“Like who?”
“I have an acquaintance. Someone I trust.”
I threw my head back against the chair and groaned. Not this again.Papialways had ‘an acquaintance’ he was trying to set me up with.
“Callum D’Ardenzi. You may have heard of him.”
My eyes widened. “The billionaire real estate mogul?” That man was impressive as hell. He owned one of Rome’s biggest development firms.
“That’s the one. I can introduce you at tonight's fundraiser. He’s attending, and he’s excited to meet you after all the wonderful things I’ve had to say about my clever, beautiful daughter.”
“This is insane,” I breathed. “He won’t be interested in me. And you can’t force him to marry me,Papi.”
“No. I can’t. But he’s keen to start a family. He wants to settle down, but he doesn’t have the time to date. And you two have a lot in common.”
“How romantic,” I scoffed, but I couldn’t help but feel a little curious. “Like what?”
“Well, he was also raised in the UK, but his mother was Italian, and he moved here when he was in his early twenties. He’s ambitious and kind. He’s sponsoring the fundraiser tonight, and he gives so much to the people of this city.”
“What are his red flags?” I raised my eyebrows at mypapi’s amusement.
“Red flags?”
“Yes. He can’t be perfect.”
“I don’t know. Perhaps you can ask him that tonight.”
“Pfft, like he’ll be honest with me. He’ll probably say something like he’s a workaholic.”
“All I’m asking is for you to meet him and make up your own mind. I will make sure there is ample security at the hospital fundraiser. And I will pick you up myself and drive you there. What are your plans for today?”
“Sleeping. I wasn’t planning to go anywhere.”
“Bravo.It’s best that you don’t. I can station security outside your apartment building discreetly.”
“Is that really necessary? It seems like a lot when we don’t even know if I’m in any real danger yet.”
My phone buzzed, and I pulled it out to check the message from Ally. What the—
Okay, so they have the necklace, but they won’t release it to me. They said the hotel owner would like to speak to you and that they know I’m not you because of the hotel's CCTV footage. It’s all really weird. You’ll have to come and get it yourself.
Great. Well, I couldn’t because from this moment on, I was under surveillance and lockdown. Urgh, I couldn’t stand this already.
“Everything okay?”Papiasked when I groaned and dropped my phone into my handbag.
“I left Mum’s necklace at the hotel Allegra was staying at yesterday when I had drinks with her. She can’t get the necklace, so I need to go there myself.”
“Okay.” He rubbed his jaw. “Which hotel? I’ll take you there now.”
“You don’t have to. I’m sure you’ve got more important things to be doing today than chauffeuring your daughter around the city.”
He smiled, grabbing my hand and kissing the back of it. “For you, anything.”
“Are you sure? That would be so helpful. It was Hotel XO. The new one that just opened inVia Veneto.”
He paused, something dark flashing across his expression. “XO?”
“Si, why?”
