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“I believe you, but if you defy him, he could cut you off in a way I’m not sure any princess would be prepared for.”
“When that day comes, I’ll deal with it. Since I now have a greater understanding of how you feel, I won’t put you in a position that will make you feel guiltier than you already do.”
He grasped the hand closest to him. “You have no comprehension of how I feel,” his voice grated. “Guilt has nothing to do with it. The reality is I don’t want to make things more difficult for you.”
She stared into his eyes. “Do you want to be with me, Nico?”
“You know I do.”
“I feel the same way. Can’t you tell?” Her voice throbbed.
“Yes.” He caressed the side of her face. “If you don’t have any plans for Monday evening, I’d like to take you to dinner. Your choice. I want to know what Princess Fausta does when she mixes with the commoners.”
Her eyes lit up an electric blue. “You’re on.”
“I’ll wait for you out in the parking lot after you go off duty.”
“Perfect.”
After she’d given his hand a long squeeze he felt through his whole body, she let go and got out of the car. He watched until she’d disappeared inside the palace. On the drive back to his apartment, he didn’t know how he was going to wait until Monday evening when they’d be together again.
Realizing he needed a few groceries, he stopped at a local mercato. Once he reached home, he showered and got ready for bed before phoning the patients who’d called his service earlier.
With that accomplished, he sat down at the computer in his bedroom and checked any emails that had come in. He’d been paying investigators to find out how and why he’d ended up in an orphanage at the age of two. For the last year he and Enzo had covered northwestern Italy, parts of France, Switzerland and the country of Domodossola with no clues.
Frustrated that nothing had turned up yet, he’d hired other investigators to cover northeastern Italy, including pockets of Austria, Slovenia and the country of La Valazzura. If those searches didn’t come up with something substantive, he would be forced to look farther south in Italy.
After going into the kitchen for a snack, he went in the living room, where he’d pre-recorded a soccer game between his alma mater, Torino, and Florence at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino. The team had quite a few losses. They were probably going to lose this one too. He didn’t really care because he couldn’t concentrate. His conversation with Fausta was all that filled his mind. She’d suffered trauma of her own.
Right before the end of the match, his phone rang. He picked up and said hello.
“Nico?”
That breathless voice couldn’t belong to anyone else. His heart thudded too hard. “Fausta—are you all right?”
“I am now.”
“Be honest with me. Is there something wrong?” Certainly the news that they’d been together all day had reached her father’s ears.
“Yes. I had such a wonderful time today, I can’t settle down, so I thought I’d bother you. What are you doing?”
“I just finished watching a boring soccer match and my old college team lost. Your call has saved me from severe depression. After our conversation in the car, if you had invited me in your apartment this evening, I wouldn’t have said no.”
“Now you tell me!”
Her answer was totally unexpected, filling a hungry place inside him that had never been fed until she’d come into his life.
Her quiet laugh enchanted him. “Do you mind if I pick your brains for a minute?”
She was a constant surprise to him. “Fire away.”
“I haven’t been able to get the visit to the orphanage off my mind. How many children does it house?”
He hadn’t been expecting that question. “Anywhere from thirty to thirty-five.”
“I want to make a donation that will be meaningful. I realize the place needs all kinds of supplies, which I plan to provide. But I’m also thinking about individual gifts that will thrill the children.”
Touched beyond words by her generous nature, he sank down on the couch. Visiting the orphanage today had given him ideas too about lending his services to them every time he came to take care of Enzo and his wife.
