by Grace Kagni
They’d talked a while before Marco arrived. He told them he was outside and asked them to come out so the ladies didn’t notice anything. When they stepped out, they saw Marco was waiting with another man.
“Hey, thank you for coming so quickly.” James shook Marco’s hand.
“Absolutely, family sticks together – especially in times like this. Gentlemen, this is my investigator, Giorgio Libero, and he’s well connected with the police forces to be able to find someone to search the telephone number you received,” Marco said, turning to Liam. “Can you send it to us so we can try to find out who sent it?”
“Yes, of course. Give me your phone numbers and I’ll send you both a snapshot with the phone number right now.” He pulled out his phone and with very little time, he’d sent it to both Marco and Giorgio.
Giorgio explained that in Italy, people bought telephone cards through other people who registered hundreds of cards to their name, making it difficult to know who actually used the card. He would do his best to find out who sent the text message.
They discussed it a little longer and then Marco and Giorgio left. They had arranged to speak again the following day before the flight but in the event Giorgio didn’t have any news, he would contact Marco when he had information.
When James and Liam went back into the house, they went back into the study to call Dalton. He needed to know in the event Rachael became a target to get to Milania.
“What do you mean they said she would die?” Dalton shouted.
“Shh, keep your voice down,” Liam said to Dalton while they talked on speakerphone.
“I’m on my own in my room. Who sent the message?” Dalton asked.
“We don’t know just yet but we contacted Marco who then contacted an investigator that is looking into it now,” James intervened.
“So what should I do from here? Is there any possibility they will go after Rachael?” Dalton’s heart started to beat quickly, knowing there was the strong possibility it could happen.
“Dalton, don’t let her know about it and try to stay as close to her as possible. In the meantime, I’ll see what we can do from here,” James said.
“We’re flying home tomorrow and I’ll set up an undercover cop to work side by side with Milania. It could be a good idea if you look for someone in Italy to do the same with Rachael.” Liam’s heart started to clench at the thought of what could happen to the two women. They needed to stay focused and close to ensure their safety.
“Dalton, I’ll speak to Marco to find someone who could be hired to protect Rachael. Just sit tight in the meantime and don’t lose sight of her for a single minute,” James mentioned.
“How am I supposed to do that? We’re in separate rooms? Dude, you’re asking me to barge in on her space,” Dalton complained.
“Dalton, your charm has never been wasted on women so charm her into letting you into her room,” Liam suggested, knowing it would be a challenge.
“She’s not like other women. She can’t be persuaded into doing something if she doesn’t want to do it.” Dalton let out a long breath over the phone.
“Well then, you have your work cut out for you, don’t you?” James knew his younger brother was up for the job. It was just a matter of him succeeding with urgency.
“Okay then I may as well go now. I’ll pretend I’m sick or something to get into her room.”
“That’s my boy,” James smiled.
As soon as they hung up, Dalton placed his phone in his pocked and grabbed his charger before leaving the room. He walked the short distance to Rachael’s door and knocked, waiting for her to open. When she didn’t answer, he knocked again and waited. It took three knocks before she opened the door and when she did, she didn’t look pleased to see him.
Chapter Thirteen
“I was sleeping,” Rachael huffed. “What is so urgent that it couldn’t wait until the morning?”
He looked at her beautiful face without makeup and realized he was stuck for words. Her sleepy eyes and ruffed up hair made him want to reach out and touch her more than ever. Then he remembered why he was there. “Sorry to bother you but I’m not feeling well and need company.” He really didn’t know what to say around her. It was like the words wouldn’t come out of his mouth or what came out was gibberish.
She looked at him with dark eyes. “Are you kidding? You’re a grown man. Why would you need company if you’re sick?” She put her hands on her hips, waiting for a response.
“Because I feel my heart beating quickly and I’m afraid it may turn out to be a heart attach? I don’t want to die in my hotel room on my own, please?” He was pleased with his reply and hoped she would let him in.
She narrowed her eyes, watching him as he stood there and then moved out of the way to let him into her hotel room. “This doesn’t mean you can expect to sleep in my bed. You can sleep on the sofa.”
“I understand. I’ll be happy to sleep on the sofa.” Dalton walked into the room and looked at how tidy it was. She had folded all her clothes and placed them above her suitcase. Papers where stacked perfectly on the desk whereas her shoes were on the floor by the door. She would have a heart attach if she saw his room. Everything was scattered everywhere. He’d never been tidy a day in his life!
He pretended to have heart spasms as he walked to the sofa and then sat down, leaning his head back on the sofa. Dalton kept his eyes closed, hoping she would worry and ask him how he felt but when he noticed she went back to bed and turned off the light, he knew he needed to improve his acting skills if it was going to work. He took off his shoes and went to lie down on the sofa to sleep. After a few minutes, as he was about to doze off he felt a blanket being placed over him and then he felt her delicate fingers lifting his head to place a pillow underneath it. Keeping his eyes closed, once he heard her soft footsteps back to the bed, he felt a grin form on his face. It was working.
