AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Riss was out of options. If she wanted to find out more, she was going to have to go with Umberti. She bit her lip as he stared at her. That smile didn’t come close to his eyes. His all-black clothing and the way he was leaning slightly forward made her think of a vulture just waiting to pull the flesh from her bones. His eyes glittered as he stared at her as if she were his prey.
Instinctively, she retreated a step, as if preparing to run, but stopped herself. What choice did she have? If she wanted to know about Alicia, she had to go with this man. She took a tentative step forward and then another. Umberti offered her an even larger smile making her breath catch in her throat as he placed his hand on the small of her back and propelled her forward.
“I don’t think so,” someone said as Riss’s arm was grabbed.
She jumped at the sound of his voice and whirled around. Cash’s grip on her arm tightened. Where the hell had he come from? She must have been so engrossed in her terror over Umberti that she’d missed him entering the shop. She moved toward him and resisted the intense desire to sag against his strong chest.
Umberti’s eyes narrowed “Mr. Walker, how nice to see you.” The words were right but the tone was anything but welcoming. He held on to Riss’s other wrist. “Ms. Day and I were just going to have a chat about her sister. Alicia and I were friends, as you know.”
“Larissa isn’t going anywhere with you. She has a plane to catch.”
It wasn’t true, not that she cared, but she couldn’t leave until she had at least spoken to Umberti about her sister. “I have some time,” she said in a small voice. “Perhaps Mr. Umberti you could just tell me about my sister. You were friends. How did you two meet?”
He frowned. “It’s much more comfortable in my office. I have a lovely sofa we can sit on.” He gestured one last time, his fingers snug on her wrist, but Riss wasn’t moving. She didn’t want to go but she also doubted Cash would let go of her arm anyway.
“We’re fine here.” Cash brought her back against his side, letting go of her arm and sliding his around her waist. “Get on with it, Umberti.”
Cash was coiled tight like an animal ready to pounce. He hated Umberti, not that she could blame him but he seemed particularly incensed.
She cleared her throat and tugged on her arm until Umberti had no choice but to release her. She stumbled with her sudden freedom and leaned against Cash. She said, “Anything you could tell me about my sister would be greatly appreciated.”
Umberti frowned but pasted a smile on his lips. “Very well. Your sister was a woman who knew her own mind. She did not suffer fools,” he said. “She hired me to find the family bible and she was not pleased that I could not locate it immediately.”
“Did you find any leads on it?” Riss asked. She probably wanted to see this book as much as Alicia had. Desperately.
“I had a few but I stopped pursuing them when your sister was killed.”
Cash made a guttural sound in the back of his throat. She glanced his way in time to catch a slight negative shake of his head, his eyes never leaving Umberti.
She bit her lip. Cash was not going to like the next words that she was going to utter, but that was too damn bad. “I would like you to continue to search for the bible. I need to see it,” she choked out. “You can understand that, can’t you?” She glanced at Cash but his face remained devoid of emotion as he stared at Umberti.
“Yes, of course,” Umberti agreed. “I would be happy to continue to search for your family bible.” He paused. “Tell me, have you had a chance to maybe peruse any of Alicia’s things?”
Riss’s hand tightened on the bag. “I haven’t.” Why was he asking about Alicia’s things?
“It’s just that she had mentioned that she might have a lead on the bible herself. We were to meet for lunch, and she was going to give me the lead so I could trace the bible, but she was murdered before she could do so. I just wondered if you had seen anything like that.” He stared at her with a cool, assessing gaze, bird of prey style.
She suppressed a shudder. Was the piece of paper that had been hidden in the secret compartment Alicia’s clue? She held Umberti’s gaze and refused to even give a hint of what she knew, which, reasonably speaking, was nothing. The paper could be a recipe for some special Venetian dish for all she knew. “I’ve seen nothing of that sort. Does that mean you don’t actually have any leads?”
“No. No. I just wondered if you had found anything in Alicia’s things. I do have leads of my own and I am happy to keep searching.” He gave her another one of the smiles that made her skin crawl. “There’s just the matter of my fee. I’ll need a deposit, a retainer of sorts.”
Shit. She hadn’t thought of that. Riss didn’t have a lot of money and spending it on something like this seemed so frivolous. Yes, she was desperate to find a connection to her family but she couldn’t go broke doing it. That wouldn’t help her at all. But it was her family…
“Put it on my tab,” Cash said.
She looked up at him again. “But I?—”
“Just do it, Umberti.”
The other man narrowed his eyes slightly. “Fine. Does that mean you’ll pay Alicia’s bill as well? The fees were still outstanding when she died. Since you were so…close, I wonder if you might pay it.”
“Fine,” Cash said again. He finally looked at her. “Time to go.”
“I’ll reach out to you if I find anything,” Umberti said. “Perhaps give me your cell and I’ll call you.”
Riss opened her mouth as if to protest, but Cash cut her off. “You can call me. You have my number.” With that he spun her around and hustled her out of the store, keeping his arm around her waist the entire time.
CHAPTER NINE
