Swept Away by the Venetian Millionaire

by Nina Singh

  Though he was a sculptor by trade, most of his creations originated with a sketch on paper. Vito had taken one look at the tangled mass of hair framing her angular, patrician face and he’d felt once again that familiar yet so elusive tingling in his fingers. A feeling he hadn’t experienced in more than three years. Not since the accident.

  He hadn’t been able to bring himself to ignore it. A decision he regretted now, given the way the signorina was glaring at him. He had no right to use her to grasp at a sudden and unexpected reprieve from the artistic block he’d been grappling with for the past three years. She was merely an unsuspecting passerby.

  “I apologize, Maya. I should have known better than to draw you without your knowledge.” In fact, he’d never done such a thing before. Never had he sculpted or sketched a human subject who wasn’t aware he was doing so.

  What had gotten into him?

  He could venture a guess. Something about this woman was bringing forth an awareness he didn’t want to acknowledge or examine. It made no sense.

  Was it her sorrow he was drawn to? That had to be why. He felt bad for her. She was clearly hurting and lonely when she should have been enjoying one of the most beautiful destinations in the world.

  She didn’t look ready to accept his apology. In fact, she looked like she might be even angrier at him.

  “You think I’m upset that you drew me?”

  He could only shrug. If not that, then why?

  “Never mind,” she bit out. “I guess it’s not important. Please tell me where my clothes are. And then I’ll be on my way.”

  “Of course. I’ll bring everything out. It should all be dry by now.” It was downright silly of him, how disappointed he felt about her leaving. Or about how likely it was that he would never see her again.

  “Thank you.” She seemed to hesitate, looking up at the ceiling. “Also, can you tell me how to get to my hotel?” she asked after a long sigh.

  “The easiest way would be by boat. You can catch one by the bridge across the walk.”

  “I’ll have to walk. I lost my bag in the fall. Along with all my money, credit cards and cell phone.” Her lips trembled as she spoke the words. She was clearly nearing her breaking point. There was no way he was going to leave her to her own devices under the circumstances. Particularly as he’d been the one to cause her latest upset.

  “I can’t let you walk back by yourself. It’s already getting dark. You don’t even know your way.”

  “I can manage. You’ve done more than enough.”

  She was certainly a stubborn one. But what did she expect him to do? Let her walk out into the night without a cent on her and no idea where she was headed?

  How would he ever live with himself if his actions were even slightly responsible for the injury of yet another female? It was hard enough to live with himself as it was.

  “Let me at least arrange a boat ride for you. A water taxi can get you right to your destination without any stops along the way.” He held a hand up before she could argue. “I insist. I’ll call while you get dressed.”

  Vito watched the internal battle as it played out in her eyes. Her pride versus common sense. He breathed a sigh of relief when she finally answered. It appeared common sense had won out.

  “Fine. If you insist. And I’m only doing this for your peace of mind.”

  Vito bit down on the amusement that bubbled up within his chest. To make it sound as if his arranging her transportation was a favor she was doing for him instead of the other way around. She really had no idea how magnificent she was. If she only knew.

  And if only things were different between them, he mused. If only this charming, enigmatic woman who seemed to have reawakened his senses wasn’t about to walk out of his life for good.

  As quickly as she’d fallen into it.

  * * *

  She couldn’t stop thinking about him.

  Maya rolled over onto her stomach and adjusted the pillow under her head for at least the hundredth time since she’d crawled into her hotel room bed. She’d been certain she’d fall asleep within seconds after the harrowing day she’d had. And she definitely needed the rest. There’d be a long day ahead of her as she made the calls to replace her bank cards. She had no idea what to do about her cell phone.

  But none of that had any bearing on why slumber was so stubbornly eluding her. It was because of him. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw a dark, enigmatic face with charcoal-black hair framing expressive, sad eyes.

  She couldn’t begin to explain it. Here she was, jilted by her fiancé, newly single after losing the man she’d hoped to spend the rest of her life with. But she’d barely given Matt a thought since she left Vito’s studio. What exactly did that say about her? Or about the marriage she’d been about to enter into?

  Vito said he saw strength in her. He’d challenged her when she questioned it. In response, she’d snapped at him and stormed out with barely a thank-you for all his efforts to help her. Now that she thought about it all, it hadn’t been her proudest moment.

  Maya sighed in resignation and slowly sat up in bed. It was no use. She wasn’t going to get any sleep no matter how hard she tried.

  In any case, she needed to update the folks back home about the loss of her phone and credit cards. Hopefully, the correspondence wouldn’t lead to further questions about Matt. With no small amount of resignation, Maya propped open her laptop and logged into the hotel Wi-Fi network. After summarizing the essentials in a group email to her family and letting them know they’d only be able to contact her via email for a few days, she fired off a quick message to her bank explaining the loss of her credit cards. Then she called up the browser to do a quick check on various US news sites.

  An email alert popped up immediately on her screen before she’d had so much as a chance to click on the appropriate icon. Her aunt. Maya should have known. The woman was constantly connected, mostly because she was constantly working. No real surprise there.

  You lost your most essential belongings on the second day?

