Free The American Contessa by Noni Calbane

been quite ingenious.   Appreciating that capture was constantly a
distinct possibility, he always had a plan in place that would ensure that if
he had to make a hasty departure, the stolen property would not be found on his
person.  
    Knowing
that the Manetti library housed thousands of books, he knew the bogus hardcover
he’d had constructed would be lost amongst the masses.   The fact that the title she was looking for
was “Crime and Punishment”, struck Gaby as ironic and humorous, and totally in
keeping with Gran-pop’s character.  
    Gaby
pulled the hand drawn map out of her back jeans pocket.   Her Grandfather had sketched it to the best
of his memory, but sixty years had passed.   His memory or the library could have altered substantially since
1952.   
    She
climbed the marble staircase to the second level and turned right as per the
map’s direction.  
    There
it was.   The window that Gran-pop had
told her he’d used to escape the Villa.   Looking down at the map once again, she counted how many aisles she
needed to pass to get to the one he had marked with a large red cross.   Gaby hesitantly walked in the required
direction counting in her head as she went.   According to his instructions, the book should be on the second shelf
from the bottom, three books in from the right.   Kneeling in front of the bookcase, her eyes searched the titles.  
    *****
    Gaby
returned to her room to change for dinner.   Picking up her cell phone, she dialled absently as she looked through
her closet for something suitable to wear.
    He
answered on the first ring.
    “The
book’s not there.”
    “What
do you mean, it’s not there?” her Grandfather said crossly.
    “Just
that,” Gaby replied.
    “Did
you follow my instructions to the letter?”
    “Yes,”
she said softly.   She could hear the
exasperation in her Grandfathers’ voice.   He really needed to calm down.   It
couldn’t be good for him.   “I’ll find it
Gran-pop,” she continued.   “Something
must have happened in the last sixty years since you hid it, but I promise I’ll
try and find it.”
    “I
know you will,” he said seriously. “I know you won’t fail me.”
    Disconnecting,
Gaby sighed thinking about the enormity of what she’d promised.   Finding that book was going to be like
finding a needle in a haystack.
    **********
    Throwing
his bag down on the bed, Luca shucked out of his wrinkled shirt and jeans and
headed for the shower.   The realisation
that Gaby was gone was a fact he didn’t want to face.   Why did she affect him so?   Dumbfounded, he shook his head in wonder and
started the faucet.   He had to find her.
    Placing
his hands on the shower wall, Luca bowed his head and allowed the hot water to
run over his neck and back.  
    Closing
his eyes, he summoned the memory of her touch on his arm; the fire in her eyes;
her smile. His breath became ragged with need.   Slowly his hand drifted down his body to stroke himself.   To release the stress in his tightly coiled
body.   It wouldn’t take much more than the
thought of it being Gaby’s hand touching him, to push him over the edge.
    Luca
groaned.   This was insane!    He had never resorted to fantasizing about
any woman in this way.   Be damned if he
would start now! Angrily, he snatched his hand away, and set the water to cold.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

    “Luca?   What are you doing back from Montepulciano so
soon?” Carmina enquired with a smirk.
    Making
his way down the staircase, Luca’s mouth was a grim line.   The cold shower had not helped his mood any,
in fact it had only pointed how pathetically desperate he had become –and all
because of some silly American woman.
    “Are
you staying for dinner, brother?”
    “No,
I’m not hungry,” he barked.
    “But
it’s Veal polpetta, one of your favourites
…,”
    “Carmina,
where is she?” he demanded, standing before her with a hint of anguish in his
eyes.
    “Who?”
    “Don’t
play dumb with me.