Page 13 of Under Her Skin

Fliss grinned. “Youbet.”

They swapped numbers, and Hero found her way to her realtor’s office. With a swell of excitement, she picked up the keys to her newhome.

“Now, you know it’s not furnished, right?” her realtor remindedher.

Hero nodded. “I know. I won’t actually be living there until my furniture is delivered, so if you need me and my cellphone is off, please call thehotel.”

She was shakingas she walked up to the top floor and paused before unlocking the door. Had she done the right thing spending all that money? Why had she been so determined to beat Arturo? Had it been just her attempt to show she still had some control over herlife?

Hero took a deep breath, opened the door, and all her doubts fellaway.

She washome.

ChapterSeven

Arturo called her thistime.

“I thought I’d do things properly for a change,” he chuckled. “Would you like to have dinner withme?”

Hero, walking back from the Patrizzi, smiled. “I’d love to. Where did you have inmind?”

“It’s a surprise. Wear something slinky…and easy to takeoff.”

She was still laughing when they said goodbye. Whether she admitted it or not, Arturo Bachi wasn’t just a spectacular lover, he had a sense of fun, too, that she found appealing. She wondered if he would be very angry if she told him the truth about theapartment.

Feigning ignorance wasn’t an option. The fact he wanted the apartment was well-known, even to her after only ten minutes spent at the auction house that day. No, she would have to come clean, give him her reasons why she bought the place and paid such an outrageous sum forit.

Dang it.As much as she hated lying to him, she also didn’t want this to end. She craved his body—he was like a heady mix of sugar and heroin in hersystem.

Walking back to the hotel, still a block away, she became aware that there was no one else on the street. The evening was dark with a cool breeze blowing up from the lake. As she walked, she heard the echo of footsteps behind her, and her gut twisted a little in apprehension. She stole a look behind her. A few steps behind her, a man, tall and broad-shouldered, followed. He was in shadow. It was probably nothing, but Hero slowed her pace and thenstopped.

The man behind her stopped. Oh, shit…hewasfollowing her. She turned to face him. “What do youwant?”

A second later, she regretted stopping when she saw a flash of steel in his hand.Oh God no…Hero turned and took flight towards the people she could see milling about in the townsquare.

With relief, she darted into the hotel, breathless as she asked for her key. The receptionist gave her a strange look, but Hero just shook her head. It was just a mugger, she thought to herself. But she wasshaken.

She pushed open the door to her room, and at first, she didn’t notice the envelope that must have been pushed under her door. When she did, she picked it up off the carpet, opened it andread,

You look beautiful today. It’s a pity I’m going to killyou.

She droppedthe letter as if it were scalding hot. What the actual hell? She sat on the edge of the bed, shaking. Who wanted to kill her? She was new in town for chrissakes, and the only person she could have any beef with wouldbe…

No. She refused to believe Arturo Bachi was capable of hurting anyone, much less her. If he’d wanted to kill her, he would have done it that first night when no one had seen him take her home. He could have killed her, dumped her body in the lake, and gone on about his day.No.

But who else could it be? She didn’t know anyone else—and she was pretty sure Fliss wasn’t a crazy killer. Besides, the guy that followed her just now was huge. That made her feel sick. There was no way she’d be able to fight back against a killer that size. She tried to control her trembling in order to get dressed. She slipped into a lilac dress and fastened a gold chain around her neck, but she moved automatically, not really focusing on herappearance.

For the first time, she wondered if she had done the right thing by coming here. It just didn’t make sense that someone had targeted her soquickly.

In the carwith Arturo an hour later, she studied him carefully. “Where are wegoing?”

Arturo grinned over at her, and she could see no malice in his eyes. “Asurprise.”

His smile made her belly quiver, but her nerves were still frayed, and he seemed to notice. He reached over and took her hand. “Are youokay?”

She didn’t answer for a moment and then said, “Hero. My name isHero.”

Arturo grinned sheepishly. “I know. I admit I saw the key card holder with your name written on it. NotBeatrice.”