Page 20 of Be Still My Unbeating Heart

“You’re not supposed to bring your own cat,” Matteo said in English, glowering at Whitby, then Bastian.

“She’s an emotional support animal,” Bastian said, not adding thatWhitbywas the animal in need of emotional support.

He crouched down to scratch behind the ear of a pure white cat with a black patch of fur over one eye. The cat hopped up onto his shoulder and Bastian laughed.

“Ahoy there, matey.”

A second cat jumped onto his other shoulder. A third wound around his back.

“Friendly, aren’t they?” he said, then saw three more cats approaching. They padded around him, sniffing and rubbing up against his legs. Bastian lost his balance, toppling backward onto the floor. He lay on his back laughing as the cats tiptoed all over him, mewing and digging their paws in.

“De Luca, you have to try this! It’s like getting a massage from a hundred little angel feet.”

“You’ll suffocate!” Whitby cried. “Cats suffocate their owners all the time!”

“I don’t breathe, dear!” Bastian laughed.

The sound of a throat clearing made him look up at the inspector. De Luca’s jaw was clenched and thrusting forward, his large ears turning pink. His eyes blazed with irritation.

Bastian tried to stifle his giggles as a cat licked his ear.

“Just having a little fun,” he said, sitting up and brushing fur from his shirt as cats skipped away from him. The angry black-haired waiter, Matteo, had disappeared into the kitchen.

“Can I help you?” a second waiter asked, smiling as he came over. He had dyed blond hair, and his shirtsleeves were rolled upto reveal tanned forearms. He looked like he could be in a boy band: attractive in a lean, twinky kind of way.

Despite the smile, Bastian was sure the waiter had been crying recently; his green eyes were bright and glassy, and Bastian could smell the faint trace of salt on his skin.

“Hello, Emilio,” De Luca said. “We’re here about Luna.”

Straight to the point.De Luca could really work on his bedside manner.Great, now I’m wondering what he wears to bed.

The waiter’s smile dropped at De Luca’s words. His eyes shone brighter with the threat of tears. “Oh, right, yeah.”

“We know this is difficult, love,” Bastian said, “but we have a couple of questions, if that’s all right.”

De Luca coughed pointedly and gave Bastian a flinty stare. Bastian closed his mouth and pretended to find one of the cats fascinating.

“Was Luna at work yesterday?” De Luca asked Emilio.

A sniff and a nod. “Sì.”

“Did she seem her usual self?”

“She was fine.”

“Not worried?” De Luca asked. “Nothing on her mind?”

“She was fine, Signore.”

De Luca nodded. “Do you remember what time she left work?”

Emilio’s mouth twisted. “Around seven. That’s when her shift ended.”

Aunt Agata had been correct about that, then.

“Did she ever mention anybody bothering her?” Bastian asked. He received another glare from De Luca.

A tear leaked from the waiter’s left eye. He checked over his shoulder, looking nervous, though Bastian wasn’t sure why.