadn’t had the chance. If he’d been told the same thing—that she’d text him when she arrived—why was he reaching out to her before she could even get to Praiano? Was hethateager to be rid of Lilly?
Charlotte got the impression he was. The question was why? Surely, she wasn’t so difficult he couldn’t wait one more day.
I’m in Naples. I’ll be taking the train and arriving in Praiano later today.
What address, please? I will have Lilly and her things ready.
Stunned, Charlotte looked up at her friends.
“What is it?” they both asked at once.
“It’s Lilly’s caregiver—Luca Versetti.”
“Can he speak English?” Julian asked.
“Heidelman said he could, and he wrote me in English.”
Sloane twirled her empty wineglass. “What does he want?”
Julian followed up on that question with “Is he trying to arrange a meeting? You didn’t set up something for tonight, did you?”
“No. I knew we’d be arriving after twenty-four hours of almost no sleep. I wanted to wait until I was fresh and rested. I was also afraid our flights would be delayed, or we wouldn’t be able to get a train ticket or what have you.”
Julian shifted in his seat. “So... what’s he saying?”
Fighting the jitters that were setting in, Charlotte put her phone aside. She got the feeling this wasn’t the situation she’d anticipated, where she could come, meet Lilly and make a careful, informed decision. Luca was obviously finished caring for the girl. Now he was just looking for somewhere to dump her as soon as possible. Which meant...what? “Sounds like he’s planning to drop her off on our doorstep as soon as we arrive.”
