Page 27 of When She Tempts (The Fallen)
“Sage and mint,” I finish.
He hikes a brow. “You know plants?”
I shrug. “I grew some herbs back home to use for cooking. Nothing special, just the basics.”
“Well, if you ever feel like cooking dinner, I can guarantee you that Tommaso would appreciate the night off.”
We wrap up the tour and head back outside, making our way to the tomato plants.
Polo gets his own basket, and after a quick demonstration, we both get to work. It’s slow and monotonous, but it doesn’t take me long to get into a mindless kind of flow. It’s the same calming feeling I get when I work on a jigsaw puzzle. After a while, some pressure in my head eases, and my muscles relax.
It’s surprisingly nice.
Polo doesn’t say much while we work, but sometimes, I catch his eye.
“What?” I ask the next time I notice him glancing at me.
“It’s just weird to have someone other than Tommaso and Allegra here. Giorgio never brings anyone.”
“You ever feel like a third wheel?” I ask. I’ve felt that way before around Dem and Vale. Given how remote and secret this place is, does Polo even get a chance to leave now and then?
He chuckles under his breath, but it’s humorless. “Oh, yeah. It’s the worst when they fight. Doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it’s like being in the middle of a war zone.”
I pluck off another tomato. “Do you get bored out here?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe. Maybe it won’t be so bad with you around,” he says, nudging my arm lightly with his elbow.
Heat creeps up my cheeks. Is he flirting with me?
“Of course, I might not be here for much longer,” he adds.
Scratching an itch in the center of my forehead, I look at him from under my hand. “Oh?”
He nods. “There might be another opportunity opening up for me. I just need to convince Giorgio to let me try my hand at it.”
“What kind of an opportunity?”
Polo wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and places one more tomato inside his basket. “Can’t tell you. I don’t know how much you know about Giorgio, Martina De Rossi.”
“Not much,” I say, although I suspect Polo is alluding to Giorgio’s affiliation with the clan. Still, there’s no way I’ll be the first one to broach that topic.
He appears to feel the same way, redirecting the conversation. “Nothing’s been confirmed yet. I just have some ideas. This property is beautiful, but I don’t want to spend the rest of my life taking care of it.”
I glance back at the main building. “Why did he buy it?” The castello is enormous. If Giorgio wanted to have a safe house somewhere, I’m sure there are plenty of smaller places he could have bought that would be far easier to maintain.
“Giorgio had his reasons, but in truth, I think he hates this place.”
My brows pinch together. “He does? Why?”
Polo stands and heaves his basket over his shoulder. He seems like he’s about to say something, but then he gives his head a shake, and says, “You’ll have to ask him yourself.”
CHAPTER8
GIORGIO
Images moveacross the dozen monitors attached to the wall of my office, their glow the only source of light in the room. The wooden shutters on the window haven’t been opened in years, and that’s just the way I like it. With the windows closed off, I can almost pretend I’m some place other than here.
My eyes scan the monitors, looking for any sign that key players in the clan are aware of the war on their doorsteps. It’s those first few minutes and phone calls after the news drops that will reveal most of what we’ll need. Fear and panic are powerful motivators. They cloud good judgment. They make people do revealing things.
