Lost Mistresses,” he said.
“What?” Gabriella asked.
“This is all of them. The artifacts my grandfather sent us after. They are all in this painting. The painting is the last one.”
He turned to look at Gabriella. She was staring at him, her dark eyes wide. “What does that mean?”
“It means that I don’t think you’re being fanciful when you thought there might be a deeper link between our grandparents.”
“But the painting... It was by someone called Bartolo.”
“I know. But there is something. At one time your grandmother was in possession of every one of these objects. They were the dearest things to my grandfather’s heart at another time.”
“Alex...”
At that moment, Alex’s phone rang. It was his half brother, Nate. Things were better between the two of them in recent years, but they had never been close. It surprised him that the other man would call him for anything.
“I have to get this.”
* * *
Gabriella watched Alex as he paced out of the room, his phone pressed to his ear. It was strange to be here. In his house with him. Not domestic—because she doubted anything with Alex could ever feel domestic—but intimate. Of course, he hadn’t stayed in the room with her to take his phone call. A stark reminder that they didn’t really share much about their lives.
She looked back at the painting, looking closely this time at the objects in it. Alex’s grandfather was Giovanni Di Sione. As far as she knew he had no connection to the royal family. No connection to Isolo D’Oro. If not for this painting... On its own it was coincidental. Combined with these other objects...
Alex came back out of the room he had just gone into, his dark jacket on, his expression purposeful. “I have to go out. I will be back as soon as possible. You can help yourself to any of the food in the fridge. Or any of the alcohol.”
“You don’t have a library. What am I supposed to do?” She was only half teasing.
“You’ll have to watch a movie, cara mia.”
She did her best to keep busy while Alex was gone. But one hour turned into two, which turned into three. Then four. Before she knew it she was dozing on the couch, feeling rather sulky, and a little bit concerned. She should have asked him for his mobile number. So she could at least make sure he wasn’t lying dead in an alley somewhere.
And once that thought was in her mind, she couldn’t shake it.
Surely Alex was dead in an alley. Or if not dead, perilously close to bleeding out onto the cracked concrete sidewalk.
The idea made her stomach hurt. It was also ridiculous. Still, now that it had taken root, there it was.
She walked across the expansive living area and opened one of the bedroom doors to reveal a large bed with a black bedspread. She frowned. Not quite sure which room belonged to Alex. She opened the door next to it and saw another bed that looked almost exactly the same.
She let out an exasperated sigh and walked deeper into that room, letting her fingertips trail over the lush bedding. She was tired. She hadn’t unpacked any of her things since she wasn’t sure which room she would be staying in. She had changed into her sweats to get a bit more comfortable but she wasn’t going to go hunting for her pajamas.
She sat on the edge of the bed, bouncing slightly on the mattress before lying back. She looked over at the clock, the glowing blue numbers showing that it was well after midnight.
She suddenly had a thought that was even more disturbing than the idea of Alex dying in an alley. Maybe he was out with a woman. Why else would he stay out all night? If the issue wasn’t that he couldn’t make it home, then he wasn’t here because he didn’t want to be home.
The only reason she could think that a man would want to stay out all night was if he was with a woman.
He might be doing the things with her that he wouldn’t do with Gabriella. Acting out those words he’d said to her, so deeply erotic. As if he’d woven a fantasy together that was spun with a desire called up from the very depths of her soul. Desire not even she had realized she possessed.
She hated whoever the other woman was. A woman who would—even for a night—capture all of Alex’s attention. Not just a piece of him.
Not just his smile, or the glint in his eye. Not just his rough, perfect voice, or promises he could never keep. But his body. No barriers between them.
She would touch him everywhere, this mystery woman. Her hands beneath his clothes, learning secrets about him Gabriella would never, ever know.
She burned. She didn’t know that jealousy would burn from the inside out. Scalding her. Making her feel raw and restless and angry. She had never been jealous before.
There had never been a man before.
She had been too busy burying herself in dusty books. Wrapping herself in a blanket of safety, insulated by the shelves of her library. By the family estate.
Protecting herself from more rejection.
What she’d said to him had been true. Her own parents didn’t truly want her. Didn’t really choose her. It was difficult to believe that anyone else would. She was invisible. That was the best case scenario. The worst was that she was in the way.
She swallowed hard, closing her eyes tight and curling her knees up to her chest.
The next thing she knew, she heard heavy footsteps coming into the room. Her eyes snapped open, locking onto the clock. It was after three now.
She was on her back, moving into a sitting position. “Alex?” she asked, her heart thundering heavily.
“Gabriella?” Her name sounded strange on his lips. As though he were convinced she was some sort of apparition.
“Yes. Is this your room? I should have investigated further, but I...” Didn’t want to. She couldn’t very well finish that sentence.
Couldn’t tell him that a part of her had been hoping this was his room. That she would encounter him later.
Shortsighted. As well as a little bit creepy. Shortsighted mainly because she was still wearing her sweats, which was hardly the official uniform of seduction.
“You were asleep,” he said.
“Yes. I fell asleep waiting for you to come back. I thought maybe you were dead.” Her other concern hit her, cold and hard. Obviously he wasn’t dead, but he could very well still have been having sex. “Were you with a woman?”
He let out a heavy sigh and sat down on the edge of the bed. “No. Would it have bothered you if I was?”
“That’s a stupid question. Of course it would have.” She saw no point in playing coy. She was sleepy, and cranky, and a little bit gritty behind the eyelids. She was in no state to play coy.
He
