Page 6

Chapter

Five

The next morning, Robbie was already chafing at the lack of activity.

He’d had trouble falling asleep after seeing Alice vulnerable and beautiful in silky pajamas with her dark hair tumbling over her shoulders.

Worse, he’d touched her warm shoulders, been infused with her berries and cream scent, and she’d almost let her guard down for him.

He’d seen longing in her gaze before she’d scrambled off the bed and put her walls back up.

He’d awoken early and done the best workout he could with no weights or equipment. At least they’d be walking a lot today.

He met Alice down in the kitchen. Price was there but only said hello to them, grabbed a protein shake from the fridge, and eased back to wait for them to have breakfast. Price had been married when he was younger, and his wife had ditched him while he was deployed.

If there was anyone worse than Robbie at long-term romantic relationships, it was probably Price.

The angst hanging in the air between Robbie and Alice obviously made him uncomfortable.

“What’s the plan today?” she asked brightly. She didn’t look as angry, but he didn’t love the forced cheerfulness either. His Alice was naturally cheerful.

His Alice? He wasn’t certain his Alice existed any longer .

“We get lost exploring the charm of Venice.” He smirked. “We’ll have lunch on the waterfront and there are a couple different boat tours set up for the afternoon.”

“Venice is definitely going to be charming to explore, but we both know getting lost isn’t possible. Your sense of direction is still uncanny, correct?”

“Yes, ma’am. We’ll walk the restlessness in our legs out trying to get lost, though.”

“Mm. I don’t know how I’ll keep up with those long legs or your fitness level.”

She looked him over, and he felt hot clear through. Was Alice flirting with him? His heart took flight.

“I can carry you when you get tired,” he offered.

Her eyes widened, and the air was suddenly charged between them. Far too often he’d swept her off her feet, carried her, and she’d always teased that no one made her soar like he did. Then she’d kiss him and he’d be soaring as well.

“Well then. What are our breakfast options?” She went prim and sounded more like her mom than his Alice.

His Alice. He needed to stop referring to her as that in his mind. What if the term slipped out? This new Alice might rip him a new one.

He helped her pull out breakfast options. There were a variety of delicious cheeses, sliced meats, and breads with Nutella and cheese spreads. There were fruits, muesli, nuts, sliced tomatoes, olives, boiled eggs, and a quiche that he heated up.

Robbie ate a lot as he was always hungry, liking the variety of unique foods.

He also didn’t know what subject to broach with her, and it was easier to keep eating than to open his mouth.

He wanted to know everything she’d been doing for the past fifteen years.

He wanted to know her perspective on the murders and how she was dealing with the loss.

He wanted to know how close she’d been to this ‘boyfriend’, if they’d been progressing toward marriage or only casually dating.

He wanted to know if she ever thought about him.

None of those subjects were casual breakfast conversation, so he shoveled more food in.

Within half an hour, they were down on the street with Price and Merrick tailing them.

They’d agreed to take it slow and not lose their guards.

Would this Big Buddha follow her across the ocean?

The man had never threatened her, only killing those closest to her, except her mom, and claiming she’d only have him to love.

Robbie had seen the police reports. The only suspect they’d ever come up with was Preston Lavity, a close family friend who’d admitted he had a romantic interest in Alice, but they’d never dated.

Robbie would like to interview the pompous punk himself.

He’d met him several times with Alice and never thought highly of him.

He also darkly wondered if her mom could be the one killing off her friends and boyfriend.

As much as she’d despised Robbie, she might have been capable of murder if Robbie hadn’t left.

He smirked to himself. A sickly older lady likely wasn’t killing anyone. Still, he made a note in his mind to text Aiden’s research team and see if Marianne Marshall paid out unexplainable amounts of money close to the timetable of the deaths or had any questionable associations.

They started walking slowly through narrow alleyways between brick and stone buildings, coming out on ribbons of bluish-gray water and bridges every so often.

The sky above them was a bright blue, but they were shaded from the sun’s heat by the buildings.

He was surprised how much garbage he saw on the narrow streets of such a well-known tourist spot and no garbage cans available to clean it up.

The scenery and walk were intriguing. He didn’t feel as claustrophobic as he feared he would. For the most part, they were alone on these back alleyways. No security issues that he could see, besides how easily a sniper could lean out of a window or glide by on a boat.

Occasionally they ran into other people, found a strip of stores, saw a gondola being slowly pushed through the water with the typical long pole or a small speed boat puttering past.

Many windows were open and flower boxes were plentiful. Every time they reached a canal and bridge crossing, Alice delicately wrinkled her nose. The rotten fish, garbage, and mold scents were strong.

At first she didn’t say much, but as they progressed through street after street she started commenting on an arch, a trellis, a vault, the building design, stonework, the colorful marble, or even an intriguing flower arrangement.

He liked hearing her descriptions and gaining insight into the design and some of the history of different arches or ‘vaults’.

He finally asked what a vault was, and she shared insight about the architectural feature of a ‘ribbed vault’, which was a skeleton of arched ribs to support a vaulted ceiling or roof.

The ribs, typically formed from stone, created a framework over which the vaulting surface was then built.

“It’s typical of Gothic architecture,” she explained.

“And you’re a fan of Gothic architecture.”

“You remembered.”

He wanted to tell her once again that he’d forgotten nothing about her, but it hadn’t gone so well last night.

They kept walking through the fascinating streets and over canals and came upon the busier Grand Canal, which progressed to the Rialto Bridge.

