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A bouquet of pink balloons sat on the check-in counter next to a vase full of pale pink roses. Carlo stood behind the desk, beaming, his smile stretching from ear to ear.
“Ah, signori! It is a beautiful day, no?”
“I’ve had better,” Cal mumbled low enough that I wasn’t sure Carlo had heard.
I nodded. “Yes, the weather is lovely today.”
“No, no. It is a beautiful day because there is a new baby in my family. My cousin Amerena had a baby girl this afternoon. I am going to see her after I leave the hotel!”
Beside me, Cal stiffened and met my eyes. I’d caught the name too.
“Congratulations, my friend.” I slapped him on the back and shook his hand. “That’s very exciting news.”
“Yes, my whole family is in town for the birth. We are going to celebrate!”
If my hunch was right, I think Cal and I had just figured out why Azzura Scivolo was in Venice. “Enjoy.” I started to turn away, my hand finding Cal’s lower back and urging him toward the elevator, when I remembered something important. “Carlo, before you leave for your celebration, do you have a first aid kit we could borrow?”
The younger man’s eyes narrowed for a second, but he was too professional to ask why we needed the kit when he didn’t spot any obvious injuries. “Of course, signore. Give me just one moment, and I will get it for you.”
The second Carlo ducked into the office, Cal’s head swung my way, and he pitched his voice low. “Amarena?—”
“I know. That’s Scivolo’s granddaughter’s name. But wait. How did you know that?”
One side of Cal’s mouth tipped up in a smug grin. “Since you weren’t sharing everything you know—” He held up a hand when I tried to interrupt. “I know you think I don’t notice shit, but I can tell when you’re keeping information from me. You’re not as slick as you think you are. You’re still keeping things from me, but rest assured, I’ll figure it out. At any rate, since you weren’t sharing, I had my people look into it.”
A laugh tumbled past my lips. “Your people? Felix and Julius?”
Cal’s smug grin faded a fraction as Carlo returned to the lobby holding a small metal box and passed it over.
“Thank you.” I shoved Cal gently toward the elevator again. “Have fun celebrating.”
We got into the lift, and the doors closed on a gleefully waving Carlo.
“How do we find out if Carlo’s cousin Amarena is Scivolo’s granddaughter?” Cal asked the question the second the door shut behind us.
“I’m going to hack the hospital system. You go shower. I’ll have an answer by the time you get out.”
Cal made a face as he unbuttoned the shirt and took it off. It had stuck to one of the abrasions on his side, and he peeled it away carefully.
“I’m also going to ask Reuben if he can have some more clothes delivered.”
“If that’s an option, why didn’t we just do that from the beginning?”
I couldn’t tell him I hadn’t had Reuben order more clothes because I liked seeing him in my shirt. That would pole-vault us across the line we were both skirting.
Instead, I said, “Didn’t think about it then.”
Cal gave me a look that clearly said he knew I was full of shit, but he didn’t press the issue. He slid his jeans down and off, and I tried not to look at his naked body as he walked into the bathroom and shut the door.
Grabbing my laptop from the desk in the corner, I settled onto the bed and pulled up an encrypted browser.
CHAPTER
ELEVEN
CAL
The hot waterstung the open cuts and scrapes along my body, and even though I knew they’d be mostly gone by tomorrow, it still sucked.
