to be able to adopt the fresco project. My late mother, Lydia Henderson, lived her life working to save old buildings from being demolished instead of renovated. She led numerous architectural review boards in Massachusetts and elsewhere in New England. During her illness, we decided to donate to this project because she was fascinated with the history of Venice and had always been drawn to images of angels and warriors. She often said that all of us had a chance to be both in our lives. I’m proud to say that she truly was an angel and a warrior, and I hope to live my life at least a little bit like she did.”
Even from the back of the room, Enzo could see her blinking back tears as she said one more thank you, then headed back to her seat. It seemed she’d taken only a few steps before her gaze lifted to his. Her eyes narrowed and her graceful gait seemed to falter for a moment before she turned her attention to finding her seat again.
Dio. What was he supposed to think now?
He stared at the back of her silky head and had no idea of the answer to that question. But one thing he did know?
He owed her an apology.
Obviously, she had good reason to be at the meeting that had nothing to do with him, and, yeah, she’d been right. He did feel ridiculous that he’d assumed otherwise.
He huffed out a breath, not wanting to have to give her that mea culpa, but knew he had no choice. The meeting seemed to drag on forever, his eyes on the back of her head instead of the speaker for most of it. Finally, the crowd stood and he jostled his way through the throng until he was able to catch her just as she was walking out the door.
“Aubrey. Wait. I need to talk to you.”
She stared straight ahead across the piazza, walking faster. “You’ve already said plenty, Dr. Affini.”
“I want to apologize.”
“For what?” She finally turned to look at him, and if the daggers she was sending from her furious gaze had been real, he’d be lying dead on the pavement. “Accusing me of showing up at your clinic to trap you? Of stalking you at the architecture meeting? Of faking an interest in restoration? You overestimate yourself.”
“I know. And I’m sorry. I am. Truly.”
“Hmmph.” The sound she made wasn’t exactly an acceptance of his apology, but at least she slowed down a little, instead of surging through the crowd as if she were in a sprint race.
He reached for her arm to slow her even more and was glad but a little surprised that she didn’t yank it loose. “Aubrey. Things are...difficult right now. Which maybe is making me think and act in a way I shouldn’t.”
“Now, isn’t that an understatement.”
“So can we put this behind us?” He tugged on her arm to force her to look at him. He wanted to see her soften and forgive him, and why that felt so important, he had no idea, since he still wasn’t sure what to think about her.
“I’ll do my best.” She finally turned to him, and the blaze in her eyes had thankfully cooled. “But only because I love being here and enjoy working at the clinic. And I’m not going to let you ruin either one of those things for me.”
This time, she did pull her arm loose, and without another word she took off at a fast pace again. He slowed and decided to let her go. Time to think up a new strategy on how to handle beautiful and mysterious Aubrey Henderson.
* * *
“Stop being negative. We still have time,” Enzo said to his accountant and fellow preservationist, Leonardo. Not sure if he was trying to convince Leonardo or himself, he paced the upper floor of the one home he had left in his possession in Venice, staring unseeingly at the finely woven antique carpet covering the terrazzo floor. “I’m working on raising more money for the purchase and have also liquidated some assets, which you’ll see transferred to the account in a few days. Almost all our vineyards had a good harvest, with more grapes sold this year to other wineries than last, and our own vintages are selling well. Dante gave me the numbers a few days ago. It’s coming together.”
At least, he hoped it was. His gut tightened at how much money he still needed to buy back the childhood home he loved, but he was determined to make it happen.
“But the new owner told me he expected the sale to the hotel chain to go through within the next three weeks,” Leonardo said.
“Which gives us two and a half to beat them to it.”
“I was looking through all the photos of the house you gave me. Whether the sale goes through or not, I’ll need more of the exterior, the internal courtyard, and the bedrooms to provide to the commission proactively, so they’ll agree to a six-month delay of the interior demolition the hotel is planning. Buy us some time to convince the commission to refuse to allow it. If the sale ends up going through to the hotel, maybe they’d end up selling it back to you if they can’t remodel it the way they want to. So can you get those for me?”
“Yes.” Or at least, he hoped he could. He might not be the one who owned and rented the property to the UWWHA anymore, but he did know a certain beautiful, questionable tenant living there. If she wasn’t so angry she refused to talk to him anymore, let alone allow him in the house. “I’ll get them to you as soon as possible. Arrivederci.”
Familiar burning anger swelled in Enzo’s chest as he hung up, but he fought it down. Holding close the bitterness and fury he felt was a distraction he couldn’t afford. Despising his father and his selfish actions didn’t change a damn thing.
No, Enzo just had to work harder and outbid the hotel chain. That was all there was to it.
Thinking of the house had his thoughts turning to Aubrey again. He could picture her sleeping in one of the run-down but still beautiful bedrooms, her shining hair spread across the pillow. Curled up reading a book in a chair in front of one of the massive stone fireplaces. Wandering the halls admiring the amazing rooms and artwork and antiquities.
He dropped into a chair to stare out over the Grand Canal. Confused was probably the best word to describe how he felt about her. Along with suspicious and extremely attracted.
Were she and Dante’s lover—no, wife, now—two women with an agenda? So many things pointed to yes, maybe. Then again, there was something so appealing, so seemingly genuine about Aubrey, something that drew him to her in a way that he couldn’t quite remember happening with another woman. He’d seen it when she’d cared for Benedetto, then fixed up Enzo’s pants for the child, which made him chuckle all over again. And a number of other times as they’d taken care of patients together.
Yet there were all those coincidences that made it hard to believe she was for real.
So where did that leave him?
The same place he’d always been. Still planning to save his inheritance here and in Arezzo a different way. Through hard work. Still planning to never marry, regardless of what that meant to the future of the properties that should be his.
Except Aubrey didn’t know that.
Feeling oddly unsettled, he decided to give Dante a call. Between his brother’s new wife and his always busy job as a trauma surgeon, Enzo hadn’t seen the man in weeks. He hoped that meant everything was reasonably fine, but he wanted to hear that for himself. With any luck he’d be available to talk, and not in the middle of surgery, and Enzo was glad Dante picked up after only two rings.
“To what do I owe the honor of hearing from my brother, since you haven’t called me for weeks?” Dante said in his ear.
“The phone works both ways, you know. I figured you were busy with Shay and didn’t want to bother you.”
“You’ve been bothering me your whole life, so why change things now?”
“Point taken.” The smile in his brother’s voice made Enzo smile, too. “How’s work?”
“Busy. So busy that we haven’t been able to get back to Arezzo for a while,