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Ace finished his sandwich, drank the last of his wine and met her gaze across the table. “Ready?”
She nodded and waved to the waiter.
He arrived with their check.
Ace insisted on paying for the meal. Once the transaction was complete, he stood and held Jasmine’s chair as she rose.
His arm brushed against hers. A ripple of awareness spread through her body, and heat coiled at her core. A flash of memory filled her mind.
Her lying naked in his arms after making love in the middle of the afternoon. She’d never felt so sexy and utterly decadent.
The overwhelming longing to make love with him again filled her soul. She turned away, afraid he’d somehow read her mind and see her lusty thoughts written plainly across her face.
Ace cupped her elbow and led her through the maze of tables until they stood on the curb by the street.
When a taxi slid to a stop in front of them, Ace opened the door, handed her in, stowed the suitcase in the trunk and slid in beside her.
Jasmine fought the urge to reach for his hand and hold on, never to let go again. She’d lost him once. She wasn’t sure her heart could handle losing him again.
Jasmine gave the driver the address of the clothing store she’d used the last time she’d been there. It would have what she needed in the way of a sophisticated dress and shoes. She’d speak with the proprietor and ask where they could find a leather jacket to fit Ace.
Ace leaned close and took her hand. “Are you all right?”
“Why?” she quipped. “Don’t I look all right?”
“No. That’s not it.” He ran a finger along her forearm, sending shivers across her skin and down her spine. “You look amazing. And very worried. I wish I could tell you that we’re getting Eli back tonight.”
“You can’t tell me that,” she said, sadness weighing heavily on her shoulders. “We don’t even know exactly where he is.” She held up the burner phone. “This is my only link to my son.”
“Would they know that you lost the scroll?”
Jasmine shrugged. “For all I know, they might have spies watching my every move.”
“They might not have caught the plane we got on,” Ace pointed out. “We barely caught it with Swede making the reservations.”
“True.” Her lips pressed together. “They knew enough about my movements and whereabouts to know when I was away, and my son was with the nanny.” The phone call she’d received from the nanny still echoed in her memory.
Ace sat back in his seat. “I’d think they’d call if they thought the scroll was in jeopardy.”
Jasmine nodded. “That’s what I hope.”
“Okay.” Ace clapped his hands together. “What’s this about poker?”
Jasmine told him what Dmytro had said about the compound being heavily guarded with no way in other than by invitation. “Athanasios doesn’t get out as often as his son, Christos. He’s our target. Apparently, he has a gambling habit.”
Ace’s brow wrinkled. “He plays poker?”
Jasmine nodded. “Yes. At a local casino in one of the back rooms. Invitation only.”
“Your contact is getting us an invitation?”
“Not us,” she said. “Wealthy Italian heiress Francesca Giordano and her bodyguard.”
His lips quirked as he held back a smile. “Bodyguard, huh?”
“Unless you want to wear a dress and shave your legs, you’ll be the bodyguard.” Jasmine challenged him with a cocked eyebrow.
“The dress, I might be all right with,” he said, touching a finger to his chin. Then he shook his head. “I draw the line at shaving my legs. I’ll be the bodyguard. You can be Frances what’s-her-name.”
