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After trying a few more times, I phoned Edward, expecting to hear his ringtone through the door, but still no joy. Maybe he had it on silent so he could get some rest.

But what if something bad had happened? He could’ve passed out and be all alone.

I raced to reception. Someone must’ve spoken to him.

Just as I stepped into the main building, I saw Romeo walking towards me, his face looking harder than stone.

‘Samantha,’ he said and my stomach tightened. ‘I was just coming to find you. It is about Edward.’

‘I was heading to reception. I’ve been knocking on his door and calling for the last ten minutes but there’s no answer.’

‘That was what I was coming to tell you.’ Romeo paused, like he was struggling to find the right words and my heartbeat rocketed.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘He…’ Romeo paused again. ‘The reason Edward did not answer is because he has left.’

16

ROMEO

‘What?’ Samantha shouted and a sharp pain shot through my chest.

Clearly, she was just as shocked as I was.

When my phone rang during that conversation where I stupidly told Samantha I thought that she was beautiful (which was true, but an inappropriate thing to say about a guest), I was glad for the interruption.

But when I answered and heard the concern in Victoria’s voice, I knew something was wrong.

Victoria told me that she had sent me several messages, but I had been so focused on the guests that I had not seen them. I went straight to see her and she told me the news.

‘Come to Victoria’s office and we will explain.’

‘I… he’sgone?’ Samantha stuttered. ‘Has he left for good? Was it something I said? Something I did?’

‘No.’ I shook my head quickly. ‘You did nothing wrong. Here we are.’ I knocked on Victoria’s door.

‘Come in,’ she replied.

‘Please.’ I opened the door and gestured for her to go inside.

‘Hello, Samantha.’ Victoria got up from her desk and stretched out her hand. ‘I’m Victoria, the Love Empress here. I’m sure Romeo has told you, unfortunately Edward’s been called away.’

‘Called away?’ Samantha repeated.

‘Yes. There’s been a family emergency which meant he had to leave straightaway.’

‘Oh, no! What happened? Is whoever it is okay?’

My heart squeezed. That one question said a lot about Samantha.

She immediately focused on the wellbeing of that person and not on what this meant for her and the rest of her holiday. She was a good person.

I had misjudged her when we first met. Samantha had a kind heart. I noticed how thoughtful she was earlier today in Alberobello when she took the time to carefully choose gifts for her friends and family.

‘We don’t know. He said it was a health-related issue, but didn’t elaborate and it wasn’t our place to push him on such a personal matter. He was probably upset and focused on getting back to London. We’re hoping that once the situation has stabilised, he’ll return and we’ll assess the situation again then, but in the meantime, this obviously presents some challenges foryourtime here…’ Her voice trailed off.

‘But I’ve paid to have a match! I’ve spent all my savings coming here. And taken two weeks’ holiday.’