Page 33 of Chasing Caine

He continued smiling, tucking his hands in his pockets as he rocked back on his heels. “I hired her to work on cataloging items in the Ancient Greek collection at the British Museum. First intern I had who knew the language.”

I looked at her askance, and she shrugged one shoulder. She knew Ancient Greek? It would apparently take a great deal of time to get to know everything about this woman.

“We purchased a krater at auction and she was investigating its provenance. Said something didn’t sit well with her, despite the collections team being happy with it.”

“Let me guess,” I said, finally smiling again, at my clever girlfriend. “Stolen?”

“Looted, actually.” He stopped rocking and inclined his head toward her. “I’d rather hoped to see your resume cross my desk after you graduated. Or anyone’s desk at the museum. On to bigger and better things?”

“Dr. Ferraro,” said Bianca. Not a whisper, but quietly, as Samantha continued catching up with Thomas.

I dragged my eyes away from them. “Sì?”

She switched to Italian, pointing at her monitor, which showed an image of the Mars wall in the Casa di Marte. “One of the paleobotanists took this photo Saturday morning.”

The flower fresco was still there. “We were there early Sunday afternoon. So that’s our timeframe.” I kept my voice low. “And the pigment pots were last seen Thursday?”

“Sì.”

“Did you hear the Carabinieri recovered one Saturday morning?”

Her eyes widened. “Only one?”

“So there are still two floating about somewhere.”

Did that mean anything? The photo told us that the fresco was still on the wall when the pot was recovered in Roma, so they weren’t removed at the same time. Could the same person be behind two separate thefts? Or was it more likely two separate people? I touched Bianca’s arm and smiled in thanks.

I should talk this over with Samantha. No more secrets. But given her obsession with the fresco, my earlier visions of her diving into an investigation almost seemed an underestimation.

Samantha laughed suddenly, loudly, swatting a hand in Thomas’s direction. My attention snapped to his stupid smile.

Bianca whispered, “I think your security consultant has made a friend.”

“I’m heading up the volcano tomorrow,” he was saying. “Any chance you’d like to—”

“She’s busy. With security things.” I didn’t care that I growled at him that time. I was being ridiculous, not to mention selfish, but I had to get her away from him. “Andiamo, Samantha. We’ll track down my cousin, then come back to see Bianca’s work on the mosaic and the rest of the lab later.”

I ushered her out after she shook Thomas’s hand again. I had to conjure a good reason to remove him from the project.

Oncewewereoutsidethe lab, Samantha grimaced. “Was I that obvious?”

“Scusi?”

She walked with her thumbs tucked into the pockets of her skinny little Capri pants, the lightweight blouse fluttering over her curves as she moved. She remained a foot away from me, a spring in her step. “Bianca! Avoiding your gaze, playing with her hair, giggling nervously. Oh my god, I’m embarrassed for my former self!”

“You were adorable.” I closed the distance as we walked.

She nudged me with a hip once I was too close. “Do you think she’s adorable?”

I pulled her closest hand out of her pocket and interlaced our fingers. My heart continued thrumming. Thomas was too old for her. He lived in London. She was with me. But the words came out anyway. “Thomas certainly thought you were.”

She dropped her hand from mine, wrinkling her nose. “What’s with you? I was kidding.”

Good question. Watching them laugh and share a past I knew nothing about had lit a fire in my belly, burning all the way up my throat. I ran a hand through my hair and withdrew my phone from my pocket. “Mario should be here soon.”

I hit his number, but Samantha placed a finger on my phone to end the call. She stepped in front of me, forcing me to stop. She stood there, blinking at me, waiting. Perhaps I was lucky words were so difficult for her. It would save the chastisement I deserved.

“You don’t like Thomas, do you? Do you guys have a past or something?” She didn’t understand what was going on. She was blind to him.