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He was so intent upon whatever it was that he didn’t even duck away from her hand. “Book repair. I’ve been watching old Mario at work, and Max said I could practice on this—it’s not a valuable book or anything, but it sure was falling apart.”
Her chest went happily tight to see her brother, sitting there with a stout needle and thick thread, folded signatures of paper, glue and cardboard and cloth. Making something. Fixing something.
She leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “You maybe should have set up somewhere else. You’ll just have to move it in an hour.”
“Nah, not today. Papa’s going out, you’ll be with Enzo—Mama said I could. We’re going to eat outside.”
“Ah.” She fought to keep her tone bright…and not to wonder where Papa was going. “Well then, have fun. Proud of you, G.”
He waved her away, but his eyes sparkled when he grinned up at her.
Her own smile tensed when she stepped into view of the parlor door. Papa might be going out, but he hadn’t yet. He sat in there with Mama, a newspaper folded open and resting on his knee. She cleared her throat and decided to look between them, rather than only at Mama. It was the best she could offer right now. “I’m heading out to meet Mary, and Enzo’ll pick me up there. I should be back about ten.”
Papa’s smile was sad, which cooled the fire of anger inside her a little more every day. She didn’t like seeing the hurt in his eyes every time he looked at her. “Don’t leave the park until Enzo shows up, principessa. I had to assign the guards elsewhere today. You should be all right in Arrigo, but no farther.”
No guards? That made a strange sense of freedom sweep through her, chased by a moment’s panic. What if Torrio’s men came at them again? What if…but no. She had to get used to this. When she married Lorenzo next month, the protection would stop. They’d already discussed it. She nodded.
“Let me know if the movie’s any good.” Mama grinned over the top of her book. “Not that it’s ever a hardship to watch Valentino.”
Sabina smiled, careful to flash it at her father too. The brightening in his eyes made it worth the cost to her pride. “Arrivederci.”
The walk to the park didn’t take long, but when she got there she didn’t see Mary. She must be running late too. A turn around the six acres proved she wasn’t waiting in any of their usual places, so Sabina selected her favorite bench under the trees and settled in.
Five minutes lazed by, her mind wandering ahead to her evening with Lorenzo. She was looking forward to the film—even more, she was looking forward to spending the time with him. He would hold her hand, maybe even slip an arm around her shoulder. And maybe, just maybe he’d decide to risk a kiss. She respected his reasons for not wanting to toy with that danger—now that he’d explained it to her, anyway. But just a little kiss in a darkened theater wouldn’t be too bad, would it?
“Sabina.”
Hands landed on her shoulders—hands far larger than Mary’s, the voice far deeper. Panic surged through her, freezing her muscles and making it impossible to obey her brain’s command to flee. She squeezed her eyes shut and prayed that it wasn’t really him.
One of his hands lifted, the other running over her neck onto the opposite shoulder as he came around the end of the bench and sat beside her. “I know you want to leave, but please, just give me a minute. Hear me out.”
Though she had to clasp her hands together in her lap to keep them from trembling, her voice, at least, came out evenly. “What are you doing here, Roman?”
