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"You would have seen right through that.You know what the odds are—same as me.In this case, I think the odds are good."
"I never thought I'd feel this comfortable with you, Nick.I never thought I'd like you so much, or that I'd ever trust you.After you were such a jerk that first night, I never wanted to see you again."
"You could have stopped at you never thought you'd like me so much."
She laughed."I could have."
"I like you, too, Isabella, even though sometimes you're like a long-stemmed rose with a lot of thorns.Beautiful, but if you get too close or put your hand on the wrong part of the stem, you could get hurt."
Her expression darkened."Is that how you see me?"
"You're a woman with a lot of sharp edges, finely honed to guard her heart.But you also have a big heart, and the courage of a lion."
"How can I be a rose and a lion at the same time?"
"I don't know, but somehow you are."He paused as his computer dinged with an incoming text.He grabbed it from the dresser where he'd put it when they'd sat down to eat.
"It's Captain Lavezzo," he said in surprise."He wants to know if I can come in tomorrow and talk to him."
"About what?"
"It doesn't say."
Another text from Lavezzo came in:Tomorrow morning at nine would be good.Please confirm that you can be there.It's important that we speak in person."
"He wants to meet in person tomorrow at nine."
"What are you going to say?We'd have to leave tonight to get there in time, unless there's a really early train in the morning."
He considered his options.Lavezzo had been at the party last night, arguing with Catherine.He might have even killed her.Despite his presence at the party, he'd been surprisingly absent from the follow-up investigation.Now Lavezzo wanted to talk to him.And he didn't like it.
If Lavezzo had killed Catherine, maybe he'd sent the two men who had come after them.If he texted back, Lavezzo would know they were alive.If he said he wasn't in town, that would also raise the question of where he was, and he didn't want to give that information, either.
"I'm not going to answer him now," he said."I'll text him tomorrow after we talk to your mom and try to find Leoni's family.I don't want to go back before we have a chance to do both things."
"Could you just make the appointment with Lavezzo later in the day?"
He closed his computer and set it on the chair.Then he sat down on the bed next to her."I don't want him to know we're alive and not in Rome."
"Oh."Realization entered her eyes."Good point.After I saw him and Catherine together right before she died, I have to wonder if he's on the right side of the law or not."
"I agree, and he can do whatever he needs to do without us.Not showing up in his office doesn't prevent him from doing his job."
"Okay.I trust you, Nick."
Her words touched him in a surprising way.He'd wanted her trust.And he'd certainly thought he had it.But hearing her say it felt very different.
She cocked her head as their gazes held together for a long minute."You're staring at me."
"You're staring back."
"I have trouble not looking at you," she admitted."Especially now that you're banged up in a really sexy way."
He laughed."I didn't know it was possible to be banged up in a sexy way."
"It definitely is."
As she ran her tongue across her lips, his body tightened.
