Learning to Trust Read Free Page B

wouldn’t have to watch that anymore.”
    “It must have hurt to see that.”
    Her soft mouth curled. “Especially when she stole my men, too. Except this time, I stole hers.”
    “And you couldn’t go through with it?”
    She shrugged.
    Despite knowing her sordid history, he still wanted her. Jesus, she could be riddled with disease and he’d want her. But she looked so pure, so perfect. Angel in the face, devil underneath. “You couldn’t fuck an old man for his money, then?”
    “If that’s what you want to think, you go ahead and think it.”
    Until that last remark, that was exactly what he’d thought. What he’d trained himself to think after he’d woken up one morning and discovered that his brother had run away with the woman who’d haunted his dreams for years. He’d never completely believed it, not deep down, but nothing else made sense.
    Now he changed his mind. Because she wouldn’t look at him and that wasn’t candlelight that reddened her cheeks.
    “Was there another reason, Lina? Why you and Byron ran so fast and never came back? We’d just given Byron an ultimatum—get the cure or leave, so we were always pretty sure why he left. But you—why did you go with him, Lina? You could have said no to Marty and gone on as you were.”
    She didn’t answer, didn’t look at him, but stared out the window at the breathtaking view.
    She looked better with some color on her face, even if it was a blush. She probably spent her days serving in that sleazy café and her nights scoring junk.
    Something else lay behind her engagement to a man almost three times her age, and then her decision to run so hard and so far they couldn’t find her.
    Too wise to imagine he’d get any more out of her now, he changed the subject, guiding her to talk about Rome and Naples, and her life there. She was good, very good. She talked about St. Peter’s, about the Vatican, the Coliseum, Vesuvius and Pompeii. But not her life and how she related to them.
    He let her talk while he lingered over his food. Let her gain some confidence, let her think he’d take her back to the café straightaway. But through the meal a conviction had grown on him. If he let her go, she’d run again, and she’d proved how good at that she could be. He wouldn’t let her. In five years, this was the closest he’d been to finding his brother. And he had to admit, he didn’t want to let her go.
    After he’d paid and they left the café, he drove back to his hotel, a short distance from the bay.
    She gave him a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I can walk back from here. Nice to see you, Jon. Sorry I couldn’t help you any more with Byron, but as I said, I haven’t seen him for two years.” She tried the door.
    It didn’t work because he still had the central locking mechanism on.
    “You really didn’t think I’d let you walk away, did you?”
    She twisted around to face him. “Yes. You promised.”
    “I promised I’d let you go when I found Byron. After you help me.”
    “But I’ll lose my job!”
    He didn’t want that. To take away any chance at recovery. He’d thought it encouraging that she had a job at all. “When are you next on duty?”
    She bit her lip. “Tomorrow morning. I work shifts and I’m on days this week.”
    His heart sank. “What do you do at nights?”
    “Serve behind the bar.” She put up her chin. “Why, what did you think?”
    He didn’t want to antagonize her any more than he had already. “Nothing.” Although plenty had flashed through his mind when he’d referred to night work. That confirmed his suspicion that she lived nearby. “I’ll get you back for tomorrow.” And hang around until she finished.
    “Why?”
    Now he saw fear and he hated himself. “I have a suite at the George. I want to talk to you some more and I think we’d be more comfortable there.” He thought he was gaining ground, especially when she agreed to it in a muted voice that indicated only limited