Page 27 of The Winter Kissed Kings

“The next part of the book is in Orvieto. It’s a town in Umbria. I hid the book in a cave—”

“In a cave? Jesus, I hate caves!” Chris blurts. I look around to see where Meryl is. I sigh; thankfully she is up front with Derek. I trust them, but they don’t need to know everything about us. Especially the location of the book parts. I glare at Chris.

“Keep it down.” He mouthssorryto me and I nod. “The caves are accessible to the public. I hid the pages when I was on a guided tour. This time we won’t need to sneak anywhere, okay? It’s totally safe, but I understand if you want to wait for us in a café or something.” I say to Chris, who is looking queasy.

“I think I will. I get claustrophobic.” I can see in his eyes there is a story behind his feelings. Should I push it? “Do you want to talk about it?” He shakes his head. I leave it at that. Daisy has stayed silent. I’m starting to worry that what happened between us is freaking her out.

Netflix entertains us for a few hours. Derek parks up after four hours. We have cleared the border and are now in France. I’ve never been to this area, so a little part of me is excited. Derek tells us we are staying for the night.

I step out of the motorhome and nearly squeal in delight; I’m not a squeal-y kind of person, but the view I am met with is breathtaking. We are high above the sea. The carpark is just a dusty bit of land, but there are a couple of other smaller vans pitched up for the night. Further down the road, I can see a town. The lights of buildings are twinkling in the low summer light. “Nice, isn’t it?” Derek says as he joins me by the railing of the carpark.

“It’s beautiful.”

“The town is Cerbère, it’s a bitch to drive the van around but it’s worth it.” I can’t believe Derek has just said “bitch.” That makes me grin.

“So, you know the place well?” I’m chatting with the man like I haven’t got a care in the world. It’s refreshing, but so untrue.

“Oh, yes. Meryl and I have travelled here several times. The town isn’t big, but the views are stunning. I was going to suggest we all take a walk to the closest restaurant. It’s been a while since we’ve eaten out. What do you think?”

I think I want to cry. I know it must seem stupid, but this all feels so normal I can’t cope. The last time I went to a restaurant was with Daisy, just before her eighteenth birthday. I’m not sure you can call Pizza Hut a real restaurant, though. We didn’t care though because, you know, the ice cream machine. That’s what it’s famous for, right?

“Sounds perfect.” I hope my voice doesn’t betray the fact that I could start bawling at any second. Derek squeezes my shoulder and leaves. I take a few calming breaths. Suddenly, I feel out of control. Everything in my life has changed so quickly. I may not have liked being alone for six years, but I was in control, always. Now, not so much.

We walk down to the nearest restaurant, which is perched on the side of the cliff. The sun has almost set, but the outdoor terrace offers a spectacular view of the town. We sit at a table like we are a family about to enjoy a nice meal on holiday. It’s surreal.

The food is delicious, and the conversation is light. I know that Derek and Meryl have questions, but they haven’t pushed anything. The reality is, their questions will go unanswered. We need to leave them. As much as I would love to stay in that motorhome it’s not an option. From what Derek has told me, they are heading to Florence. We need to go farther south. It’s going to be much easier if we have our own transport. I plan to talk to Daisy about it tonight in bed. Wow, I can’t believe I just said that. I will be in bed tonight with Daisy Simpson.

The evening was thoroughly enjoyable, but now we need to get serious. Chris seems happy to go along with whatever me and Daisy decide. I had a brief chat with him on the walk back from the restaurant. We agree to talk more in the morning.

Daisy is already in bed by the time I’ve finished having a quick shower. She looks adorable, all tucked up. I want to hold her all night, but I have to focus. I slip under the duvet and prop myself up. “We need to get a car. I think we should leave Derek and Meryl before we get to Italy. They don’t know our destination and I think it should stay that way.”

“Okay.” The way she’s looking at me tells me this isn’t what she wants to talk about.

“Right, so we fucked.”Well, that was blunt, Callie!I have no idea why I just blurted that out.

“Fucked?” Her eyes betray her hurt. I’ve just made our experience sound like it was just another fling.

“Sorry, that came out wrong.”

“Did it?” She sighs and then rolls over.

What the hell is wrong with me? Okay, so in the literal sense we fucked, or I fucked her, whatever, but that certainly isn’t how I want to describe the experience. Call me cheesy, but in my eyes we made love. So if I feel that way, why in the name of Christ did I just say that to her?

I roll her back over. I can’t leave her feeling like that. She stares at me. There is a mix of hurt and anger stamped across her face. I’m a fucking tool some times!

“I didnotmean that. What we did together, Daisy, means so much to me. I’m sorry.”

She sits up. I hold my breath. “That was thoughtless of you, Cal.” I nod. “I’ve been thinking about it—us. Maybe we should hold off on sleeping together again.” I want to do the absolute opposite. “Let’s get to know each other again. If this is to work, I want to know you. Our lives have changed.Wehave changed.”

I want to argue that she’s wrong, that we should be banging like rabbits now we have finally found each other, but I can’t. All those worries I felt after we’d had sex are still there. Having my head in the clouds won’t help any of us. So, I agree with her. “Can I still kiss you, though?” I can’t imagine not touching those lips again. She smiles, leans forwards and kisses me. If only we could stay locked away in this room, sharing kisses. I would happily live like that.

Daisy is sound asleep. I’m staring at the ceiling. It’s been hours, but I can’t switch my brain off. I think being with Derek and Meryl has given me too much comfort. I’ve allowed myself to start looking forward to things. Just a simple meal at a restaurant has me brimming with hope and happiness. That’s dangerous for me. Bloody hell, are you as bored as I am with my self-pitying, worrying bullshit?

The vibration of a phone catches my attention. It has to be Daisy’s. Mine is on silent on the table in the kitchenette. My curiosity is piqued. It’s wrong and I know Daisy will be super pissed if I snoop, but I can’t help it. It hasn’t escaped my attention that Daisy is over the top secretive about her occupation. I love how she tried to fob me off with “I do Tech.” I mean, what the fuck does that mean? Plus, you don’t have a laptopthatwell-protected if you’re just a regular old IT consultant. No, she’s into something big and I want to know what.

I lean over to grab her phone. She doesn’t stir. Turning away, I hit the home button. The notification shows a message from “Queen Bitch” and my heart begins to pound. There is a second vibration and a new message that displays a photo.

I think Betty has just killed her brother.

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