All I Believe (Firsts and Forever, #10)(43)

In the next moment, Olivio appeared on a big, red and black Ducati motorcycle. He wasn’t going very fast, but he was driving it right through the hotel with his head held high. Half a dozen hotel employees were running after him and yelling, but he totally ignored them.

When he pulled up in front of us, he handed Nana a white helmet. “Here you go, sexy, it matches your outfit. Now come on, let’s ride.”

My grandmother handed me the flowers, put on the helmet, and hiked her skirt up before swinging a skinny leg over the motorcycle. “I like you, Ollie,” she said. “You got style.”

“Right back at you, Stana,” he told her. She plucked one of the roses from the bouquet, stuck the stem between her teeth, and put her arms around his waist. Ollie gave me a little salute before swinging the bike around and driving right back through the lobby. The irate hotel employees had no choice but to jump out of the way.

Jessie and Giorgio came up to me, and my friend asked, “Do you think he stole that motorcycle?”

“Quite possibly.”

“Should we be worried?”

“Nah,” I said. “Nana can take care of herself. I’m going to run up to the suite and put her flowers in some water, I’ll be right back.”

The top floor of the hotel was infinitely quieter than the extremely hectic party, and the silence felt like a relief when the elevator doors slid open. I’d almost reached my suite when someone grabbed my arm. I gasped and spun around, startled because I hadn’t heard anyone approaching.

“Luca!” Something was wrong, I could tell right away. He pulled me into an embrace and held me for a long moment as I asked, “What’s going on?”

“I have to go, mio tesoro. I’m so sorry. I wanted that weekend with you more than anything.”

“Where are you going?”

“Back to Rome. Where are you staying when you get there?”

“The St. Regis.”

He kissed me and said, “I’ll find you. I promise.”

“Can I call you?”

“It’s really important that you don’t.”

“I don’t understand. What’s happening, Luca?”

He cupped my cheek in his hand and met my gaze. “I can’t explain. Please, just trust me.”


“Why won’t you tell me what’s going on?”

He kissed me, then stepped back with heartbreak in his eyes. “I’m so sorry, Nicky,” he said before running down the hall and disappearing through the door to the stairwell. All I could do was stand there staring after him, wondering what the hell had just happened.





Chapter Eight





I tried not to think about Luca every minute of every day, and did my best to distract myself. I spent time with Jessie, Nana and Ollie. I visited relatives. I swam and ate and did some shopping and tried to enjoy my vacation. But I was going through the motions. I knew it and everyone else did, too.

On our last night in Viladembursa, Nana hosted a dinner at a local restaurant. Dozens of family members showed up. Jessie stayed for part of it, then went off with Giorgio. The two of them had seen each other three times over the last week, but I got the impression they were friends more than anything.

Meanwhile, Nana and Ollie had gone out every night. He even got one of his friends to watch the gallery and planned to join us in Rome. It was nice to see my grandmother so happy, even though she told me, “I’ve been burned once before, so I’m taking this slow. Ollie’s got to prove to me that he can be trusted with my heart.”

When we left the restaurant, Fiona kissed both my cheeks and promised to email soon. She’d gotten four phone numbers at Nana’s party and seemed really excited about one of the men in particular. Remy and his wife carried their three sleeping kids. They wished me safe travels, and made me promise to come back soon. Matteo hugged me goodbye and said he’d come visit me in San Francisco the following summer. His ever-present bestie Allessandro shook my hand and promised to tag along and pretend he was part of the family. He didn’t really have to pretend.

Ollie took Nana for a nightcap, and I walked the few blocks back to the hotel. I didn’t go inside, though. Instead, I sat on the edge of the fountain and watched the celestial rodeo.

And of course, I thought about Luca. To me, that would always be our spot. It would have been wonderful if he suddenly reappeared and kissed me and explained what had been going on with him. We could have picked up right where we left off. But maybe I was the only one who wanted that.

I was baffled by his sudden departure. Why would a man call me ‘my treasure’ (mio tesoro), and then tell me not to call him? Why would he refuse to offer any explanations for skipping out on our plans? It wasn’t as if he was a spy and had been handed an exploding envelope with a top secret mission. He bought paintings for spoiled, rich people. How urgent could that possibly be? Or if it wasn’t job-related, what the hell was it, and why couldn’t he just tell me what had called him away?

Jessie joined me after a while, sitting beside me and looking up at the fountain. Eventually he asked, “You miss him, don’t you?”

“Constantly. I wish I didn’t, though.”

“He might have a really good reason for taking off the way he did.”

“Possibly. But maybe it would have been an idea to tell me what it was.” I turned to look at my friend and asked, “Did Giorgio take off?”