Page 7 of Enduring Caine

No matter what my job title was, I was an investigator at my core. And this was an opportunity I had to seize.

I looked up at Antonio, trying to figure out the face I was seeing. Anxiety, worry, and fatigue were all over him. “What do you mean,No?”

His bad arm flinched, like it had so many times since the shooting. If he was alright, his fingers would have glided up my jaw until he cupped my face, thumb brushing over my cheek. If he’d let me carry his bag, he still would have had one hand to do that.

“C’mon,” I said, inclining my head toward the driver. “It’ll be an adventure.”

“You were right—we’re here to spend time together. Whatever Giovanni wants, it will consume too much of my attention. It will prevent me from being with you, from making love to you, from simply enjoying your presence.” His head shook slowly. “The next two weeks are about us and about me getting the team started in Pompeii. The sooner we start, the sooner we finish, and the sooner you and I can be together again.”

These were all good points.

“Did we not just agree to put everything else in the world aside?”

I feigned a glower, one of the most common reactions I had with this man. Second only to the eye roll.He took a bullet for you. Let him win, for once, Sam.“Okay, fine. But you owe me two dinners at Vista dell’Ovo.”

A smile lit up his face, and he leaned forward to kiss my forehead. “And two nights at the hotel next to it?”

“Deal.” I refrained from huffing out a breath or turning around to check out the driver. “Do you recognize him?”

He shook his head. “I’ve not been to visit Giovanni in nine years. I don’t know who’s still there, other than my cousin Cristian?”

“Do you think he knows what you look like?”

His eyes flicked over my shoulder and back. “No doubt my uncle gave him a picture. But we have one important thing in our favor.”

I cocked an eyebrow.

Antonio shifted his weight and tucked his head down to hide behind me. “He’ll expect I’m traveling alone.”

“You don’t think the customs agent told your uncle about me?”

“Of course.” His head fell back, gaze flying to the ceiling. “He would have reported I have a traveling companion. It’s possible he even sent your passport photo.”

That wasn’t right—being tracked as I went from place to place. “So, the question is: Does the driver know about me yet?”

“I’d rather not wait to find out.”

“Turn,” I said, grasping his good arm and pivoting the two of us so his back was to the driver. As we moved, I scanned the open area. A throng of people milled behind the driver, reading the overhead signs, pointing this way and that, consulting phones. The man was located between us and the door to the taxis.

Antonio stood out everywhere we went. If the driver had any idea what he looked like, there’d be no chance of slipping past him.

“Have you calculated the square footage yet?” he chuckled. When I gave him another glower, he frowned back at me. “Alright, bella, do you have a plan?

A steady stream of travelers exited through the customs doors and moved past us. We were off to the side from that flow and could use it as a cover.

“You’re too tall and handsome to be good at sneaking. You know that?”

He winked at me. “It’s a good thing I’m with such a beautiful woman. Surely no one will notice me.”

Excited voices caught my attention, and I turned to see a group of seven twenty-somethings coming through the customs door. Three young women and four men, speaking English and dressed in winter jackets.

We were in luck. Two of the men were taller than Antonio.

“This is it,” I said, hauling him into step behind them. I kept him between me and the driver. “If you can, hunch over a little and turn your face toward me.”

He did as I asked, letting out a quiet laugh. “This is fun.”

Antonio’s focus was too zoomed in on me, and he jostled one of the men.