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He took off down the hallway and then climbed the steps two at a time. Seven minutes later, with all his crap packed in a duffle bag, he headed out the front door. He glanced at his watch. It was gonna be tight.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
“Antonio, isn’t there some way you can fix this?” Davenport demanded.
Riss looked around her. They were stuck in a traffic jam in a small canal. Someone’s delivery of construction materials had tipped into the canal and boats were stacked on top of each other. No one could get through. What Davenport thought Antonio could do was beyond her. It wasn’t like there was a lane moving to get into. He couldn’t back up either. They were stuck there.
Antonio just shook his head. He glanced at Riss and raised one eyebrow, tilted his head at Davenport and then shook it. She grinned and gave a tiny nod. They both agreed. The guy was a huge pain in the ass.
“Aren’t you traveling by private jet?” Riss asked. “It’s not like you’re going to miss your flight.”
Davenport turned toward her. “I have meetings to attend. I can’t very well do it here in the middle of the canal.”
There appeared to be several people in the boats surrounding them doing just that. Whatever. She didn’t reply to Davenport as she surveyed the traffic around them. Most people were gesturing and arguing but there was an air of good nature about it. Davenport seemed to be the only one that was really upset. Everyone else seemed to have a sort of ‘cost of doing business’ vibe. These types of things must happen now and again.
Riss glanced at her watch. Chances were excellent that she’d miss her flight but there’d be another one. After all that had happened over the last few days, she just didn’t have the bandwidth to get all upset about it. She tilted her head back and yawned. A big fat raindrop landed in the middle of her forehead. Shit. The sky had been threatening rain all morning and now here it was. She was going to get drenched. Their boat didn’t have a cover. It was a small one because of the size of the canal that the Society’s house was on. Davenport had asked immediately after boarding and hadn’t bothered to hide his displeasure with the fact.
The rain came faster. Davenport glared at Antonio as if it was his fault. “Fix this,” he yelled. Antonio reached down and brought out an umbrella from a box at his feet and handed it to Davenport. Riss burst out laughing.
Suddenly the door in the house next to her opened. An attractive woman in her fifties stood there. She said something in Italian which Riss missed completely. “I’m sorry. I don’t speak Italian.”
She yelled something louder, and Antonio turned. They had a rapid-fire conversation in Italian and then Antonio turned to Riss. “This is Ms. Astrella. She says you can go through her house to the street on the other side and walk from there if you don’t want to wait in the rain.”
Davenport grabbed his bag and jumped to his feet. His awkward leap rocked the boat, but he landed on the steps without falling into the canal.
The woman stepped back and stared at him and then shook her head. Davenport must have registered this because suddenly he turned on the charm. He put his bag down and faced Riss. “Pass me your bag.”
She turned to Antonio and rolled her eyes. He smirked and handed over her bag.
Then Davenport reached over and offered his hand. Riss stood and he helped her out of the boat. “Thank you,” she murmured. Then she turned to Ms. Astrella. “Thank you so much.” The other woman nodded at her and pointed.
The hallway ahead led straight out to the back garden and Riss assumed the street after that. She started forward, pulling her bag behind her. Davenport was now pouring on the charm with Ms. Astrella. Riss didn’t think it was necessary to wait.
She went down the hallway and stopped when she got to the street, glancing at her phone. She had to figure out where to go. She located the train station. She could always grab a cab from there to the airport. Turning to her left, she started off, pulling her wheelie bag behind her. The rain was light and carrying an umbrella just seemed like more work.
“You must think me an ass,” Davenport said as he came up beside her.
“Pardon me?”
Davenport had the umbrella up and put it over Riss’s head so they could share. Totally unnecessary to her. She’d had enough of this guy.
“I said, I’m sorry for being an ass back there.” He frowned. “Stress brings out the worst in me. I apologize.”
She looked up at him and had to admit he seemed genuine. “No problem.”
“Do you know where you’re going?” he asked.
“I think so. Not entirely sure. I’ll have to check my phone once we get over this bridge.”
Davenport smiled “Then allow me. My security is meeting me at a central spot by the Grand Canal. They’ll take us to the airport if you’d like to share a ride. As a matter of fact, I’m flying back to LA, but we could easily schedule a stop in New York if you want a lift.”
Riss blinked. Talk about a complete turnaround. “Er, I’ll take you up on the ride to the airport and we’ll go from there.”
He smiled at her. “Sounds good.” They walked over the bridge and then took a street on the right. A few blocks later they took a left. Riss was just taking in the sights and following along. The rain had stopped so Davenport put away the umbrella but was now on a call. They took another right but this one was more of an alley. She frowned. This didn’t seem like the way to the train station, and she was also pretty sure they were headed away from the Grand Canal.
She pulled out her phone and started to look at the map when Davenport jostled her. She dropped her phone in a deep puddle. “Shit.” She bent down to pick it up.
“I’m so sorry, Riss. I’ll buy you a new one.”