~~~
The morning after, Dalton needed to step up his game in order to stay by Rachael’s side so he pretended his heart raced all night and needed to go to the hospital.
Rachael sat on the sofa beside him a moment and looked at him closely. Was he pretending to be here or was he really feeling what he said he was feeling? It was something she couldn’t risk not taking seriously so she went to wash and got dressed before going to the nearest hospital.
“Do you take any medication that I need to collect before we go to the hospital?” She wondered if he had taken something that had given him a reaction.
He thought about it and decided to tell her he took protein tablets for muscle toning, which luckily he had in his suitcase so after telling her where to find them, he gave her the hotel key to search for them.
Rachael walked down the hall to Dalton’s room and the moment she walked into his room, her eyes rolled back by what she saw. His room was a mess! One running shoe in one place while the other was in another. Running shorts on the floor beside a t-shirt and his suitcase on the floor with clean clothing in disarray. His laptop was on the table, still open with a coffee mug sitting beside it. It was a wonder he could find anything.
She went into his suitcase to look for the pills Dalton had spoken about and as soon as she found them, she turned to leave. The moment she passed the bathroom door, she sensed his fragrance, which made her smile. He was such a messy person but she had to admit that he smelt wonderful.
As soon as she shut the door, she went back to her room to get Dalton and the car keys. She found him sitting on the sofa, hunched over his phone. “Well, you shouldn’t be on that if your heart is racing. Give it to me please,” she huffed, waiting for him to pass the phone to her.
His eyes opened wide at the thought of giving up his phone so he needed to make an excuse to keep it. “Listen, I promise not to read it if you let me hold onto it.”
“Either you turn it off or give it to me to answer on your behalf.” Her eyes were firm and she wasn’t going to take any excuses from him.
He nee
ded the phone turned on if James or Liam needed to call so he reluctantly gave Rachael the phone, hoping she wouldn’t turn it off. “Okay but leave it on please. I’m expecting an urgent call from James which is work related.”
“Listen, Dalton, if you want me to take you to the hospital, you’re going to have to do it my way. If James calls, I’ll answer for you. I won’t ignore the call.” She felt like she was talking to a teenager who couldn’t do without his phone for more than five minutes. It was sort of fun taking the power away from him but it was for his own good.
They got into Dalton’s rented car and Rachael drove to Levanto where the nearest hospital was located. It was twenty-five kilometers away but it would take a while since the only road available went through the small towns. Morning traffic was terrible but they finally arrived and the moment they entered the emergency doors, Dalton’s face froze when he saw the crowd of people waiting to be seen. Well, his task was to keep her close and safe so it was exactly what he was doing.
Rachael did all the talking, obviously because the hospital staff didn’t speak enough English to speak directly to Dalton and the moment he showed his health insurance card he was told it wasn’t needed because the Italian health system provides medical assistance, no matter if people have medical coverage or not.
They sat down on two chairs that were vacated and after a long while they’d been waiting, Rachael turned to Dalton to ask him how he was. “Are you still feeling the accelerated heart beats?”
“No, it’s started to settle but my left arm hurts a little,” he said, knowing he needed to keep up the act.
“Okay, well let’s see what the doctor tells you today. It may be a better idea to go back to Rome where you could stay with your brother James.” Her eyes were still, waiting to see his reaction.
He couldn’t let that happen because then she would go to her own place and he would lose sight of her, which was not going to happen. “No, I don’t want to be the cause of our work here being interrupted. If the doctor says it’s nothing and I simply need to rest, I can get us a suite where we each have our own room so you can be close in the event the irregular heart rhythm occurs again.”
Her face turned to the side as she took in what he’d just said and she knew it would be the best decision because they still had work to do in Vernazza before returning to Rome. “Okay, I guess we’ll have to change our hotel arrangements so we can continue our work.”
“Right,” he breathed, feeling happy his plan was working.
By the time Dalton was seen by a doctor and all the tests – blood and EKG – were completed, it was nearly dinnertime when they left the hospital, knowing Dalton didn’t have anything serious but needed to rest for the next few days. They strongly suggested he stops taking the protein pills that could have caused his irregular heartbeat.
When they walked into the hotel, Dalton went to the reception to tell them they would need a suite in exchange for the two single rooms they had. It was luck that a suite was available so the hotel attendant went with them to move their things from their rooms to the suite.
Dalton stuck all his things in his suitcase, placing the dirty gym clothing in the outside compartment before handing the suitcase to the hotel attendant. When they were finally moved to their suite, Dalton sat down on the sofa in the shared living space and let out a deep breath. He managed to keep them together so far. “Thank you.” He didn’t say more than that because it was understood he was thanking Rachael for everything she had done for him from the night before.
“No problem. How about we order some room service for food. We haven’t eaten anything all day and I’m sure that is not good for you after what you’ve just been through.” She walked to the table to pick up the menu and sat down reading what there was. She decided she needed something hardy so she chose a steak with salad before passing the menu to Dalton, who decided to order the same.
