“Thank you, signorina,” the policeman said as he snapped his notebook shut and stuffed it back into his pocket. His partner remained silent and she assumed he didn’t speak English. With nods to her, the policemen left. “Thanks again,” Lexie called after them. She turned to the handsome stranger who’d rescued her bag. “Please, let me buy you a drink as thanks for your help.”
“Of course. How can I refuse an invitation from such a beautiful woman?”
Lexie blushed. Italian men sure knew how to make a woman feel sexy. She turned back to her table where her waiter stood waiting. With a smile of gratitude, she slid into the chair he held for her. She put her purse and shopping bag under the table, on the side closest to the wall. Mr. GQ Cover Model sat in the opposite chair and ordered a glass of Pinot Noir in beautiful Italian. “I’m Lexie Cortese,” she said, holding out her hand to shake his. He took her hand and turned it over, brushing his lips on her wrist. Sparks seemed to fly up her arm and she felt her eyes widen. This man could charm Neptune’s nymphs right out of the fountain. Trying her best not to blush again, she smiled and pulled her hand free.
“Dominic Brioni,” he said, gifting her with a melt-her-bones smile. Despite his overt sexuality, humor flashed in his eyes, as if he didn’t quite take himself seriously. Oh, yes, she definitely could get used to this. “Cortese,” he said. “Italian?”
“My great-grandparents came from Abruzzo.”
“Abruzzo. That explains your beautiful hazel eyes.” He was a practiced charmer all right. But she liked it. “Do you speak Italian?” he asked.
“I don’t, I’m sorry to say. But you speak beautiful English.”
His eyes sparkled with even greater good humor. “Thank you.” When the waiter handed him his wine, he held up his glass to her in salute. Two hours and two glasses of wine later as he walked her back to her hotel—to make sure she arrived safely he’d insisted—she realized she’d done most of the talking. She’d told him about her home in Las Vegas, her new job at the college, her plan to some day earn a doctorate in Ancient Roman studies. But she didn’t tell him about Jerry. She was growing. She was healing. Her life was far from exciting, yet Dominic continued to listen to her as if she were fascinating. A little niggle of doubt arose as she realized he’d told her very little about himself, only that he was a native Roman who worked in the banking business.
“I would like to see you again, Lexie Cortese,” he said when they reached her hotel. His gaze, as warm as the heat of the sun that had made her feel so relaxed and content in the piazza, now sparked another kind of heat in her. When he brushed back a strand of hair from her forehead, jolts of electricity shot to every part of her body. The man had magic in those fingers. Lexie had always been fond of magic shows. “I’d love to see you again too,” she said, tilting her face up to look at him. He was tall for an Italian, towering over her by about a foot.
He smiled. “It’s a date. Dinner tomorrow night?”
“Uh-huh,” she said, her mind and her body filled with his smile.
“I will pick you up here at eight,” he said.
God, he was gorgeous. Could she put aside a lifetime of caution and take a chance on him? “Eight is good.”
He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “Buon giorno, Lexie Cortese. Until tomorrow.”
****
Dominic made sure Lexie entered the hotel, then walked away as casually as possible. He recognized the middle-aged man who lounged against a nearby building, his gray suit blending with the shadows. The same thug had gone into the leather goods shop right behind Lexie. Dominic was sure the guy hadn’t noticed him and Ruggiero standing near the shop, nor had the scum suspected one of their female agents was in the store posing as a shopper. The agent had signaled Dominic when the man slipped the diamond into Lexie’s purse. The hand-off complete, the thug should have disappeared. Yet he’d continued to follow Lexie. Maybe the jewel thieves didn’t quite trust her and wanted to be sure she made it to the hotel with the diamond.
Hands in his pockets, Dominic pushed through the pedestrian traffic and crossed the street, deftly avoiding some of Rome’s ubiquitous motor scooters, and headed toward Ruggiero, waiting by the bank. They’d been lucky today. The police had almost screwed things up back at the piazza. With his hooded sweatshirt gone, no one would recognize Ruggiero for the street thief who’d grabbed Lexie’s bag. As he headed toward his partner, Dominic’s mind replayed the afternoon’s events. Lexie Cortese didn’t fit the profile of a courier working for international jewel thieves and terrorists. He’d been in the business long enough that nothing shocked him, yet when he’d learned the petite brown-haired beauty with the big hazel eyes was American, he’d been thrown. But Dominic knew better. Galina had looked innocent too. Until she’d betrayed them.
** I hope you enjoyed this preview of Cara's book MURDER, MI AMORE. If You’d like to read the book in its entirety it’s available for the Kindle and various other e-readers through your favorite online retailers.**
Cara’s Website
Vegas, Baby
Copyright © 2011 Sandra Edwards
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from Sandra Edwards.
Published by Amazon KDP
Seattle, WA
Electronic KDP Edition: June 2011
This book is a work of fiction and all characters exist solely in the author's imagination. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Any references to places, events or locales are used in a fictitious manner.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Backlist
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Epilogue
Secondary Targets ~ Excerpt
Murder, Mi Amore Excerpt
Copyright
Vegas, Baby Page 29