Page 69 of Dante
“I’m up here, Dante!”
Jumping in his shoes at Nadia yelling down at him, he managed to choke down the hellfire he was going to bring down on her head once she was on firm ground again.
“Having fun?” he asked blandly.
“We’re having a blast!” She smiled, completely unaware of his feelings.“Amo and Leo are around the corner, if you’re looking for them.”
It was everything he could do to stay cool. “I came to see you. Can you come down here so we can talk?”
Nadia leaned over the side to frown down at him. “I’m a bit bus—”
“It’s important,” he urged as ice-cold fear had him promising to seek the nearest confessional right after he turned her ass the same color as the red-hot rage streaking through him. “How did you get up there?”
“I climbed.” She lightly walked to the side of the plank farther away from him, and he saw her swing a leg over the metal bar and begin to climb down.
Swiftly, he went to hold the bottom of the ladder that had been hidden from his view by a large pillar.
She jumped down the last two steps, then Nadia’s jubilation collided full force with his fear.
Taking her by the arms, he jerked her into his. “What in the fuck were you thinking to be up there? You could have broken your neck,” he blasted her. “I told you I didn’t want to lose another woman I love, and you’re up there, prancing around like you’re going to win the gold medal on the balance beam!”
“I-I’m sorry.” Nadia snuggled into his chest instead of pushing away. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Scare me? You took ten years off my life, and you’re going to pay me back for each one of them.”
“How am I supposed to do that?” she asked politely, twining her arms around his waist.
“I want us to go away for a couple of weeks.”
Nadia shook her head. “Look around. This is a madhouse.”
“Haley can take care of anything that needs to be taken care of.”
“That’s true,” she said after a few moments of thinking. “To tell you the truth, I think she would rather I disappear so I will quit spending money.”
“So, you’ll go?” he asked hopefully.
“Depends. I have no desire to get on a boat ever again. The last time, we almost got blown to smithereens.”
“We could fly to a Greek island?” he suggested. “Desmond has a plane.”
Nadia laughed. “I don’t see him letting you borrow it anytime soon.”
“I’m sure he would.”
“I wish I could be a fly on a wall for that conversation.” Raising her chin from his chest, she gave him a critical glance. “You really were worried about me, weren’t you?”
“How could you tell?”
“You haven’t let me go, and everyone is standing around, watching us. I think some of the workers are afraid for me.”
Dante shot an icy glare around at the onlookers. “I wouldn’t hurt a hair on your head.”
“I didn’t think you would.” Using her shoulder, she nudged him to turn to the side. “You want a tour?” When he still didn’t let her go, she nudged him again. “Come on. I want your opinion on an idea I have.”
Dante tried to pay attention as Nadia pointed out several areas where the workers were making repairs, or the changes Nadia and Haley wanted. Concentrating was difficult because he still was picturing Nadia carefree walking on the plank feet above the floor. One small slip, and Nadia could have been seriously hurt, if not killed.
He was unable to take his eyes off her as she explained Moonbeam’s future plans, and all he could think was that all those future plans would have been snuffed out with one slip of her tennis shoe.
