a pleasure to meet you,” he spoke to all of them, but his gaze remained focused on her.
“Won’t you sit with us for a moment?” Dr. Manukyan asked.
“Thank you, but I’m afraid I’m pressed for time. If you’re finished with your meal, does anyone need a ride back to Ravenna? It’ll be on my way. You’re welcome to come in the limo.”
Dr. Manukyan looked pleased. “We’re staying at the Palazzo Bezzi Hotel and were going to call for a taxi. But we’d love a ride, if it isn’t too far out of your way.”
“Not at all.”
“We appreciate your kindness for everything.”
“Let me escort you out.”
Ginger couldn’t credit that they’d be driving back to town with him. She stood up and followed the others to the elevator. It took them down to the deck, where they walked through the covered passageway to the dock.
A black gleaming limousine stood parked right there. Ginger was the last person to climb in. She decided this man had to be an important person, but she couldn’t ask Dr. Manukyan because they weren’t alone.
When Signor Della Scalla came around to help her in, she felt his arm brush hers by accident. A shiver of awareness ran through her.
He rode in front with the chauffeur. Before long they arrived at the hotel near the old town where she’d gone exploring early in the morning before meeting the group. Again, he was there to open the door. Everyone thanked him and said goodbye. Then it was her turn.
“Signora?” She looked up at him before getting out. She found herself drowning in his gaze once more. “How long are you going to be in Ravenna?”
Ginger’s heart was still overreacting, especially when she noticed he didn’t wear any rings. She wasn’t wearing any rings either. Whoever he was, Ginger couldn’t believe she felt such an instant attraction to him. Though she’d been coming to terms with her loss, she wasn’t sure about loving another man again. “I’m leaving tomorrow morning.”
He’d put both hands on the frame of the door, blocking her exit though she knew it wasn’t on purpose. “Where are you going next?”
“To Venice.”
“For a long visit?”
“Don’t I wish, but no. I only have one day before I leave on vacation.”
He cocked his head. “Only one? Couldn’t I convince you to stay on several more? We could meet at your hotel and I could show you around.”
A tremor shook her body. Ginger couldn’t help but be flattered by his interest. Other men had flirted with her while she’d been in Italy, but she’d never been tempted. Not until now. This Italian’s charisma was so overpowering, she couldn’t believe a man like him existed.
“I won’t be in Venice long enough to get a hotel.” Ginger’s heart was in her throat. “There isn’t enough time. I have to spend a good part of the day at the monastery where Lord Byron spent so many hours. It’s part of my job and the reason I’m here at all.”
For some reason the revelation caused his eyes to gleam. “Then be sure to ask for Father Giovanni. I know him well. He’s the resident expert.”
Dr. Manukyan hadn’t mentioned the monk’s name. “Thank you for the information. I’ll remember.”
“Where will you go next?”
He really wanted to know? “My friend and I will be taking the night train to Switzerland.”
His gaze played over her. “I see. He’s a lucky man.”
Ginger sucked in her breath. “No, no. I’m going with my friend Zoe, who’s flying in from Greece. She and I will be meeting another friend at a vineyard on Lake Geneva.”
Good heavens. Ginger had practically told him her life story and had found herself babbling like a schoolgirl. “Thank you for giving all of us a ride. Do you live here in Ravenna?” She found she wanted to know more about him.
“No. I’m a Venetian,” he said in his deep voice. “Unfortunately I have to get back to Venice tonight on business. But perhaps our paths will cross again.”
He moved aside to help her out of the limo. She felt his touch on her arm once again, and felt fingers of delight dart through her body.
“Alla prossima, signora.”
Until next time? There couldn’t possibly be a next time. In two days’ time she’d be in Switzerland with her friends. But the thought of seeing him again made Ginger’s pulse leap. Deep down she didn’t want to say goodbye to him.
Since Bruce had died, Ginger hadn’t paid attention to other men or encouraged them. She couldn’t. The thought of falling in love again only to lose that person in such a terrible way frightened her.
She’d told Zoe and Abby that she didn’t want to give her heart a second time to another man, only for it to end in tragedy. In fact Ginger had never expected to meet a man who could ever help her get over the pain of having to say goodbye to her beloved husband. Only a miracle could cause that to happen.
She didn’t believe in miracles like that. But something shocking had happened for this stranger to take over her thoughts like this. It made no sense that for once she wasn’t thinking about Bruce.
Ginger’s legs felt insubstantial as Signor Della Scalla walked her inside the foyer of the hotel.
“Buona notte, signora,” he whispered.
“Buona notte, signor.” She sensed his eyes still on her until she rounded a corner to take the elevator to her room.
To her dismay when she finally got in bed, Ginger’s thoughts were still haunted by one incredibly handsome Italian male and the way she’d felt when his gaze swept over her at the dinner table. It was as if every cell in her body had been ignited by a bolt of electricity. She’d never lay eyes on him again, but that didn’t mean his image would go away. Not ever.
* * *
At nine o’clock the next morning, a showered and shaved Vittorio, wearing a black suit, left the centuries-old Della Scalla palazzo on the Grand Canal. Last night he’d flown back to Venice in the helicopter with a plan in mind to meet up with Signora Lawrence the next day at the monastery.
But this morning, after his flight home from Ravenna last evening, he’d awakened to the gut-wrenching news that his father had passed away early in the morning.
Overnight Vittorio’s world had changed forever. After leaving his grieving family with the doctor, he drove his speedboat out to the lagoon toward the nearby island of San Lazzaro two kilometers away.
Many boats crowded the canal. He passed by the boat ferrying passengers who intended to visit the Armenian monastery, the sole feature of the island. After pulling up to the jetty, Vittorio alighted and hurried past the welcoming signs printed in several languages to the main building. A plaque had been placed there commemorating
