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Next door to Robbie? She wouldn’t survive.

She couldn’t survive emotionally if Robbie broke through to her heart again.

She also couldn’t live with herself if she put him in mortal peril should the monstrous Big Buddha discover they were together.

Not together, together, but that was what it would look like.

Staying together and traveling through Venice and the surrounding areas together.

“Is nobody going to talk to me about getting out of this mess?” she asked. “And I told you all to call me Alice!”

Robbie and Price exchanged a look. Price’s eyebrows went higher. The team leader had a weathered and scarred but handsome face, his deep-brown eyes a standout with long lashes and a soulful look that said he’d been through hard things.

Robbie stepped toward her, that determined look in his blue eyes that used to mean she was his ‘angel’ and she was going to be kissed long and thoroughly to make sure she didn’t ‘get twinkled to heaven and leave him behind’ .

She gasped and put a hand to her lips. His eyes darkened with a flare of desire that thrilled and terrified her.

“Robbie Perrine, you stay away from me.” She held up a hand as if warding off evil spirits. He wasn’t evil. Robbie was good clear through, but his kisses could make her forget her responsibilities and focus in life.

The fire in his eyes died and he stopped in his tracks, looking uncertain and like a lost little boy.

Little boy? That was ridiculous. When the word ‘man’ was created, the cavemen probably scratched out a drawing of Robbie Perrine as their example.

The virile man taking up too much space, even in this open concept floor plan, was the farthest thing from a boy.

“Miss Marshall … Alice,” Price said. “You can choose to leave and stay away from Lieutenant Perrine, but you will have to forfeit the hundred thousand dollars and the trip.”

“Hundred thousand dollars?” Robbie asked.

“It had the appearance of a gift.” Alice glared at him. “Until I saw the strings attached.”

He flinched as if she’d slapped him.

Alice felt decidedly out of sorts. She was usually called an ‘angel’ or ‘the nicest person’.

Especially from anyone who had insight to how she diligently visited and tried to uplift her cranky mother.

Her mother’s house staff and caregivers always raved about what a sweetheart Alice was.

The staff turnover was astronomical. Only ever-patient, dear Emeline had stuck with her mother for the past twenty years.

The rest of the staff was fired or quit within months or sometimes weeks, even though the pay was off-the-charts generous.

Her mother either belittled them, teasing in her opinion, or they couldn’t handle her constant ailments.

Alice was always after her mother to treat them more kindly.

Alice wasn’t being angelic or nice to Robbie. She was a mess inside, and keeping her distance from him would at least ensure he didn’t get murdered.

“What is your Squadron 7 leader Brandon paying you?” she hurled at him.

She should’ve known Brandon Richards was pulling something on her.

A jokester like Brandon would never give gifts without strings attached.

How had she not seen this coming? Brandon and Robbie’s friend Rockwell had taken her cell phone to make certain the killer didn’t follow her to Italy.

She’d been appreciative, but now she felt naked and without support.

“A million,” he murmured, his blue eyes searching hers. “But only if you fall in love with me.”

Her eyes popped and her mouth fell open. She had overheard Brandon saying something about love on the phone when she had walked in the door. How dare Robbie repeat that far-fetched, long-buried dream? Did he not know how he’d hurt her leaving her behind?

Did he not know about the murders? If they fell in love again, Big Buddha would find a way to kill him on a holiday just like he had Natalie, Ruby, Jack, and Odie.

The Fourth of July was a few weeks away.

She could only imagine Big Buddha would love the symbolism of coming full circle and murdering her boyfriend Jack and her long-lost love Robbie on the same date, a year apart.

Especially as America and patriotism meant so much to Robbie.

Panic filled her and her heart raced out of control. How could she protect Robbie? Not letting down her guard around him and making certain nobody thought she cared for him was the obvious answer.

“Well!” She hated her tone of voice. It sounded just like her mother when she was harping on someone or something. “That is never happening!”

Nobody said anything. The silence in the room was thick and awkward.

The four bodyguards stared out the windows.

Robbie stared at her. She felt like a bully, like her mother.

That was ridiculous. Alice wasn’t anything like her mother, and Robbie was the one who had ditched her and never looked back.

“Fine,” she said, shaking her head and trying to calm down.

“Fine. I need that money.” She could finally pay off the credit card bills she’d run up starting her own firm.

She would never ask her mother for money, no matter how much her mother had or how many times she offered.

Being able to be an independent contractor, choose which design projects she worked on, and succeed on her own meant a lot to her.

Her mother thought it was ridiculous she worked and had her own apartment.

If her mother had her way, Alice would live with her and be dependent on her financially.

That was never happening, and this money was a boon to making certain she would succeed with her passion of architecture and design.

Even with her respected master’s in architecture and design from Georgia Tech, rising in a competitive field and city had been grueling, and the money had never been what was promised.

Any time she thought she would get ahead with the three different firms she’d worked for since college, her pay and bonuses would be ‘restructured’.

Striking out on her own made it harder to build a name and land large contracts, but she could see the potential.

The hundred grand was crucial to keeping her in the black until her company, Angel Architecture, gained solid footing.

She drew in a breath and blew it out. “I’ll stay for the two weeks,” she conceded.

She narrowed her eyes at Robbie. He looked enticing, even with all that bushy hair.

Robbie Perrine was tough and well-trained enough he might be the only man who could love her and stay safe from Big Buddha.

She didn’t know that anyone could stay safe from Big Buddha, a versatile wraith who had the police and even the FBI stumped.

It wasn’t a chance she was willing to take.

She forced herself to snip at him, “But don’t think for a moment that I’ll fall in love with you. You are losing your million dollars.”

Robbie smiled at her. At least it looked like his lips turned up in the midst of his beard. “You know I always loved a challenge.”

Alice gasped. She did know that about him. He was driven and focused, and when he put his mind to something, he always accomplished it.

He’d said those exact words when he asked her to the homecoming dance their senior year and she’d informed him she already had a date.

He’d teased her a few weeks later when she could hardly remember who the date was with.

Robbie had won her heart far too quick, and the joy he’d brought into her life used to shove every worry from her mind.

Was he referring to winning the money or winning her heart again? She wasn’t certain, but apparently the two were entwined. She wasn’t falling for him again and the million dollars would taint anything he said or did .

This new Robbie was puzzling and enthralling. He felt out of her league—even bigger than she remembered and too experienced and mighty for a woman who’d spent her years studying and working long hours and visiting her mother.

Yet the way he was looking at her made her feel like she was the most desirable woman he’d ever seen.

She couldn’t let her guard down. She’d take in the glorious architectural beauty of Venice and the surrounding areas and have a hundred thousand dollars to get out of debt when she got home and back to building the business of her dreams and being there for her mother.

She gave Robbie one more searing glare, hoping that would keep him in his place. If any of these bodyguards were by some twisted nightmare loyal to the elusive Big Buddha, they could report back that Alice was not falling for the enticing Robbie Perrine.

Turning, she hurried for the stairs. She’d find her bedroom in this gorgeous apartment and then she’d say lots of prayers for help. Not that prayer had saved anybody she cared about. But she wasn’t ready to give up on heaven.

Only on any chance of love.