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“Mmm… you know I’m Italian,” he replies with the huge, sexy grin. I laugh, shaking my head. When I don’t respond, he continues. “Okay, I’ll surprise you.” Marco calls over to another waiter and tells him our order in Italian.
“So, tell me, do you have a name?” He tilts his head.
“I seem to like ‘beautiful.’” I smirk.
“Mysterious. I like that. Where are you going?”
“Up north.” Since this trip is more of an undercover mission, I don’t feel the need to divulge any information to this stranger. No matter how sexy he is, we need to keep this simple.
“Well, beautiful, who is traveling up north, I think my shitty day has turned into one lucky night.” Marco leans back in his chair, looking relaxed and smiles.
Talking with Marco is easy. His eyes sparkle when he talks. He’s a nice guy. Dinner is amazing, the best Italian food that I’ve ever had. The wine unwinds me from my long, emotional drive and it turns out to be a great evening. Unfortunately, it needs to come to an end. I stand to go use the restroom and sway a little; the wine affects me more than I thought it would. As I come out of the restroom, Marco is leaning against the wall with his arms folded, waiting for me. My eyes peruse his body and my pulse quickens. With a slow, smug smile, he grabs my hand.
“Let me walk you to where you’re staying. It’s late and I wouldn’t want anyone to take advantage of you.” He winks as he flashes a sexy grin. Why do men automatically think a female needs protection? I laugh at my thoughts.
“Are you laughing at me?” He sticks his lower lip out. His lips are perfectly shaped. Images play in my head at what he could do with those lips and mouth. Yep. Definitely a little too much wine.
“Marco, you can walk me to my hotel but that’s it. Even your little sexy grin won’t get you a pass to my room,” I playfully respond, putting a hand on his chest.
“Hmm… how about something else that is sexy and not so little?” Oh, my God. I burst, laughing.
“That was a horrible pickup line, Marco.” I try hard to contain my giggling. “No, even your big, sexy thing isn’t going to get a hall pass.”
He shrugs. “Well, I thought I would try, beautiful. Still, I will walk you to your hotel. No expectations. I had a fun night with you, my beautiful, mysterious friend. I hope you find what you are looking for.” He intertwines our fingers and we walk out of the restaurant.
When we get to my hotel, I seriously wonder if I should change my mind. This handsome man, who has complimented me all night long and has had my body wound up all night, is standing right in front of me. I fight with myself, but my brain wins the battle. I stare up into his big, brown eyes.
“Thank you for eating with me, Marco. I’m glad I walked into your restaurant.” I smirk as I lean up and brush my lips to his, giving him a soft kiss. Time seems to stand still with our lips touching, enjoying the few seconds that our bodies share together. I break our kiss and smile up at him. He gives me his sexy grin one more time and winks.
“Ciao, Marco.” I turn and walk into the hotel.
“Ciao, beautiful,” I hear him call out.
Chapter Five
THE REST OF the drive goes quickly. Following the directions on my phone, I drive by where Travis Stein supposedly lives. It looks like a compound and has a fence all around it. Hmm… how I should go about this? Do I go ring the doorbell? Hey, did you kill my mom? Shit… I should have thought this through more. I’ll recognize the guy who killed my mom. That memory never fades away. I hate that the memories of my mom aren’t as clear as her murderer’s face. I know it wasn’t Travis himself but maybe it was one of his men. How do I get a good look at his men?
I park the car a couple of blocks away and stuff my actual driver’s license and gun under my seat. I don’t plan on going on the property. I just want to look around. In case someone does ask who I am, I’ll have my fake license on me. I put the key to my car in a hide-a-key case that slips under my bumper. I don’t want to have anything on me that will link me to my real identity.
As I round the corner to the house, I walk along the fenced yard. It’s huge and beautifully manicured. The fence is black metal with bushes lining it on the property side. I try to look around the bushes as I walk by, trying to see if I recognize anyone. I let out a quiet growl. It’s hard to see anything with these damn bushes, and I don’t want to stop on the sidewalk and stare through them. That would be a little too obvious. Maybe if I jump the fence I can hide in one of the bushes and take a better look. I look to see if anyone is around or driving by. The coast is clear so I jump the fence.
Dammit! I’ve walked too far away from the house. Moving from bush to bush, I get closer to the house. Movement at the front of the house catches my eye, so I stop and duck behind a bush. God, I hope they don’t release any dogs. That would be my luck. My heart is pounding.
This is stupid. Go back!
Thoughts of Sydney warning me to stay away from trouble fill my head. Sorry, Syd, I can’t stop now. Taking a deep breath, I look again and don’t see anything, so I continue edging closer. As I’m in between bushes, two arms wrap around me, holding something over my mouth.
Don’t breathe, Addison!
I know it’s probably chloroform and need to act quickly. I bring my arm up and elbow the guy as hard as I can. I grab two of his fingers and bend them backward. I hear them crack.
“BITCH,” he screams. But he releases me. I take off running as fast as I can, gasping for a deep breath of fresh air. I turn around quickly to see if he’s following me before I try and jump the fence again. As I turn back around, another guy grabs me and throws me down on the ground. The second guy catches up and there is no way I’m going to be able to fight them off. The rag is put back over my mouth. I fight it as long as I can.
SYD IS GOING TO KILL ME!
“She’s a fucking feisty one.”
That’s the last thing I hear.
