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Light streamed in from the top of the window on the right wall and she suspected it would be gone shortly as the sun traveled overhead. The floor was some kind of tile, travertine perhaps, although she knew less about Italian tile than she did about her family. A sofa under the window with a coffee table in front of it. The room was cozy and any other time, Riss would love to curl up on the sofa with a book and look out at the canal in front of her, but now her palms were sweaty and her stomach was churning.
The sound of footsteps preceded Cash’s reappearance in the doorway. Without a glance her direction, he set a medium-sized moving box on the coffee table. “Here. This is Alicia’s stuff. There were more clothes, but we gave them to a local charity.”
She got up from the chair and walked over to the box. She peered inside cautiously as if something might jump out and bite her. “Thank you,” she murmured as she stared inside. There was very little of anything in the box. A maroon sweater. Some makeup. A hairbrush. The debris of everyday life.
Riss reached in and pulled out a silver frame. It was a picture of Alicia dressed to kill. She had on a long flowing golden gown with lots of beading down the front. It had a deep V neckline and Alicia’s dark hair hung about her shoulders. She was stunning. Her violet eyes so much like Riss’s, it was like looking in a mirror.
“Her eyes…they are the same as mine.”
“No. Yours are a deeper shade of violet,” Cash said as he sat on the edge of the desk and crossed his arms over his chest.
“It’s a genetic abnormality. Our eyes,” she said as she stared at the picture. She could see the similarities between them. Alicia’s nose was different but they had the same wide mouth and full lips. Alicia’s eyebrows were darker but the same shape. Even without their eyes, it would have been easy to tell they were sisters. A lump formed in her throat and she had difficulty swallowing. Three months. She’d missed meeting her only known family member by three months. A sister. She’d grown up an only child and oh, how she’d wished for a sister. She sniffed. “Could I get a drink?” she croaked. She needed to swallow the lump.
Cash went behind the desk and she heard him pouring out something for her. Looking in the container, she realized there was a small jewelry box as well. She reached down and pulled it out. Opening it up, she found the matching pendant to the one she was wearing. Her eyes clouded with unshed tears as she touched the pendant in the box. She sniffed again and Cash put a drink in her hand. She took a large swallow and choked. She’d assumed he’d give her water but whatever it was burned the whole way down. She coughed and had to set the glass down on the table.
“You could’ve warned me.”
“I could’ve, but you needed to snap out of it.” He went back to his position on the desk.
She wanted to yell at him but there was no point. He wasn’t going to be friendly anymore. She just needed to adjust to that fact. “There’s no bible. Not that I thought you actually had it, but I had hoped.”
“Alicia never had the bible as far as I know.”
She nodded. There was nothing to say to that. “May I keep these things?”
Cash stared at her a moment and then gave an abrupt nod. “I’ll get a bag so you can carry them more easily.” He was gone again and she was alone in the room with her sister’s things. She ran her hand over the lovely jewelry box. It was made of lacquered wood and had flowers engraved on the top. It was about the size of a small cigar box. It wasn’t the type of thing she would’ve picked for herself but since it was her sister’s she would treasure it.
She had started to put it back in the box when her finger snagged on a small bump. She turned the box to look at it and realized it was a button of sorts. She pressed it and a small drawer shot out the other side. Riss let out a small noise and then quickly glanced around. Cash was nowhere in sight. There was a piece of paper in the drawer. She reached for it when she heard Cash’s footsteps in the hallway. She quickly pushed the drawer back in and put the jewelry box down on the table.
“Here,” Cash said as he came back into the room. He helped her put everything into the bag he’d brought. “I’ll take you to see Umberti but after that, you’re going back to your hotel, you’re checking out, and you’re heading home.”
She said nothing. There was no point in arguing with him. She was a grown-ass woman and she would do what she wanted and right now she needed him to accompany her because Allesio Umberti scared the shit out of her. So, she would play along but once they were done, she would say thank you and move on. She wasn’t leaving Venice until she was good and ready to leave Venice. And the first thing she wanted to do once she got back to the hotel was read that note hidden in the jewelry box.
They left the room, turning right this time, and walked down the wide hallway. The black and white marble floor gleamed, and the walls were pale cream Venetian plaster that matched the age of the house. There were several rooms off the hallway and although she only got a glimpse of them as they passed, the place spoke of money. Crystal chandeliers, plush rugs, and paintings that had to be originals hung on the walls. Yes, lots of money here. She had no idea what the place was nor could she find it again if she tried but she guessed that was the point. Cash seemed at home here, but she had the distinct impression that this was not a house but more of a business of some sort.
They reached the front and Cash swung open the old ornate door. The elegant gold filigree edging and shiny knocker stood out against the black door. It almost looked like real gold to her. Gold leaf maybe? They entered a small courtyard that had two benches where people presumably waited for their taxi. Cash strode across the courtyard and down the stairs to the waiting gondola. He turned and took her hand helping her in. Riss sat down in the back of the gondola on the bench and leaned against the luxurious red pillows. Cash said something in Italian to the gondolier and then sat down beside her.
Under any other circumstances, this would be thrilling. Taking a ride in a gondola with an incredibly sexy man nestled to her side, yes, this was the stuff of fantasies except Cash wasn’t interested in her and she wasn’t here for fun. Riss sighed as they left one canal and merged into another. She’d always wanted to take a gondola ride. She’d read about it on the flight over. Turns out that the whole singing thing only happens in Vegas. In Venice, the gondoliers just take you on a ride and point out the sights.
“Why a gondola?” she asked suddenly.
Cash turned to face her. His thigh was rubbing on hers and she needed to get her mind off it.
“The canal is narrow and shallow. Water taxis can’t make it to the door.”
He turned back to face forward again, and their journey continued in silence.
“Are we going to Umberti’s shop?”
Cash’s mouth tightened. “Yes.”
So much for conversation. She searched for something else to say but came up empty. Cash wasn’t in a talking mood apparently. Riss watched as they slowly floated past the ancient buildings. It truly was gorgeous here. Almost magical. The gondolier steered into another canal and sunlight hit her face. She closed her eyes and soaked in the warmth. Not that she was cold. Cash being pressed against her was keeping her warm in more ways than one. But the cold she felt was in her bones and nothing seemed to be able to touch it.
“We’re here,” Cash said. They’d stopped next to a narrow alleyway. The gondolier docked and waited on the step. Cash rose and held out a hand. She put her palm in his and stood up. Another boat went by, a water taxi, which caused some waves and she fell against Cash. He tightened his arms around her to steady her. “Antonio,” he called, and the gondolier turned. He put an arm out and Cash moved Riss to help her disembark. She took the proffered hand but immediately missed the warmth of Cash’s arms.
Cash came to stand beside her. “Follow me and stay close.”
He started down the alley and, after readjusting the bag she was carrying, she started after him. As they approached the end of the alley, Riss realized they were coming out in a main street although in Venice, they all seemed like narrow alleys to her. There were throngs of people. Cash had only been a few steps ahead of her in the alley but now that they’d left it, she was already losing him in the crowd. She struggled to catch up but got caught behind some tourists wearing fanny packs and snapping photos of a mask shop. By the time she managed to get around them, Cash was gone from sight.
