Page 158 of Play of Love
Chapter 5
Gage
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It was the sound of people moving around that woke me up. I shuffled against the pain in my back from the awkward position I'd placed myself in on the sofa.
I sat up and looked over at Evie. She was curled up on the other end looking smaller than she was, almost childlike. Her ponytail rested on her chest and ran down to the edge of her waist.
I didn't want to wake her, but from the movement around us, I could tell we'd have company soon. It was also beginning to brighten up outside. I looked at my phone and saw it was just after five. I imagined that the reception and housekeeping staff would soon begin to fill the area.
"Evie." I moved closer and shook her arm gently. I tried to speak softly so I wouldn't startle her.
She shuffled and stirred then opened her eyes gradually. When she saw me she looked confused, but then her expression softened, and the beginning of a smile tipped the corners of her mouth.
"Gage, what... oh no." She looked about and saw we were still in the lobby. "I fell asleep. I'm so sorry, please don't tell me I fell asleep when you were telling me something important. I remember sharks, swimming with sharks. Not good." She wrinkled her nose, and even that didn't take away from her beauty.
I shook my head. "No. It's possible I fell asleep talking." She giggled, and there was that feeling again. That spark of excitement that flickered within me. "I think I started talking about chewing gum, so you didn't miss much."
She laughed again.
"I didn't get to sleep in my beautiful room." She yawned, stretching her slender arms up.
"It's still early. Why don't you go finish sleeping, and I'll come and get you later."
She smiled at that. "Thank you." She picked up her little bag and shawl. "Gage." She looked at me with a gentleness I hadn't seen before.
"Yes, Miss Evie." I smiled.
She giggled at that. "I had a really good time last night."
"Me too."
"See you tomorrow. Or today," she sighed. "I'll see you later." There was a warmth in her smile that echoed in her voice. With that, she left.
I made my way to my room which was in the opposite direction. Instead of going to sleep I spent the time going over the route and making the booking for a villa. I decided on a nice villa because there was a chance we'd be there for a good few days. Hotels were great, but I preferred somewhere homelier for longer stays. I also thought Grams and Evie would both be happy with what I selected.
Since I had time, I got on with the task of looking for the contact numbers that matched the sister's names.
Five minutes into my search made my heart sink. There were just over eight hundred Vanessa Rossi's and two hundred Anna Romano's who lived in Tuscany. Add that to the amount of Angelo's listed and we would totally have our work fully cut for them. They were most assuredly going to be in Italy for more than a week.
I quickly made a spreadsheet, adding all the contacts and then I took a selection of two thousand from the Angelo's listed and did the same. I decided I'd focus on that list.
My grandmother's face fell when I told her about the number of people we had to contact. I thought I should make her aware of the situation, although I was by no means suggesting we give up.
"It will be like looking for a needle in a haystack." She sighed resting her elbows on the dressing table.
"But at least we have a place to look in."
"Gage. I can see you're trying, but this is going to be hard isn't it? I don't want you doing anything that will take you away from your training."
I knew she was concerned about my training because of how important it had always been to me, but I didn't want her to even think about that. I pulled up one of the chairs and sat in front of her. "Don't worry about my training. I don't want you to stress out about anything." I looked at her, observing her weak demeanor.
As I'd talked to Evie last night, one significant thing stood out to me. We'd talked a lot about different things but she never once mentioned my grandmother's illness. Knowing how much Evie cared about her, I could only assume that it was because she didn't know about it.
"You haven't told Evie have you?" I asked with care. It was a very delicate, sensitive subject.
"Haven't told her what?" Grams looked away and picked up her hair brush.
