AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He ignored his cousin. “Don’t mention it. I’ll have my assistant prep and package it to be shipped to your Boston address. Be sure to give it to me before you leave.”
She nodded slowly. “Thank you, Vito. Again.”
Several moments of silence passed. Leo was the only one even pretending to eat. Vito couldn’t seem to summon the appetite that had had his stomach loudly grumbling only an hour earlier. Maya was simply pushing her pasta around on her plate.
Leo was the one who finally spoke. “So, tell me, Maya. What are your plans for today? Will you be visiting some of our many historic sights?”
“Well, first I’ll have to pick up an Italian burner phone. But yes. I’m scheduled for a sightseeing tour of St. Mark’s Cathedral and the Doge’s Palace. An exclusive guided tour for two. Only now the guide will have to settle for one.” She wrangled a clearly forced smile that was just a bit too wide.
“Maya finds herself in the unexpected position of traveling alone.” Vito answered the questioning look his cousin threw his way.
“Well, that won’t do at all. We’ll have to find you a tour companion.”
Maya chuckled. “Oh, I don’t mind,” she said. Vito had to wonder if her statement was something of a fib. She sat ramrod straight, throwing out the words as if daring someone to argue with her. “Though I came very close to asking the housekeeping worker who came in this morning. But she mentioned it was her sister’s birthday and she had plans. But I really don’t have any kind of issue going by myself.” She swallowed some water. “None at all.” Again, the words were uttered with just a bit too much vehemence.
Vito had no doubt she was putting on a brave front. Yet again, a stab of anger at the faceless man who’d so callously abandoned her seared through him.
“Perhaps Vito might be able to—”
Vito suddenly stood before the other man could finish his sentence. He knew exactly where Leo was headed and had no intention of letting him go there.
“I should go back up front. It won’t do to have a patron stop by and find the counter empty.”
The look Leo gave him relayed his thoughts just as well as spoken words could have. As if any real buyers had bothered to stop by the studio in over two years. There had been nothing available to sell.
He gave Maya a slight bow. “Please, stay and enjoy your meal, Maya. My cousin will show you out once you finish.”
Leo’s voice followed behind him. “Must you leave so soon?”
Vito didn’t bother to respond out loud to the query. But the answer to his cousin’s question was a resounding yes. Vito did have to leave. Because otherwise he might be tempted to do something he had no business even considering: he might foolishly offer to accompany Maya Talbot on her tour of Venice.
CHAPTER FIVE
TURNED OUT VITO would be the one getting smacked. As he watched Maya step out the door less than twenty minutes later, he felt his cousin’s open palm swat him across the back of his shoulder.
Vito had to clench every muscle in his body to resist the urge to hit him back. For, if he did, he would deliver a much harder blow than the playful one he’d received. And then things might very well escalate.
When was the last time he and Leo had actually indulged in a physical row? They’d had to have been teenagers. Nonna would throttle both of them if she ever got word they were fighting as adults.
Still, he had to wonder if the risk would be worth it.
He slowly turned to face the other man. “And what was that for, cousin?” he asked, with all the calm and steadiness he could muster.
“For being downright rude just now. To an American tourist, no less. One who was here as a guest at your studio.”
“Through your invitation, let’s not forget.”
“That simply proves my point.”
Vito sighed in dismissal and turned back to the newspaper article he’d been trying to read for the past several minutes. “You have no point. You’re just a meddlesome pest who doesn’t know how to mind his own business.”
Leo wasn’t taking the bait. “You’re family. That makes you my business.”
“Not when it comes to volunteering me to play babysitter to some lonely tourist.”
