Page 117 of She Belongs to Me

“You’re a slick man, Mr. Marciano,” a deep male voice said from behind me.

“Meaning?” I turned around to face the man in charge of the Philadelphia FBI office, someone I’d had more than a couple of conversations with.

“Meaning there were drugs on that cargo ship. Weren’t there?”

“Now, Mr. Canyon, you’ve already checked me out. My family hasn’t handled anything illegal in decades. I don’t plan on starting now.” I grinned and took out my sunglasses. “Plus, you should be happy for my help.”

“Where’s the rest of it?”

“The rest of what?”

“The information you promised to provide,” he barked, obviously already frustrated with my clipped answers.

“You were provided with everything you need to arrest Mr. Dimitriou. That was all I offered.”

He got in my face. “You were supposed to supply us with the little black book.”

I laughed and donned my sunglasses. “There is no such thing, Mr. Canyon. Greg had a limited amount of information, becoming fearful of the Greeks. Nothing more. He was right to be afraid. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a plane to catch.” I moved past him and he snorted.

“I should arrest you for bringing illegal weapons into this country.”

I immediately got in his face this time. There was always benefit to being much taller than another man. All I did was smile, not even bothering to take off my shades. “I don’t think you really want to do that. Do you? Imagine the bad press.” I waited to see if he’d make a move and when he didn’t, I simply walked away.

As I’d told him, I had a plane to catch.

CHAPTER 32

Several months later

Alexandra

“One more time,” Isabella told me.

I groaned and glared at her. “It’s been five months. I’ve learned as much Italian as I’m going to. I did just fine at the university.”

“Not nearly good enough,” she chastised, even wagging her finger.

I took a deep breath, noticing the man of my dreams was standing in the open doorway. His legs were crossed at the ankles, his hands in the pockets of his dark gray trousers. He looked like a stud muffin in his bright red shirt. I was salivating to spend more time with him, not to be grilled by his sister on what I knew in Italian.

Could I learn more at this point? Yes, but it was the winter break. I did deserve a little time off.

I’d studied my butt off, forced to given the language barrier. But I had to admit, I loved going to the university that was close by. The medical professionals teaching the courses were magnificent and the fieldwork had been incredible.

Including being able to participate in two surgeries. I’d been like a little girl lost in a fog, but I’d been given an A for my work.

Now I wanted to live a little.

“La pioggia in Spagna avviene soprattutto in pianura.” There. That should confuse the girl. She was my best friend and I adored her, but she needed to lighten up. She was like a drill sergeant most of the time.

Nico chuckled because he knew what the statement meant. Kind of. At least he thought it was funny.

Meanwhile, Isabella wrinkled her nose. “The rain in Spain happens mostly in the plains?”

“Yep. It does.”

“What the hell does that mean?” She did a heavy volley of cursing in Italian, which made me smile. I could frustrate her more than anyone.

And I had to admit it was kind of fun.

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