Page 8 of Her Dirty Secret

“You have no idea,” he murmurs.

He’s right. But I can’t wait to find out.

We get our luggage out and head inside. The first leg of Alessandro’s itinerary is to Paris. There are no coach seats left, but there are two first class seats. He doesn’t hesitate to upgrade, so I don’t hesitate to go for it. The flight from Paris to Naples has available seats, though apart, but it’s short, and getting a break from each other at that point might not be the worst thing.

With that settled, we make our way through security.

As soon as we’re through, something occurs to me, and I stop Alessandro with a sharp tug.

“Are Sera and my brother on our flights?” I can’t keep the note of panic out of my voice. Because deciding to do something my brother would be upset about and flaunting it in his face are two very different things.

“No,” he assures me swiftly. “Serafina specifically told me she switched them to avoid that. They will fly into Firenze, then they’ll be staying there and other places around the country, but not where we’ll be.”

I let out a deep breath. And I finally get excited. I’m going to Italy. Only having been out of the country to go to Canada, that’s huge. Though our family was comfortable growing up, Mom and Dad didn’t want us to be spoiled little rich kids, so most of our family trips were very modest. Disneyland, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, that sort of thing.

While we wait to board, and after I’ve sent the necessary texts and emails to let Mom and work know I’ll be traveling indefinitely, I ask Alessandro about growing up in Italy. He tells me a good deal about his country, his friends, and his family, but stops abruptly when he gets to his reasons for coming to the United States.

I lay a hand on his thigh. “It’s okay,” I assure him. “Sera gave me the highlights.”

Alessandro grimaces. “Normally, I’d be unhappy about that, but I guess it’s better that you know.”

His words give me pause, because what I know about him isn’t exactly roses and sunshine. Sera told me how he fled his family’s pressure to use his talent at making money through real estate development so they could pay off mob debt. The same debt that eventually got them killed and almost killed Alessandro and Sera. But, while they both managed to avoid serious injury, it all ended with my brother in the hospital. That’s some pretty heavy stuff, and it doesn’t exactly help him where I’m concerned. Suddenly I kind of wish I didn’t know all that about him. That we were simply two people who met, had an instant and intense attraction, and decided to run off together. Though I guess we are still that.

I examine his face as he rubs a finger under his chin. “You do that a lot,” I tell him, pointing at his chin.

He smiles at me. “Yes, and you twirl your hair,” he teases.

“I do not,” I protest.

He points and I look down to see my hair wrapped around one of my fingers. We both burst out laughing.

We board shortly thereafter, and once we’re settled I’m more than happy to have splurged on first class. Though when he starts asking questions about my life, it has me squirming. But considering the scales are pretty tipped, I try not to hold back too much.

When he learns my age, his eyebrows jump.

“What? I’m only two years younger than Sera,” I point out self-consciously.

“True,” he allows. “Though at times I swore Serafina must be older than I am. She can be so serious.”

I shrug. “It’s why she and I work as friends. There has to be balance in any relationship. If you’re too alike, you’ll drive each other nuts.”

“Is that why your relationships haven’t worked out?” he asks shrewdly.

I narrow my eyes. “Yes, as a matter of fact. How did you know that?”

He presses his lips together to suppress his smile. “Don’t worry, Serafina hasn’t told me anything about you,” he replies. “You just seem like you bounce around a lot. If you weren’t so grounded in your family, I imagine you would be a nomad, moving around the country whenever and wherever you want.”

“Probably,” I agree with a smile. “Why do I feel like you already know me so well?”

His answering smile is tender. “Because I’m afraid we’re quite a lot alike.”

I nod. “So we’re doomed,” I reply matter-of-factly.

Alessandro laughs. “I’m afraid so.”

“Well, let’s enjoy it while it lasts then,” I say with an overly dramatic sigh.

He considers me for a while before responding. “I already am,” he finally responds. “You remind me what it’s like to want more, and I think we both needed to do something drastically different for a while.”

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