“I have just the thing,” he said, returning her smile a little too happily. “My mother-in-law’s sister’s neighbor rents rooms. Her villa overlooks the sea—very pretty rooms. Only €50 a night. I could call her for you, if you like?”
“Thanks,” I said, letting him know who was in charge. “We’ll take a look.”
Caro’s expression told me that she wasn’t impressed, but I didn’t care. No one was hitting on my woman in front of me. Fuck that!
The older guy returned, addressing himself to me this time.
“You’re in luck, signore, signora. She has a room available. I’ve written the address down for you.”
“Thank you,” Caro said, “that’s very kind of you.”
He nodded and turned to leave.
“Aberto, can I ask you something else?” she said, her voice hesitant. “My father was from Capezzano Inferiore. He left many years ago, but I was wondering, do you know anyone with the surname of ‘Venzi’?”
He scratched his head but then shrugged, and Caro’s face fell. I wanted to beat the shit out of the man who put that look on her face, even though I knew it wasn’t his fault.
“No, I’m sorry, signora, I don’t know that name. I could look in the phone book for you?”
“Thank you,” she said, trying to smile. “That would be so helpful.”
I held her hand while we waited for him to return, and I could feel the tension in her.
“Ah, I’m sorry, signora,” he said a few minutes later, “there’s no one with that surname in the town—some in the province, but none within 70km.”
Caro’s shoulders slumped.
“Thank you for looking, Aberto,” she said quietly.
He smiled sympathetically then walked away.
“Sorry, baby,” I said. “I know you had gotten your hopes up.”
“I was just being stupid,” she said, smiling weakly. “I just wanted … I just hoped I’d find some family.”
“Hey, I get that. I know what it’s like.”
She swiped a finger under her eyes, trying to hide the fact that she was trying not to cry.
“I never even asked you, Sebastian, but do you have grandparents? You never mentioned any.”
I shrugged. “No, not really. Mom’s parents died when I was a kid; Dad never spoke to his. Big surprise. I don’t even know where they live.”
“And you’ve never wanted to find out?” she asked
Her eyes were so full of compassion, it fucking slayed me.
“I thought about it once. Anyway, I’m not sure I’d want to find anyone who was related to that bastard. Besides, they never showed any interest in me … it made me wonder if the bastard was really my dad. I dunno…” I shrugged. “Ches and his kids, Mitch and Shirley—they’re my family.”
“And Amy,” Caro said, her voice teasing.
I groaned. “Yeah, and she’s thrilled about that.”
“Well, she’ll be much happier when we show her the new, improved Sebastian Hunter. I could tell her that I’ve tamed you.”
I threw her a look.
“You’re treading on dangerous ground there, Venzi.”
She sat back and smiled at me. “You’re so masterful when you talk like that, Sebastian.”
I knew she was just yanking my chain, but there’d be payback for that.
I leaned forward and stared at her. “Yeah, well, if we can find a fucking pharmacy, you’ll find out just how ‘masterful’ I can be.”
“Looking forward to it,” she smiled.
“You know what we should do, Caro?” I said, as we sat in the warm Mediterranean sunshine, a huge fucking relief after the grayness of Geneva. “We should drive up to Amalfi. The coast road has some gnarly mean bends—see what the bike can really do. There should be some great views, too.”
“That sounds fun,” she said, although her face told me she was less than thrilled with the idea.
“That’s my girl!” I grinned, winking at her.
After I paid for our drinks, we walked through the town, on the lookout for Via Roma. It turned out to be a wide avenue running alongside the harbor. Better still, it had a farmacia.
I pushed the door open, finding an old fashioned mom and pop type of place. The preservativi had a shelf high up all to themselves. I chose Trojans—a brand I knew and trusted. I didn’t care if Caro got knocked up, but she obviously did. So I’d play by her rules—for now.
Caro was at the makeup counter, which surprised me as I hadn’t seen her wear makeup so far. She paid for mascara and a dark red lipstick which she slid into her pocket.
“Looking forward to tasting that lipstick on you later,” I whispered.
“Looking forward to tasting you later,” she whispered back.
Fuck me, game on! I was so getting laid tonight.
Signora Carello’s villa was amazing and it overlooked the water. I wouldn’t have cared if it was a shed with no roof because it put a smile on Caro’s face.
I rang the bell and a woman opened the door almost immediately. She must have been pushing 70, but I could tell she’d been a knock-out in her day. She was thin and very upright for her age, with piled-up hair that was still black and looked natural.
“Ah, the young travelers Aberto mentioned,” she said in accented English. “Welcome to my home. Please, come in. Let me show you the room. My name is Signora Carello.”
She led us up a flight of shallow steps and opened the door into a large room with a balcony facing the sea.
The bed had curtains, like in a movie, and Caro glowed with happiness.
“Oh, this is just lovely!”
“Thank you, signora.”
Caro blushed—it was so damn cute.
“Actually, it’s signorina.”
For some reason her reply annoyed me.
“I’m working on that,” I muttered.
Caro pretended not to hear me but the old lady looked pleased. Damn! Why couldn’t I charm the panties off of Caro? It always worked on other women.
I mentioned the motorcycle, hoping that the signora would have somewhere around back to park it.
“Oh, I used to enjoy riding on a motorcycle in my day!” the old lady said, surprising the hell outta me. “Oh, yes, young man … I was quite fast in my youth.”
My brain immediately decided to go there. Wow, reeeeally didn’t want to know that. And, holy shit, I think I might have been blushing. What the fuck?!
“I’ll go get the bike,” I muttered.
“Sebastian,” Caro said quickly, “would you mind if I stay here and take a bath?”
“No, that’s fine,” I said, as an idea struck me. Her eyes narrowed, but I was already on my way. “I’ll see you later.”
“I’ll walk you out,” said the old lady.
She followed me down the stairs and out into a sunny courtyard.
“You can put your motorcycle there,” she said, pointing to a small paved area. “I hope it doesn’t leak oil—so difficult to clean it off sandstone. My boyfriend had an English motorcycle, a Triumph. It always leaked oil. Very annoying.” Then she smiled at me. “But I did love riding on it.”
Triumph made nice bikes, but she was right about the oil. I shook my head to focus.
“Signora, I wonder if you could help me with something?”
“If I can,” she said. “I had a feeling you wanted to ask me something.”
She may have been seventy, but she was damn observant.
“I want to take Caro somewhere real special—somewhere fancy, you know?”
She gave me a measured look. “Is there a particular reason for this? I’m being nosy, I know, but indulge me, young man.”
“My name’s Sebastian Hunter, ma’am.”
“A lovely name. Piacere! And this special occasion?”
I felt the blush return—what a fuckin’ tool, but I blundered on.
“I’m going to ask Caro to marry me and…”
I didn’t get any further before she flung her arms around my shoulders and kissed me three times.
“Ah, bello, I thought it must be that! You look at her with such love in your eyes. I’m so happy for you. She will say yes, of course.”
I rubbed my neck nervously. “I sure hope so, ma’am, but she’s kind of off marriage so…”