  She’d included a laughing emoji but Maya had no doubt the response held a heavy dose of derision. Her aunt and cousins would never have been careless enough to let such a thing happen to them. Maya was the only one who had her head in the clouds. She no doubt owed it to her mother’s genes. The woman had been a true free spirit, constantly in pursuit of one artistic endeavor or another. Her father had indulged his wife’s less-than-stable career choices. Her aunt, uncle and cousins were much more practical. Bad enough they’d been burdened with the awkward and shy newly orphaned preteen. They’d been good to her; they really had. Still, she’d never felt the sense that she’d actually really fit in.

  Maya typed out a quick response.

  It’s an amusing story. Will tell you all about it sometime.

  She hadn’t had a chance to hit Send before her aunt sent another message.

  I’m sure Matt can bring a replacement phone and funds once he arrives. Honestly, Maya. How would you manage without him? When are you expecting him, anyway? We can’t seem to get a hold of him.

  Hah! She’d just bet Matt wasn’t making himself available to her family these days. And Maya would have to discover quickly just how she’d manage without Matt by her side. To think, all these years she’d tried so hard to avoid letting her aunt and uncle down. Not to mention her two cousins. And now she was going to have to disappoint them about a broken engagement.

  Maya wanted to slam the laptop shut and launch it across the room. As much as she hated to lie to her aunt yet again, her shattered relationship wasn’t the type of news one delivered via email from half a world away. The only thing to do was to ignore her aunt’s question for the time being. Though Maya knew the older woman wouldn’t let her get away with it for long.

  Clicking back to the news sites, Maya worked to distract herself from all the ju
mbled thoughts scrambling through her brain. No wonder she was suffering from insomnia.

  But that endeavor proved futile, as well. After a quick check on the Sox, her mind wandered back to the afternoon. More specifically, her thoughts returned to the man she’d spent it with. An image of the picture he’d sketched flashed through her mind. The idea that she might never see it again sent a surprising surge of sadness through her. She should have asked to keep it. As a way to remember all of this. A way to remember him.

  But the whole notion was silly. It had been a simple impromptu lunch with a man she’d probably never lay eyes on again. Even if she did manage to somehow run into him before leaving Venice, they were from two different continents. Given the way she couldn’t stop thinking about him tonight, she wouldn’t need anything physical to provide memories of Vito Rameri.

  Who was he, exactly? Any kind of artist prominent enough to have a studio in Venice had to be fairly successful. The flashing cursor on the search engine’s query bar was practically winking at her, daring her to do something to find out. Without giving herself a chance to think, she pulled the laptop close once more and typed in his name with the word “art.”

  Now who was the one disrespecting someone else’s privacy?

  But what she was about to do wasn’t really intrusive at all, she reassured herself. Technically, Vito was a public figure. He probably even had a large commercial presence online. She just wanted to see some of his professional works. To find out how prominent he was as an artist.

  The answer to that was abundantly clear within seconds as her search returned pages and pages of results. To call Vito successful was a woeful understatement. Turned out that his creations were some of the most sought-after artworks in the world. His clay sculptures were in particularly high demand throughout the European continent.

  Maya physically thwacked her forehead hard enough that the skin actually stung along her hairline. She’d petulantly thrown a tantrum because a world-class sculptor had taken the time to render her likeness on paper. He must have thought her beyond childish. He probably also saw her as a completely ignorant fool. How many women would have been honored to be where she’d been?

  Maya cursed under her breath and scrolled through several more pages. One article detailed the last renowned sculpture Vito had completed. The piece had sold for six figures at auction.

  But something didn’t add up. That article was dated years ago. About three and a half years, to be more specific. Nothing was mentioned after that. As far as she could find from this search, Vito’s artwork hadn’t been covered for the last three years or so.

  The bottom of the screen prompted another link: Rameri accident. Something made her hesitate a split second before she moved her fingers to click on it. When she finally did, she had to suck in a deep breath. The headlines that appeared were vastly different from the write-ups about his art. The more Maya read, the more her heart slowly bruised for the man she’d spent the afternoon with. The sadness behind his eyes was justified, it turned out. Far from being the carefree, internationally renowned artist she would have pegged him for, Vito Rameri had a sorrowful past.

  The pages she read now only told of heartbreak and tragedy.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  THIS WASN’T GOING to be the easiest conversation. Maya slowly walked toward Vito’s studio, trying to summon the courage to say what she had to say. Best to just get it over with.

  Yesterday the afternoon had been sunny and bright. Thank goodness for that, as she’d spent a considerable part of the day soaking wet. By contrast, that day’s weather was overcast and gray. She hoped it wasn’t any kind of indicator of the reception she was about to get.

  But she had to talk to Vito. She didn’t want his last impression of her to be one of a stubborn hothead storming out his door after he’d been nothing but kind and helpful to her.

  When she reached the studio, she took a deep, fortifying breath before stepping inside. The man who stood up from behind the counter to greet her wasn’t Vito.

  “Buongiorno, signorina.” He was tall and tan, with a wide smile and bright brown eyes. Upon closer inspection, Maya noted clear similarities between the two men. She wondered if they were related.

