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“Yeah well, either he didn’tcommunicatethat to Eric or else…” he shrugs, eyes narrowed. “We will have to ask them.”
I blow out a breath. “We should probably go.”
He looks me up and down. “Dressed like that?”
I chuckle despite my overall condition. “No, but I don’t know how much time we have.”
“We don’t. I got the feeling people already knew about your ‘condition’ when I was looking for you. Someone will be coming in to deal with the body. Also, how are we going to get past everyone downstairs? Do you know another way out of here?”
Slowly, I get up from the bed and make my way to the closet on very wobbly legs. “There are back stairs.” I let my robe fall to the ground before searching for something quick to wear. I pick up a pair of denim coverall shorts and a white t-shirt.
I turn around to see that Romano is just staring at me. I smile tentatively. “What?”
“You’re wearing my Teddy.”
I hug myself. “I wanted to feel close to you.”
He gets up and comes to me, murmuring my name. Next thing I know, we’re kissing, so gently, so lovingly, it’s making my chest hurt. He pulls away, and looks me in the eye, his gaze naked and open, letting me see everything he’s been through since we were last together. “I missed you,” he says.
I swallow the lump in my throat, leaping into his arms and pressing my lips gently to his. I give him a soft loving look before turning around to put on my clothes. My hands are shaking slightly – I don’t know if it’s from aftereffects of the drug or just my emotions, but it makes it very hard to do my buttons up.
Romano hears my groan of frustration and grabs my hips, whipping me around so he can take charge, buttoning up my coveralls efficiently before tightening the suspenders around my neck. He steps back, examining me critically. “You’ll do,” he says with a wide grin.
I slip on some loafers and he takes my hand, leading me out of the room before moving aside to give me way to lead him to the back stairs. I have nothing with me. Not even my wallet, but I don’t care. I know that Romano will take care of me.
“By the way, someone’s dead downstairs – like actually dead, I think.” Romano whispers in my ear halfway to the bottom of the stairs.
I freeze staring at him. “What?”
“It’s not your mom or dad… don’t worry. Nor your aunt. I saw them all alive.”
“Then who is it?”
He shrugs. “No clue. But it was a man, or a man-shaped person, dressed in a black suit.”
“Fuck.” I whisper feeling like things just got slightly more complicated. “We’ll need to find out who.”
“Yeah, but first, let’s get out of here.”
I nod, leaning against the wall while a manservant hurries by with a tray. Thankfully, he doesn’t look up. We run down the rest of the way, and it’s a relief to me that this part of the house is darker than the rest, due to the absence of windows. It’s an old house and the back stairs were always the service entrance so not much attention was paid to the aesthetics.
We creep down the corridor and turn right to exit through the side door. It leads to a short footpath that ends in a gate. It’s easy to vault over since it’s quite low and then we’re running to whatever transportation Romano has.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE
My heart is soaring with happiness. I can barely believe this is real. I can see her, smell her, hold her hand in mine but I can’t shake the fact that she’d been dead not fifteen minutes ago – or so I thought.
When I pulled the trigger, I expected everything to go black pretty quick. It was a huge disappointment to find that I was still aware, still conscious. I kept staring at the weapon uncomprehendingly, stunned at this betrayal. It was as if something had cursed me, refused me this easy way out. No, I have to stay here and suffer.
The next thing I knew was the gentle brush of Giada’s hand against mine. I thought I was hallucinating. But I looked into her face and her eyes were fluttering open. Color was returning slowly to her cheeks.
I thought maybe I did die but it happened too fast and now I was in the afterlife with her. When I called her name and she asked for water, sounding parched, I realized she was alive.
What was happening?
Her explanation just added to the confusion instead of dispelling it. I realized that we had to return to the source, to find out the truth so that we could then decide how to proceed. Getting her to my motorbike proved a little nerve wracking and a lot exciting. We couldn’t risk anyone seeing her alive and with me.
My head is still spinning with that thought, with the repercussions, what it means… will we have to leave town forever? Maybe change our names? Start a new life? Before I’d found Gigi laying prone and dead looking on her bed, this might have been an issue for me. But now, I feel as if I’ve been given a second chance – so whatever it takes, I’m willing to do it.
