Page 90 of When She Tempts (The Fallen)
A thrill zings up my spine.
I walk around the room, touching my fingertips to the velvety blooms and fighting against the delirious smile that threatens to overtake my face.
“Is he here?” I ask, taking a seat across from Tommaso and Allegra.
The latter shakes her head. “He’s not back yet, unfortunately. He called us late last night and said he’d be back this evening.”
I fight against my disappointment. At least he called, which means he’s okay.
“So the two of you did all this?”
“We did,” Tommaso says, his mustache lopsided from his grin. “Polo helped too.”
My gaze travels to Polo’s usual chair. It’s empty. “Where is he?”
“He had to run an urgent errand in town,” Tommaso says.
We dig into the food, and at the end of the meal, Tommaso brings out a freshly baked tart heaped with strawberries and blueberries and topped with a candle. They insist on singing me happy birthday in Italian, their enthusiastic rendition making me laugh, and then Tommaso serves everyone a slice of the tart.
My cell phone rings when I’m nearly finished with the dessert, and my brother’s name pops up on the caller ID. I excuse myself and take the call from the library.
I’m smiling even before I pick up the phone. “Hi.”
“Happy birthday, Mari. Vale’s here too.”
“Happy birthday!” my sister-in-law’s voice streams in. “We miss you. I’m sad you’re going to be celebrating without us. You are celebrating, right?”
I laugh. “Yes. I just had a birthday breakfast with Tommaso and Allegra. They work here. Tommaso made me a beautiful berry tart.” I don’t mention the flowers from Giorgio, even though their gorgeous scents have wafted through the entire house by now. I’m not sure how I could explain the big gesture without making Vale or my brother suspicious.
“That’s lovely,” Vale says. “Are you doing anything tonight?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Giorgio won’t take you out for dinner?”
“I doubt there’s a restaurant that’ll meet his high security standards. Don’t you know? I’m not allowed to leave the grounds.”
“Good,” Dem says. “Better to not take any chances.”
“That’s what Giorgio keeps saying.”
“Wow. You must be bored out of you mind, Mari,” Vale comments.
“I’m okay, actually. There’s a lot to do here.”
“Is there? Like what?”
“Well, I’ve been doing some gardening, and Giorgio’s been teaching me some self-defense.”
“Ah, yes, he’s mentioned that,” my brother says. “How have your classes been going?”
“I—” I clear my throat. “Well, I’ve been really enjoying learning from him.”
“That’s badass,” Vale says. “Good for you! You’ll have to show me what you’ve learned when we’re all back together.”
Sitting down on the edge of the armchair, I press the phone closer to my ear. “And when will that be?”
I’m not even sure what answer I want to hear. Of course I want Dem to finish doing whatever he needs to do so that he’s no longer in danger, but selfishly, I don’t want to leave here anytime soon.