It was crowded but impressive. Minutes later, they approached Piazza San Marco or what he would call the city square, a huge area circled with fancy and ancient buildings except on the ocean side.

He moved closer to Alice and checked for dangers.

Price and Merrick were within his line of sight, and each nodded, reassuring him that all was well.

“I can’t wait to tour Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s Basilica.

” Alice shaded her eyes with her hand as she gazed up at the iconic church with its gold domes and too many statues to count.

He liked the massive bronze horses and imagined they had military significance.

“The basilica is an architecture marvel,” she told him. “Often called the church of gold.”

“We do both of those tours tomorrow.”

She clapped her hands together, looking delighted.

Robbie rubbed at the sudden stitch in his chest. She used to clap her hands together like that all the time.

They wandered the square for a while. He watched children playing in the fountain and adults staring up at the wonder of the church and the palace.

They walked out to the ocean and the docks and watched the busy water traffic heading in every direction on the ocean, around the island, or into the Grand Canal .

Turning, they walked back through the plaza and then wandered down a wide side street. The women’s clothing inside the shop windows looked nice, classy, and probably high dollar. The men’s clothing looked far too preppy for him.

“There’s plenty of time to shop if you’d like,” he said.

“I thought you remembered everything about me,” she shot at him, but there was a smile on her lips.

He laughed, and she joined him. It was nice to laugh instead of worry she was going to cuss him again.

“That’s right. Your mom buys you more clothing and jewelry than you’d ever wear and you hate to waste time shopping.”

The laughter disappeared at him mentioning her mom, the thorn that had become a wedge and then a brick wall. She rubbed at a diamond necklace around her throat, the expensive-looking ruby on her finger glinting in the sunlight.

“We both know that you don’t want to shop,” she said, thankfully still keeping up the tease.

He gestured to a store window. “Can you even imagine me wearing that?” It was a pale yellow suit with tight pants, a fitted jacket, a blue dress shirt, and a pink and yellow swirled tie. “I’d look like the Beast when he tries to dress up to impress Belle.”

She started laughing again. They’d watched the cartoon Beauty and the Beast together. He’d tried to claim he was the Beast, but she’d said he was too sweet to be beastly.

Robbie was the furthest thing from ‘sweet’.

Except with her. That had made them laugh years ago.

He was laughing now, but he wished they could somehow get back to the comfort and love they once knew.

But that was a pipe dream. He had to focus on her safety.

He looked around. Nothing was amiss, and Price and Merrick weren’t far off in the crowd.

“Lunch?” she asked. “I’m starving from all this walking.”

Robbie smiled at that. It wasn’t nearly enough activity for him, but he could always eat. “Sounds great.”

They found an open table at one of the dozens of quaint Italian cafés right on the Grand Canal with views of the famed Rialto Bridge. Their outdoor table was shaded by a trellis with flowers growing out of it.

“Oh, this is delightful,” she exclaimed, clapping her hands together and gifting him with her beautiful and genuine smile.

Robbie missed her. It hit him in that moment how much he’d been missing out on. For fifteen years. He had six close friends from middle school on up, the Squadron 7, and he had his Army Ranger unit buddies. Chase Tenley was the common denominator from both groups and his closest friend.

He and Chase had been forced into early retirement from the Rangers because of an op gone very wrong.

As in a U.S. Senator dying because they made the choice to save three Syrian mothers and their seven children kind of wrong.

He and Chase were bonded in a lot of ways, but nobody could make him smile or touch his heart like Alice did.

He hadn’t wanted to leave the Rangers. Even though he’d been busy and fulfilled in his work with Aiden Porter’s teams and his family was loving and welcoming any time he went home, he still felt displaced at times.

At this moment, he felt at home, comfortable and excited about the future like he hadn’t been in years. From Alice smiling genuinely at him and saying the restaurant was ‘delightful’.

He shook his head, trying to clear it. He couldn’t be letting down his guard that easily. Too much pain would be in store when he had to leave her again. If only he could step up to the ‘challenge’ of winning Alice’s heart, but it was a pipe dream to think he and Alice had a chance.

It wasn’t just the smile, the ‘delightful’ restaurant comment, and the sparkle in her dark eyes.

It was being near Alice again. It was listening to her share about architecture and design all morning.

It was touching her shoulders last night, smelling berries and cream, and seeing her vulnerable and scared, knowing deep inside he was the man built to protect her, to make her laugh, to hold her close.

It was Alice’s tender nature that peeked through the walls she’d put up to shelter her heart from him.

It was all things Alice.

Robbie escorted her to a table with his hand on her lower back. A thrill went through him at the simple touch of his palm and fingers covering the curve of her lower back and her hip. Alice was what some would call ‘curvy’. He called it mesmerizing and mind-clouding.

She smiled up at him as he helped her settle into her chair. Her dark eyes were warm, her lips soft.

What if half a day spent together had softened her to him? Robbie’s heart beat faster at the prospect. By tonight, he could be holding her close and kissing her. He’d keep her safe, but they’d have a two-week romantic vacation together.

Robbie settled into his chair and thanked the ma?tre d’ as he handed them menus.

His heart settled as well. He wasn’t going to have some romantic getaway with Alice, then ditch her again.

That wasn’t fair to her, no matter how he longed for the bond they once shared and for her in his heart and his arms.

Studying the menu, he vowed to be more immune to her charms.

He’d fought in ops throughout the world that most people thought were only happening on movie screens. He’d survived, thrived, and been proclaimed one of the ‘toughest and most versatile soldiers’ by teammates and superiors.

But he didn’t know if he was strong enough to stay away from Alice.