Page 82 of Chasing Caine

“Leave that alone. It doesn’t need to be tightened.” My turn to tilt his face up to me. “I told Elliot that beforeus.”

“Bella, I’d never stop you from doing something that means so much to you.” He stood and took me in his arms again.

‘I know’ was the polite response, but it wasn’t what the conversation needed. “From age twelve until the day Mom died, I’d been running toward the FBI. Then, I started running away from things. Quitting the FBI, marrying Matt to cover it up, leaving town after we divorced.” I grimaced. “From my feelings for you.”

“But you stopped. You rantome, Samantha.”

What ifhewas where I was really supposed to be, and it wasn’t the FBI after all?

That was a conversation for much farther down the road. For spring, when Cass was done her treatments and I had to decide what to do. When he and I had lived in the same town and had figured out if there was something deeper than this intense moment.

“You’re embarrassed, sì? About this story?”

I ran the back of my knuckles along his sharp jawline, catching on the stubble he’d let grow. “Quitting the Bureau was the biggest failure of my life. I was worried—afraid—you’d think less of me for it.”

“After I found out my former fiancée, Faith, was cheating on me, I moved back to Napoli for a year.”

My hand paused. “Really?”

He barely shrugged a shoulder, like her betrayal didn’t have any power over him anymore—when I knew it did. “I’d never think less of you for being human. What you need to do is forgive yourself for poor choices in your past and start making good ones.”

Chuckling, I stroked his jaw. “It’s that simple, is it?”

His mouth touched mine without warning, soft lips and gentle tongue. One powerful hand wrapped around my waist to hold me up as I leaned into him.

“How about that?” He waggled his eyebrows. “Good choice, sì?”

I sighed, losing myself in that adoring face. “You know, Antonio Ferraro, you are exactly the sort of man I swore I’d never date again.”

His head tilted back to scrutinize me. “Scusa?”

“Men with big personalities. Full of themselves.” I held up a hand when his mouth opened to protest. I’d always been on the intense side, more focused on my studies and future than relationships, and it took a confident man to get past that. An overly confident one, usually. “Matt was the opposite of all of that and he wasn’t right, either. You’re my Goldilocks. All those things on the surface, but inside, you’re kind and compassionate. You care more about my brain than anyone I’ve ever met.”

“It’s a very sexy brain,” he said with a wink.

I smacked his chest. “Following you to Italy was the first of a lot of really good choices.”

“One might even say an excellent choice.”

He knelt one last time to put my left sandal back on. Such a gentleman. Once he was done, he backed away from me, holding out a hand. I grabbed the crutches and shoved off the wall.

“Next good choice.” He ran a hand down my back, settling it just above my tailbone. “What flavor gelato would you like?”

Chapter 27

Antonio

Mondaymorning,ThomasandI met at the main office for the restoration project in Pompeii. Three of the original top ten candidates for Umberto’s position were still available and with things hopefully kicking off this week, we wanted to wrap up interviews as quickly as possible.

I closed the lid of my laptop. “So, what do you think?”

Thomas reviewed his notes, tapping his pen slowly. “Number two’s education is more impressive, but I prefer the energy from three.”

I nodded, sliding the laptop into my bag. With a clear standout from the interviews, we could finish earlier than expected. This was the first time I was away from Samantha for more than a half hour since she arrived, and I missed her already. But she needed to stay off her ankle. She would have hobbled around Pompeii if she’d come with me. “I agree. I’ll speak with Mario and he’ll extend the offer.”

“I heard Samantha Caine was with you when you found Umberto. Did she head up the investigation?”

“It was coincidence. She’d asked to see the site again to take some photographs and we stumbled upon him.”