Death Under the Venice Moon Read Free

Italian sky. Larry would love the sight. Oh, Larry. Why?
    In my blind rage and rush to run away, I packed little that was suitable for autumn in Northern Italy. Plus, a lot of my belongings had been at Larry's. Clear your mind. The clock on the night table said seven p.m. I could stop by the concierge desk and ask directions to a small nearby restaurant, one that was easy to find. I wouldn't want to get lost on my very first evening.
    Better take the telefonino. Fully dressed, my hair dry, lipstick on, I grabbed my purse and the keys to the condo, and walked out of the bedroom. The living room also displayed a blue stream, courtesy of the incredible beam of moonlight spilling through the tall window. It was so well defined it looked like a sliver of moon pie, narrow but elongated, reaching all the way to the thick rug covering the inlaid wood floor.
    Wait…no…what?
    In the center of the silvery slice, a dark figure lay motionless on the carpet.
    Dio Mio. I took a step. The body moved, and I screamed.
     

CHAPTER THREE
     
    " Buona, sta buon. Son io, Cruz. "
    Be good. I'm Cruz?
    The chandelier suddenly lit so brightly my eyes hurt. What? The dark shadow that had been sprawled on the rug was my host Manuel De La Cruz? I blinked but didn't budge from where I stood.
    "Am sorry," he said in an attempt to speak English. "Do you speak Italian?"
    "Of course I speak Italian. I am Italian." I wanted to slap his silly smile away. What had he been doing on the floor in the dark?
    "Italian Italian?"
    "I don't know what constitutes an Italian Italian, but I was born a little north of here, province of Vicenza. Is that Italian enough for you?"
    "Ah, Kyle's mamma, you are mad at me." He smiled with his eyes. His mention of Kyle reminded me in whose living room I stood. I smiled back. This was the great Cruz? Casanova Cruz? I had pictured him like the Italian version of George Clooney. But this was a middle-aged man in need of a good meal. Such a bony face, thin lips. Interesting, in a strange way. Imperfect features and unsettling eyes. Perhaps fame added an aura of charm to everything he did or didn't do.
    "It’s the moon." He hummed. "I like to meditate by the full moon. It reinvigorates me, clears my mind. Didn't mean to frighten you. How are you? Did you find everything you need? Have you had dinner?" His sentences ran together. As he spoke and grew more animated, personality began to seep through. He had a childlike smile, probably well rehearsed. He moved closer, right under the chandelier where I had parked myself. Thick lashes shadowed his eyes. Odors of tobacco and cigarette smoke lingered on his clothes.
    "I didn't hear you—did you say you have eaten?" My stomach growled, and Cruz had his answer. "Oh, Kyle's mamma is hungry."
    "My name is Lella."
    "Hungry and spunky. What are you hungry for—Lella?"
    The double entendre wasn't lost on me. Now I really wanted to smack this overgrown adolescent. Did he catch my annoyance? "Sorry," he said. "Habits. But seriously, anything in mind? Pasta? Fish?"
    Forget eating, I still couldn't get past his sudden appearance. "Cruz, I didn't know you had arrived. The place is so quiet. I'm puzzled or maybe simply curious. I wonder…if you don't feel like answering it is totally fine, but I understand you are a famous movie star. A household name, according to Pia Bartolomei, right?"
    He nodded. The glow on his face was bright enough to compete with the chandelier.
    "How do you manage? The anonymity, I mean. No paparazzi hurtling at your door, no admiring fans screaming under your windows."
    He bobbed his head to the cadence of my voice. "True, so true, Lella. But I am smart. Everything was planned carefully years ago. This is my place for tranquility. When I'm here, I'm not Cruz."
    "I see. You are not Cruz, and how do you convince the town of that? You wear a mask? A wig? You buy their cooperation?" What's gotten into me? It's none of my business.
    He laughed in a spontaneous way, maybe for