  “I’m Leo Rameri,” he said with a friendly grin, confirming her suspicions. Same last name. My, the good looks clearly ran in the family. “How may I help you?”

  “I was hoping to find—” But he didn’t let her finish.

  “A readily available piece? I’m sorry. Vito has no inventory at the moment. I’d be happy to speak with you about a potential commission.” His lips suddenly grew tight before he continued. “Though, I have to be up front and tell you that he may or may not accept the project.”

  He thought she was here as a potential patron. She didn’t get a chance to clarify the reason behind her visit before the door opened behind her. Maya didn’t need to turn around to know who’d just arrived. It was him. She could sense Vito’s presence.

  “Maya? Is that you?”

  Maya took a deep breath before turning to face him. If possible, he somehow looked even more handsome today. He was dressed much more casually in a soft white cotton shirt and khaki pants, and his hair wasn’t quite as casual. He’d combed it back off his face, lending him a rakish quality.

  “You two know each other?” Leo asked from behind her.

  They both answered at the same time, talking over each other. Leo came to stand between them, giving them curious looks.

  “We met yesterday,” Vito supplied.

  “Vito was kind enough to help me out of a rather precarious situation. It’s why I’m here. I realized that I should come back and thank him properly.”

  “That isn’t necessary,” Vito said in a firm, steady voice, his eyes fixed on hers.

  Leo spoke before she could respond. “Wait a minute. You look quite familiar. Have you and I met before, as well?”

  Maya was finding it hard to focus on whatever Leo was saying. She couldn’t tear her eyes or her focus from Vito. He seemed surprised to see her. The only question was, was it a pleasant surprise or an unwelcome one?

  “I don’t see how you would have,” Vito answered for her.

  Leo rubbed his chin as he contemplated her. “Are you certain? Your face is quite familiar.”

  Maya made herself form an answer. “Unless you’ve been to Boston and we somehow coincidentally ran into each other, I can’t imagine that we might have met at some point, Signor Rameri.”

  “Call me Leo. I’m Vito’s cousin.” He’d barely gotten the last word out when he suddenly clapped his hands in front of his chest. “It’s you! That’s how I know you. You’re the young lady in Vito’s sketch.”

  She could have sworn she heard Vito groan. “I think Maya might prefer if I destroyed the sketch, Leo. Or if it had never existed.”

  Leo whipped his head around to glare at his cousin. “What? How can you even think such a thing?”

  Vito shrugged as he walked in and set down the parcels he was carrying. He motioned with his chin in Maya’s direction. “The lady is unhappy with it.”

  She cleared her throat. “Now, that isn’t exactly what I said. And that’s part of the reason I’m here.”

  Both men gave her curious glances, then waited expectantly for her to clarify.

  Maya should have better prepared herself for what she was going to say. Having Leo here didn’t exactly help matters. It would have been difficult enough to try and talk to Vito without an audience. But she couldn’t be rude enough to ask the man to leave his own cousin’s showroom, now could she?

  She cleared her throat. “I just wanted to come back and tell you that I feel badly for the way I left here yesterday. I should have been more gracious, especially considering your kindness and hospitality.”

  Looking at Vito’s face became disconcerting as she spoke the words. So she gla
nced to where Leo stood staring at her. His mouth had formed a small O of surprise. Clearly, Vito hadn’t told the other man about all that had transpired during her afternoon with him.

  “And I shouldn’t have taken the liberties I did,” Vito responded. “We shall call dual mea culpa, then, Signorina Maya. And leave it at that.”

  Leo’s mouth fell further agape. Based on his expression, he was clearly drawing some rather scandalous conclusions about what had happened between them.

  “That sounds fair enough,” she replied, trying to insert a lightheartedness into her tone. As if this conversation wasn’t awkward in the least. “And please don’t destroy the sketch.” She wasn’t brave enough to ask for it. It was a professional work, after all. Lord knew, she wouldn’t be able to pay what an artist of his caliber was worth. “In fact, I wish I could take a picture of it to show the folks back home. But as you know, my phone fell into the bottom of the canal right before I did.”

  Leo suddenly held a hand up to stop her. “Wait. Wait a minute, per favore. Did I hear correctly that you fell into the water?”

  She nodded. “That’s right. Vito pulled me out.”

  “He did?”

  “Mmm-hmm. Then he brought me back here to help me get cleaned up.”

  “I see.” To Maya’s confusion, Leo held a hand out to her. She hesitantly took it for lack of anything else to do. “You’ll be joining us for lunch, Signorina Maya. My cousin has just brought back some mouthwatering pancetta and homemade pasta. I’m sure there’ll be plenty for all three of us.”

  “Oh...uh... I’m not sure if—”

  Vito interjected. “I’m sure the lady is too busy to drop her whole itinerary simply to dally around with us.”

  Leo wasn’t having it. “I insist,” Leo declared as he led her toward the back room where she’d collapsed on the sofa to sober up less than twenty-four hours ago. “I’m anxious to hear all about this fall of yours and exactly how my gallant cousin came to your rescue. Surprisingly, he’s failed to mention any of it to me.”