the diving site where Alessandra has been working with the institute.”
Earthquake? He broke out in a cold sweat. If anything happened to her, his life wouldn’t be worth living. To hell with what her aunt had told him. He needed to go to her and wouldn’t let anything stop him.
“According to the news, apparently two or three divers were injured and transported to chambers at various hospitals on the coast. I found out the institute’s oceanography boat docks at Crotone, so I’m sure some of the victims were taken there.”
“I’m on my way. Bless you, Valentina.”
* * *
He alerted his pilot and flew to the Naples airport, where he took the company jet to Crotone. En route he phoned to make certain a rental car was waiting. Following that he made calls to the three hospitals in the town, but no one would give him information about the injured because he wasn’t a relative. Other injuries over the southern area had been reported and hospitals all along the coast were filling.
Emergency vehicles and fire trucks filled the parking area of the first hospital. He made it to the ER and learned that one diver had been brought there. No one would give him information, but one of the ambulance crew helped him out by telling him they’d transported a male diver here.
Thanking him, Rini drove to the next hospital. Again it was the wrong one. He made the rounds until he reached the last hospital. When he spotted Bruno Tozzi in the waiting room, he knew Alessandra had to be here. Avoiding conversation with him, Rini walked through the hospital to the director’s office. He’d do whatever it took to be granted permission to see her.
* * *
“I’m fine,” Alessandra assured her parents after she’d spent six hours in the chamber.
“Are you in pain?”
“No, not at all. The doctor told me I have a light case of the bends.”
“Dr. Tozzi wants to see you.”
“He worries about all the team, but I’m not up for visitors. Tell him I promise to call him tomorrow when I’m feeling better.”
“All right. We’ll find him out in the reception area and be back in two hours. The doctor said you’ll be here overnight. We’ll stay with you and drive you home in the morning. Try to rest in the meantime. Love you.” They kissed her before slipping from the room.
No sooner had they gone than the door opened again. It was probably the nurse coming in to check her vital signs. When she saw who entered the room, her heart fluttered dangerously fast.
“Rini—what are you doing here?” After three weeks of not seeing him, the sight of his tall, well-honed body wearing a navy blue business suit was too much to handle in her weakened state.
“When I heard what happened, I couldn’t stay away.”
She turned on her side, trying to hide from him. “Did you talk to my parents?”
“They don’t know I’m here.”
Her breath caught. “You shouldn’t have come. We’ve said all there is to say.”
“I had to be sure you were going to recover,” he said, his voice throbbing.
Tears stung her eyes, but she refused to let him see them. “I don’t see how you found out where I was.”
“A simple deduction after Valentina phoned me with the news about the epicenter of the quake.”
She sighed. “How did you get past the desk? No one is allowed in here.”
“I have my ways. Alessandra, you could have died out there. The doctor said you lost consciousness. It could have been fatal. Do you have any idea what I’ve been going through thinking I might have lost you?”
“Maybe now you know how I felt when you let me leave Positano and I knew it was over with you.” A bitter little cry escaped her lips. “My parents will be taking me home in the morning. The only reason I can imagine you’re being here is because of your guilt.
“What a surprise I’m going to survive! Surely it’s a relief to you. That way you don’t have to tell me what you’ve been holding back. It would only add to your guilt.”
“Alessandra—” His mournful voice reached that vulnerable place inside her before he’d come around the side of the bed. She felt him cup her face with his hand. “Grazie a dio you’re alive and safe.”
She kept her eyes tightly closed. “I admit I’m happy about it, too.”
His fingers toyed with her hair, sending fingers of delight through her exhausted body. “I once came down with a case of decompression sickness and know how it feels.”
“One of the hazards when you’re having fun.”
“You don’t need to pretend with me. I know you’ve had a fright and need sleep. Do you mind if I stay here with you for a little while?” He leaned down and kissed her lips. It felt like the touch of fire.
“The doctor won’t like it, but that’s up to you.”
Peering at him through slits, she watched him draw a chair to the side of the bed next to her. He looked like a man with the weight of the world on his powerful shoulders. She needed him to go away and never come back, but she couldn’t find the words.
In a minute a nurse came in to bring another bag for her IV. She checked Alessandra’s vitals and left without saying a word to him. The man could get away with murder. “What did you do to get permission?”
“I told the administrator that Montanari Engineering would make a generous donation to the hospital if they’d let me in to see you.”
There was no one like him, her heart cried out. “Rini Montanari. That was a naughty thing to do.”
“It worked. That’s all that mattered to me. To find you alive means everything. These last three weeks without you have been a hell I never want to live through again,” he admitted, his voice breaking.
His pain was tangible. “Now you’ll have to make good on your offer and work all hours of the day and night to recoup the loss.”
“It’ll be worth it since the hospital helped save your life. You’re the most precious thing in my world. I love you, bellissima,” he said in the huskiest voice she’d ever heard. “Now go to sleep and don’t worry about anything.”
When Alessandra woke up in the middle of the night, she decided she’d been dreaming that Rini had come to visit her. Had he really said he loved her? There was no sign of him. The night nurse came in and helped her to the restroom, then walked her back to bed.
THE NEXT MORNING Alessandra awakened to find her parents in the room. They’d brought her a fresh change of jeans and a soft top, which she slipped into. At 11:00 a.m. the doctor discharged her with the proviso that she rest,
