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She types again. “I just asked Miranda to get you three or four kits. She’s wonderful. You’ll like her. I’ve only met her today, but instantly clicked with her. I think she’ll do a fabulous job with your transformation.”
Then Rhia’s face turns sad. “I hate that I’m not gonna be here to see it. And I can’t even ask her to send me a picture. It’s best that there is no evidence of anything on any of my devices. I guess it will be a surprise when I visit you in Atlanta in a few weeks.”
“That can’t come soon enough. I’m going to miss you so much!”
And I will. But knowing I’ll get to see Rhia again is giving me something to focus on and look forward to.
“Me too, sweets. Me too.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Ella
Thenexthourfliesby as Rhia fills me on everything I’ve missed back home.
Apparently, Knox is missing me and looking forlorn. It makes me sad not knowing if I will ever see my Highland bull again. At this stage, it’s unlikely that I can’t return to Ireland. But Rhia promised me to take good care of him, and I have no doubt she will.
My thoughts drift to the three puppies I left behind in Sicily. I wonder what will happen to them now that I’m gone. God, I hope Tiero doesn’t let his anger out on them. Will Mariella take them home? And what will happen to her, now that I’m not there anymore? My heart goes out to her. I hate she has to marry someone she doesn’t know, let alone love.
“How is your hotel project coming along? You know it was a setup by Gualtiero, don’t you? He wanted to have me to himself and had this guy reach out to you to make you leave Sicily,” I say to Rhia as we nibble on pastries the guys left for us earlier.
“Yep, I figured that out… sneaky bastard. Made me doubt if I wanted to work for Lorenz Ridges, but it’s so tempting.”
“Rhia, you have to do it. You might as well profit from this mess. Charge him double… he’ll pay it.”
“You know, I might just do that. I’m hired to design marketing campaigns for six of his boutique hotels. And guess which hotel in Scotland is part of his portfolio?”
“No way.” My eyes widen in surprise. “Don’t tell me it’s the haunted castle!”
“The very one,” Rhia confirms. “And it gets even better. Remember, there was a group of Italians when we were there?”
“Oh, shut up. You’re not telling me that was Tiero?” Wouldn’t I have felt him? Every time he’s near, my body goes haywire.
“Not Tiero… Mateo.”
“Get out of here! Are you serious? How do you know? What was he doing there?”
“De Marco Property is one of Lorenz Ridges’ financiers, and he was checking things out. Turns out Lex was at the castle to spy on another guy in their party, some sketchy English property tycoon.”
My mouth hangs open. How small is this world? “Wow, that’s just crazy.”
There’s a coded knock on the interconnecting door and seconds later, Lex walks in.
“The helicopter is ready. We’ve got half an hour before we have to go, trouble.”
“You came by helicopter?” I’m not sure why I’m surprised given Lex’s occupation, but I hadn’t given it any thought how they got here.
“Yep, and Lex was flying it. I’ve never seen him in pilot mode before. It was kind of hot. Made me forget I was angry with him. I wanted to unzip his pants and feast on him.”
I spit out the water I was just drinking. “Rhia! Too much information!”
Lex clears his throat. “You really shouldn’t have told me that. Now that’s all I can think about.”
“Good,” Rhia deadpans. “My work is done then.”
With a shake of his head, he places a brown bag on the coffee table and turns back to the door. “You requested this,” he says, pointing to the bag. “Say your goodbyes, sexy legs. We need to go.”
Half an hour is all I have left with Rhia and my stomach drops. I don’t want to say goodbye yet.