He picked up the phone and ordered dinner before he went back to the sofa to lie down. He’d had a terrible headache all day for which he was thankful because it made him look pale but now it was starting to pound painfully so he decided he would take a painkiller as soon as he ate. He rested his arm over his eyes to block out the light.
“Everything okay?” She sensed he wasn’t feeling his best but she wanted to make sure it wasn’t his heart again.
“Yeah, just a terrible headache right now.” He heard her footsteps moving away and then she came back.
“Move your arm. I have a wet facecloth that may make your head feel better,” she whispered, not wanting to talk too loud.
He removed his arm and opened his eyes to see Rachael crouching down beside him just before she placed the facecloth on his forehead. The coolness of the cloth felt good on his pounding brain so he shut his eyes and pulled it over his eyelids where it hurt most. Then he heard her footsteps walking away again, probably to her bedroom.
They had had a long day and now all they needed to do was eat and go to bed. He felt better being close so he knew where she was at all times. When their food arrived, they sat at the table and ate while they discussed what they needed to do the next few days. He wanted to work whereas she insisted he needed to follow the doctor’s indication that he needed to rest so they worked out a deal that they would work in the morning and she would make phone calls in the afternoon while he rested. He couldn’t do anything about it without revealing the truth so he was just going to have to put up with working half time with her. He would need to plan a work schedule from the evening when he’d be in the privacy of his own bedroom. He needed to keep up with his work with the Miller Corporation and he would do it when she was in the other room.
Chapter Fourteen
Liam and Milania returned to the US and were hard at work in their own offices at the Miller Corporation most of the day. The weeks passed and they fell into a routine but it would be pushing it to say that they had lunch together three times a week. Most of the time, Liam was caught in back to back meetings and not be free to eat until it was too late in the afternoon or have only five to ten minutes in between meetings. It was difficult to schedule lunch together but Milania became sociable with Liam’s assistant and knew exactly when he’d be free to have a quick bite so she would make sure well before lunch their food was ready when he could sit down to eat. They would eat in his office to give him the few more minutes to eat in peace.
“You can’t run around like this week after week. Aren’t you tired?” Her eyes were hesitant knowing he would never admit to being exhausted.
He smiled and took a breath after he finished his food. Then he took her hand and looked into her eyes. She looked tired too and he knew they both needed a break. “How about I take you for a weekend away? We both need a break and I know the perfect place. There is a beautiful nature park not far from here that rents out cabins. There are hiking trails where we can take leisure walks through nature and enjoy a relaxing weekend. What do you think?”
Her eyes danced at the thought of trails through a beautiful nature park. She could already smell the fresh air and the scent of the trees. It was a wonderful idea. “I love it. Can we go this weekend?” She didn’t want to waste any time now that Liam talked about the ideal place for them.
“Sure. I need to make arrangements that I won’t be working this weekend but I don’t see why we can’t do that. I’ll call this afternoon to book a cabin.”
She threw herself on his lap and kissed him hard on the lips. “I love you, Mr. Miller.”
“I’m looking forward to having free time with you this weekend. I know I’ve been really busy evenings and weekends too but this weekend, I’ll be dedicating all my time you.” He leaned down to kiss her and pulled her bottom lip with his teeth. He was looking forward to spending some leisure time with her.
Milania went back to her office and was submersed in work until the end of the day. The next time she saw Liam was when she went to his office at the end of the day. He was on the phone with Dalton and th
ey seemed to be in a serious conversation so she went to the ladies room while he finished his call with his brother.
When the Italian investigator had told Liam weeks ago that the threats came from an organized crime ring in southern Italy, he didn’t believe they had any power in the US but when the undercover police woman working close to Milania found hand delivered threat letters addressed to Milania, Liam decided it was time they needed to coordinate the Italian with the US side of protection. The threat was hitting close to home and he needed to do more so he picked up the phone and called Dalton to tell him about the latest threats.
Dalton had stayed close to Rachael since the first threat and now weeks later, they were still in Vernazza organizing a fundraiser to collect funding from rich Italians. Liam told him to be very careful since the threats continued to arrive and asked if Dalton had noticed anything strange in Italy. Dalton had in fact found it strange that an interested benefactor insisted on picking up Rachael for a meeting at his home. When the person insisted that the meeting would be only with Rachael, Dalton stepped in to say that he represented the Miller family and if he was not welcome and not able to choose the location of the meeting, then it would not take place.
“You made the right decision,” Liam said, heaving a deep breath. He couldn’t believe how this was happening. They were never approached when they built the Miller Hotel and Resort in Rome so why would the organized crime ring be suddenly interested in their interest in helping Vernazza. It didn’t make any sense. “I still don’t understand why this is happening.”
“James said the investigator told him that the organized crime rings in Italy have a hold on a number of things and when a natural disaster occurs, they swoop in with their building companies and businesses to make money. It’s all about money and power to them so I guess they believe the Foundation is taking money away from them,” Dalton said.