Page 36 of Under Her Skin

Hero laughed aloud. “You are incorrigible, Ma. I can’t wait for you to meet him.” Her smile faded. “Ma…have you heard fromMelly?”

Her mother sighed. “No, darling, I’m sorry. You know what Melly is like when she’s in a snit. Gone to ground. She called from the Milan airport but since then…nothing. I’ll leave it a few more days, then I’ll do the Mom thing and yell ather.”

“Don’t yell too hard, Ma. It’s my fault, really. She was just looking out for me.” Hero felt tearful again. She hadn’t told her mother about the death threats, especially after her father’s health scare. There was no point in panicking the rest of her family. “Tell her I love her, would you? I love her, and I’msorry.”

“I will, sweetheart. We love you very much, Hero. Rememberthat.”

“I love you, too, Ma, so much. Give Dad a kiss fromme.”

After she ended the call,Hero felt a little more positive. She went to find her bodyguard and found him in the kitchen drinking coffee. Gaudio was a hulking Italian, his dark hair slicked back, his brow heavy and brooding. He looked terrifying, but Hero had liked the man as soon as Arturo introduced them. Gaudio might look scary to anyone attacking her, but Arturo trusted him, so Hero had no trouble in believing Gaudio would keep hersafe.

She had also hatched a plan that was a million miles away from the reality of her stalker. “Gaudio, I’d like to go into town today—go see my friend, Fliss. Can we make thathappen?”

“No problem,Piccolo.”

Hero smiled. She loved the informality of Gaudio’s personality. It made having a guard so much easier onher.

They drove into Como late morning. It was a cloudless day, and Hero let the sun soak into her skin.So much darkness, she thought,and yet this place is so beautiful, so full ofpossibility.

Fliss threw her arms around her. “It’s been two whole weeks,” she accused a grinning Hero. “Please tell me you at least spent all that time shagging that gorgeous man ofyours?”

“Um…Fliss, this is Gaudio. Gaudio, my good friendFliss.”

Fliss looked the gigantic man up and down appreciatively. “I might have to get myself a stalker if it means getting one of you.Hello.”

Gaudio’s white, even teeth shone through his thick beard. “Hello,ma’am.”

“God, no, it’s Fliss. Ma’am is my mum. Or the Queen.” She winked at Hero who chuckled and moved towards the staff room at theback.

“How about you two talk, and I’ll make some coffee?” Herosaid.

Smiling, she left them alone and made herself busy with the coffee machine, one ear on the conversation. She’d had the idea last night: Gaudio and Fliss shared the same goofy sense of humor. She’d said as much to Arturo, who rolled hiseyes.

“Matchmaking?”

“Hell,yes.”

Now,she waited for the coffee to steep. She noticed an envelope with her name on it, thrown on the table along with some other mail. Her stomach constricted a little. Her name was typed neatly on the expensive looking paper. She picked it up by the edges, then, curiosity getting the better of her, handled it with some tissues as she opened it. Her shoulders slumped with relief. An invitation, printed on heavycardstock.

Miss Hero Donatiplus her chosen guest are formally invited to the Summer’s Eve party at Villa Charlotte as a special guest of Signore GeorgeGaliano.

RSVP.

“Chosen guest.”He meant Arturo. “George, you are anass,” she said to herself. She threw the card back onto the table, then changed her mind. Maybe Arturo would get a kick out of it. She stuck the card in her purse, then took the coffee through to herfriends.

She winked at Fliss. “So, you two going out orwhat?”

“You’re as subtle as a sledgehammer,” Fliss said, not even slightly embarrassed. “Just so happens, Gee and I like the same kind ofmovies.”

‘Gee’ already? Hero grinned at her bodyguard and had just opened her mouth to speak as the window behind them exploded, and all hell brokeloose.

ChapterNineteen

Arturo drove like a madman into Como, seeing the crowds of shocked-looking people, the police, the ambulances. “MioDio…”

He parked the car as close as he could to the store, and then ran the rest of the way. There was a police cordon, but Arturo ignored it, ducking under the tape. He could see Gaudio, Fliss, and—thank God—Hero standing talking to the police. She saw him, and he rushed over and wrapped his arms around her. “Are you alright?Cara mia,are you hurt?” he demanded over and over again, in between frantickisses.

“Totally fine,” she reassured him. “Just shaken. We’re all okay.” She looked up at him. “It was a busted gas line, nothing sinister. The restaurant across the street is pretty messed up, and there’s some people hurt, but no one waskilled.”