Free Delayed Death (Temptation in Florence Book 1) by Beate Boeker

pretended he had died later, but for Emma, it made all the difference in the world."
    "Interesting." His voice was dry as dust.
    Damn that man. He wanted to provoke her, and he managed all too well. “We had another reason, too.”
    “Well?”
    “The doctor told Uncle Teo to avoid stress because of his heart. He almost forbade him to join the wedding party. Emma and I were afraid that Uncle Teo would have a heart attack if we told him in the middle of the wedding.”
    He lifted a skeptical eyebrow but didn't comment. “What happened then?”
    Carlina took a deep breath, but for once, the smell of dust and boxes and brand-new products, the smell of her own universe, failed to soothe her. Where had all the oxygen gone? "Everybody could see my grandfather through the kitchen window, so we decided to put him into bed."
    "Fully dressed?" His eyebrow twitched.
    "Emma undressed him, but she forgot the socks."
    "What were you doing in the meantime?" He sounded as if he thought she had used the interim to dance a solitary waltz in the kitchen.
    Carlina clenched her teeth. "I was sick in the bathroom."
    "So you did feel some emotions. Congratulations." His voice was vitriolic enough to make a hole in the floor if it dripped.
    Don't reply, Carlina. Ignore him.
    "Let me get one point clear," Garini said. "If I understood correctly, you were both fully dressed for the wedding in long evening gowns."
    "Mine was long." Carlina looked at her hands. "Emma's was short."
    "Both with high heels, I assume?" His light eyes seemed to pierce her.
    "Yes." Carlina glared at him. "Want to know our hairdos as well? If you wish, I can send you a picture."
    "That would be helpful," he said. "Wasn't it difficult to carry a dead man in that outfit?"
    "It was."
    "Anything unusual strike you?"
    Carlina wanted to hit his immobile face. "I don't do this kind of thing every day, if that's what you mean!"
    "I meant with the body."
    Carlina crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I've never seen a body before. Ever. I wouldn't know if anything was unusual, even if it came up and bit me in the face." Her hand flew to her mouth. "Ugh. Didn't want to say that."
    He laughed.
    Her gaze flew to his face. He knew how to laugh? The laughter transformed his lean face, made his eyes sparkle. He looked like a different man. Carlina bit back an answering grin.
    He looked at her, his head placed to one side, as if he was considering something. "Would you describe how you carried the body?"
    Carlina's face twisted.
    "Please."
    Her mouth dropped. He could be polite? She took a deep breath. "Grandpa was sitting at the kitchen table. His eyes were open. Emma nudged him, and he fell to the side. I - I managed to catch him before he fell. He was heavy - and warm."
    "Warm?" His sharp voice interrupted her.
    "Yes." Carlina swallowed. "I said to Emma he must have died a short time ago."
    "But you were sure he was dead?"
    Carlina's mouth dropped open. "Oh, Madonna , yes, of course. If you had seen him . . . there was no doubt."
    "Was it cold in the apartment?"
    "No. It was stifling. I remember thinking so when I came through the door. It smelled of peppermint." Her throat hurt at the memory. "Grandpa used to eat peppermint drops all the time." Don't cry, Carlina.
    "What happened then?"
    "I couldn't make him sit up again." Her throat tightened. "Emma said I should place his head on the table, but it felt so . . . irreverent." Damn. She shouldn't have used that word. Nothing in her behavior had led him to believe that she gave a damn about reverence for the dead. She cringed and waited for a scathing comment from Garini. When nothing came, she looked up at him.
    His light eyes searched her face. "Go on." It didn't sound quite as commanding as before.
    "I made Emma take his feet. We carried him to his bed. It felt . . . indecent, and there was that smell."
    His eyebrows pulled together. "What smell?"
    "I . . I don't know. I've never smelled it before. Sort of sweet, but in a cloying