Page 32 of Chasing Caine
I gestured from her to Thomas. “Samantha, I would like you to meet—”
“Thomas Grange,” she interjected.
He tilted his head and held out a hand to shake. Their hands lingered, his smarmy English smile growing. “Sam Caine?”
“It’s been too long!” She finally unlocked her hand from his and turned to me. “I worked for Thomas a lifetime ago at the British Museum.”
She what? How did this pretty man, who was looking at my girlfriend with too much appreciation, share a history with her I knew nothing about?
“Smartest intern I’ve ever had. Revamped several of our security models.” He continued smiling at her, gaze drifting from her eyes to her lips. What did he mean byhad? “She helped plan a display on trafficking and smuggling of art and artifacts.”
“You working here now?” she asked.
“I’m on Dr. Ferraro’s team restoring a new excavation. I can show you around, if you’d like?”
I stiffened, attempting not to clench my jaw too tightly. “I’ve already given her a tour.”
All three of them looked at me, brows furrowed. My words must have been harsher than intended.
“So...” Thomas ran his knuckles along his stubbled jaw, his eyes drifting back to Samantha. “Just here to explore or a security audit perhaps?”
She hummed. “Good question. When Dr. Ferraro was showing me the Casa di Marte, we noticed a piece of the wall painting had been removed. We wanted to speak with a few people to check if it was intentional. You know, before reporting it.”
Bianca swallowed audibly. “You think someone stole it?”
I shrugged. “I was hoping to find it in the lab.”
“Mario spoke with me yesterday.” Thomas smiled at Samantha again. “That’s why you’re here?”
She grinned, saying nothing more.
“And why are you here today, Thomas?” Perhaps he was our guilty party. “You should enjoy this like a holiday.”
“I can’t pass up the chance to see the other work going on here just because our project’s been delayed.” His smiling eyes turned to Bianca for a moment, then returned to Samantha. “There’s a lot of beautiful things in this city.”
I shoved a hand in my pocket and balled it into a fist while Samantha continued her pleasantness. Did she realize he was flirting with her? Had she ever even noticed me flirting with her? And I’d been far more obvious than this fool.
“I know! I was in Capri the last two days. It was gorgeous! There were some—” She tilted her head toward me, the corner of her mouth lifting. “—burial sites—”
I bit my lower lip to stifle a laugh. Perhaps she did realize he was flirting.
“—that I particularly enjoyed.”
Bianca fumbled with something in her pocket. “There are other places I can recommend if you enjoy that.”
“I’m good, thanks, although I’d love to see what you’re doing with that mosaic after we visit...” Samantha paused, pointing at me. “Are we going to the Carabinieri office directly?”
“Mario should be here in about twenty minutes or so to take us, but no one’s spoken with Océane yet. Should we wait for her first?”
“Good point.” She tapped her fingers against her lips in that way she did when she was debating. “But she’s only here for this project, so if she was involved with a legitimate request to remove the wall segment, someone else would know.”
“Another good point, bel—” Not calling Samanthabellafelt as though something were off in my world. It rolled off my tongue more easily than her name.
Her eyebrow twitched at my near-slip. “We should wait outside. Catch Mario when he gets here.”
Thomas smirked. “Same old Sam.”
“What does that mean?” I said. The furrowed brows hit me again and the other restorer looked up. That had been snappy. Oddio,I had to get control of that.