Page 43 of Burning Caine

As I reached my cousin, I sagged into the chair. “Alright, I’ll do it tomorrow and call you back.”

“And whatever you do, don’t let your mother know. She’s terrible at keeping secrets!”

“I know.”

“If ours is a fake, they’ll pay for this. However, then the one Foster Mutual brought in could be the authentic one. Let me know when you’re done.”

“Alright, thank you, Papa. Now get some sleep.”

I hung up and put the phone on the table.

Gianfranco was on his third Scotch. “That didn’t look like it went well.”

“I don’t think it could have gone worse unless I had punched him.” I ran a hand through my hair. “The check is on its way.”

“Might have made you feel better?”

“Sì, you have a good point.”

Now, not only was I lying to Samantha, I had to lie to my mother. Sneak a painting out of her house, and hope it was a fake.

Chapter 16

Samantha

WewatchedAntoniomakehis way back to his table, slowly sitting as the distance between us grew. A server arrived at their table and placed a leather check holder on it, then they stood and left.

What a disaster.

I’d wanted to slap him for showing up and taking my one night of distraction away, for not letting me enjoy one evening without him invading my thoughts. At the same time, I’d wanted him to scoop me up in his arms and carry me away.

“A jealous ex I never heard about?” Nathan reached over and put a hand on my knee, his brows raised in concern.

“No, business associate.” I’m sure Nathan wasn’t buying that line. Antonio had been strangely intense, and the way he stared at me before he left, it was as though he was trying to say something.

He frowned. “He looked at you like you belonged to him.”

I frowned back. “That’s ridiculous.” But wouldn’t it be wonderful?

“Sam, a man typically only does that—” He waved his hands generally at where they’d stood, puffed chest to puffed chest. “—over a woman.”

“You got in his face. You said we were on a date.”

“Because I didn’t like the way he was talking to you.”

“What does it matter to you? Aren’t the three of you trying to convince me to settle down in Brenton? Shouldn’t you be encouraging me to find someone? Why not him?”

“Why not him?” His mouth gaped open for a moment. “Sam, he’s a Ferraro!”

“So what?”

He put his hands on the table and waved mine forward. He took them and stared me square in the eyes. “They’re dangerous. They’re connected.”

I pulled my hands away from his and rolled my eyes. “What, because they’re Italian?”

“Do you swear to keep what I’m about to tell you an absolute secret?”

“Yeah.”