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Inside the airport, Mia sticks close to my side. We pass a souvenir shop and I stop. “I want to see if they have something here.”
Mia follows me into the store and lags while I scan the shelves.
“What are you looking for?”
“A gift for the Grotto family.”
“Why?”
“We shouldn’t show up empty-handed.”
Mia touches my arm, and I tense at the action. “No, you can’t bring a gift because you’re above all that. Remember you’re the one who should expect a gift from them.”
“You’re right.”
Mia smiles. “I usually am.”
I laugh. She’s cute. It’s refreshing being around someone like Mia. It’s like I want to know everything she’s thinking. I want to know what makes her tick as a person. This is unheard of for me.
I chalk it up to the situation. It has to be the situation of trying to clear my name, and the stress of someone trying to frame me that’s making me feel something for Mia.
I’m not sure what that feeling is, yet.
We move toward the terminal that will take us to Italy, and I keep my hand at the small of Mia’s back, guiding her through the crowd.
I keep my head low, wearing a blue ball cap and sunglasses even though we’re inside.
Mia’s got shades on too and a scarf that covers half her face. Like I said, I’m not too worried about anyone spotting us here in Shanghai, but you can’t be too careful. Especially with Nate possibly being the one who alerted someone to our presence in Shenzhen. Who knows who he’s got after us or what he’s getting in return.
We walk with speed, trying to get to the gate on time.
We’re boarded before we know it and I relax, breathing in deep.
“That was the simple part,” I tell Mia, leaning close to her ear.
She lets out a deep breath. “I hope we get everything cleared up soon.”
Against my better judgement, I rest a hand on her jean-clad knee. “We will.” I do this out of concern, hoping it will give her some sort of comfort.
Her troubled eyes meet mine when I remove my glasses. “I’m scared.”
“Don’t be.” I give her knee a little squeeze and her breath hitches. She closes her eyes.
I keep my hand there, not removing it for anything.
I keep it there while the passengers fill the plane.
I keep it there while the plane taxis down the runway.
I keep my hand on her knee as the plane lifts off.
“What are we going to do for twelve hours?” Mia whispers to me.
I have plenty of ideas, but how can I express them to her?
My eyebrow lifts. “What would you like to do?” Is it bad I hope she asks for something naughty? Does she want to join the mile-high club? Something that should never happen between us can be overlooked this high in the sky. Almost like we’re not on the ground, so anything goes up here.
“We could play cards?” she says. “Maybe the flight attendants have a deck.”
“Cards?” I was not expecting her to say that, but Mia’s not a one-night stand kind of girl. She’s sophistication and class. She’s more than just a pretty face. She’s better than me, that’s for sure.
And I definitely don’t want to do anything sexual with her when we have to pretend to be related soon.
The flight attendant approaches and I ask for a deck of cards. We play for about an hour and then Mia passes out, her head resting on my shoulder.
I’ve never had a woman rest their head on my shoulder before. This is the second time, and it keeps getting better. I can’t think straight when Mia touches me, so how am I going to pretend she’s my daughter? I’ll just try my best to stay away from her at the Grotto compound.
This is my life. My future. If I can’t clear my name, then I’ll be dead.
While she sleeps, I study the schematics of the Grotto complex in Italy just off the coast. The high-walled compound sits on a huge vineyard with a main eight-bedroom mansion and seven other houses on the grounds. I’m hoping they’ll put us in the guest house so we can have a slight reprieve from the pretend life.
The boss of the Grotto family is Mario Grotto. He’s older, with grandkids the same age as Mia, but he still has his hands in everything. Two sons and one daughter.
Trying to find Oliver, Mario’s eldest son, will be a hard feat. I need to make sure they don’t know that’s what I’m after. That I’m there to check on their operations in the city. That I’m just looking around.
Italy’s one of the most beautiful countries I’ve ever visited.
It’s lush lands, vineyards, and light breeze always makes me smile when I’m here.
The Grotto’s have a car waiting for us when we arrive. Show time. I’m sure they’ve had an eye on us since the very moment we landed here.
