Secret Seduction (15 page)

Jason surprised her by picking her up in his arms in a quick motion, then depositing her gently on the narrow bed. He disposed of his shoes quickly and climbed in next to her.

“You destroyed me,” he said into her hair again as he spooned her.

She laughed, “Really? I was just thinking the same thing about you.”

“Katie…” He snuggled deeper into her back, running his hand over her naked thigh. “I’m really glad I came to Europe to save you.”

“Me, too.” With that she heard him snoring and she smiled into the darkness until sleep finally overcame her.

W
hen the ferry docked in Brindisi, Italy, early the next morning, he could tell Katie was a bundle of nerves, no doubt anxious about meeting her family. Jason’s eyes scanned the docks, searching for the men who were looking for them. He had the funny feeling they had somehow made the journey to Italy, as well.

Whoever had hired the men hadn’t spared any expenses; the cargo van had been brand new. He had a few questions about how the men had been able to stay on their trail. Katie had come up with an idea last night, that they must have left some sort of tracking device in her backpack when it had been left at the café, and that’s how they had tracked them down in the barn.

There was no way they had just stumbled upon them in a barn in a large field in the middle of nowhere. There was no way they had gotten that lucky.

He didn’t worry about being tracked anymore since they had both lost their phones. Well, lost everything actually. And they hadn’t even called her family to update them on their progress, so nobody knew where they were yet. He wanted to keep it that way.

He knew that the other men were watching the airports in Rome and thought about taking a train instead, but knew that the train and bus stations might be watched as well. He just couldn’t chance it.

So they’d walked into the car rental place with freshly dispensed cash from the ATM across town, and rented a small sedan.

It was less than a six hour drive to Rome, but Jason knew they weren’t going to be taking the shortest route. He had mapped out a route on the car’s dash GPS which he thought might throw anyone off their trail. Instead of taking the most direct route, diagonal across the land, they were going to take the east route and head north until just past Pescara, then head southwest into Rome.

After they had packed up their backpacks into the compact sedan, he started driving out of town. He was happy driving, he enjoyed taking the less-traveled roads that wound around the little villages. Taking the back streets meant that several times they would hit dead ends that the GPS didn’t show or streets that were too narrow for cars to pass through.

But they enjoyed every minute and Katie couldn’t stop talking about how different Italy was than Greece. Here, everything just seemed… shinier -- her words, not his.

It’s almost as if she’d come alive. She sat on the edge of her seat, taking in everything and talking about the buildings and people they passed.

The scenery was flatter here than in Greece, but still seemed more beautiful. It seemed more populated, the roads and towns better maintained. Plus there seemed to be tourists everywhere. In Greece he could only see signs of tourism in the larger cities, whereas here, even in the smaller oceanside towns, people were enjoying the beaches and small town scenery.

They stopped in a small town just off the waterfront for lunch and dined at a cafe in Via Molise. They sat on the street patio and ate the best pizza they’d ever had, as they watched people coming and going at the local shops. Italy felt different to him as well. Things looked cleaner, shinier, as Katie had said. The tourists seemed happier and more relaxed, almost as if they weren’t rushed. Plus the locals looked healthier and happier. The houses were better maintained and there were quite a few more of them. There were also many more towns here. The population here seemed triple what it had been in Greece.

He could smell the ocean and when they finished lunch, they decided to take a break from riding in the car.

They held hands as they slowly made their way the few blocks to the beach, where they watched people play in the Mediterranean under the warm sun.

The water and white sands looked so inviting that Katie had removed her clothes and shoes and waded in wearing the swimsuit she’d purchased just yesterday. Jason finally broke down and pulled off his shirt and shoes and followed her into the cool water with just his shorts on. In the last year he had never felt this wonderful or this relaxed. He enjoyed holding onto Katie in the surf, holding her wet body next to his, and he thought about the excitement of taking her then and there in the cool water, but there were too many people around. He really enjoyed the feel of her wet body next to his; maybe they would have to take a shower later that night.

He thought they would have to make it back down this way once things settled down, so they could spend more time on the white sandy beaches. After almost an hour playing in the warm surf, he knew they needed to head out. Dusting the sand off was easy since they had both dried off during the short walk back to the rental car. They shook as much sand off as they could and started out of town. They took the scenic route along the water’s edge for a while, and Katie stared off into the water.

“I wouldn’t mind living here.”

He smiled; he was thinking the same thing. Really, they didn’t have anything or anyone to go back to the States for. He could easily get a job anywhere. He still had a few credits before he could officially take the bar exam, but he could look into taking Italy’s equivalent and start his own practice here. Thinking on it, he silently watched the scenery pass by.

A few hours later, they made the turn off to start heading west towards Rome. Most of the houses here were large, white stucco buildings with red, tiled roofs surrounded by acres of large fields and rolling hills. She told him that she had enjoyed seeing all the different countries during her year abroad, but that this place felt different. He agreed. He’d enjoyed their travels and the only thing that could have possibly made it better was if they’d done them together, instead of him following her, out of sight.

He started thinking of the meeting ahead of them. Of her seeing her mother, fathers, and brothers. He’d known Rodrick and Kathleen all his life, he’d always looked up to the couple. After Jason’s father had died, Rodrick had taken him under his wing. He’d always known he could count on the man. He looked to Ric like he was a brother, something he’d never had the privilege of having himself. His mother and Kathleen had always been in the same circles. They’d attended all the events at the country club together. One year, the families had even vacationed together in Puerto Rico. He knew Rodrick and Ric felt hurt about Kathleen’s deception, and to be honest, he had as well. He’d taken it very personally, at first. After all, she’d lied to him as well. But after meeting with her and hearing her side of things, he just couldn’t stay mad. People made mistakes in life. After all, he wasn’t perfect, and he didn’t expect others to be either.

“It’s almost as if I can feel the history in my blood coming alive.” Katie interrupted his thoughts, and she looked at him as he smiled over at her. “It’s hard to explain, even the smells are just… right.” She looked over at Jason and realized he was quiet, almost too quiet.

“What’s going on?” She leaned against the door and watched him drive the windy road.

“Hmm?”

“You. You’re awful quiet.”

“Just enjoying the drive, enjoying you.” He flipped on the wiper blades as a light rain started to hit the windshield. Somehow the rain made the field even greener. He could make out a light rainbow and silently wished she’d change the subject.

“I’m not buying it.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“You know,” his smile faded, knowing how determined Katie was, “she’s going to be there.”

“Oh! I knew you were thinking about something. I just hoped it was something other than her.”

He chuckled, “You say
her
like it’s a curse word.”

“It is in my book.” She propped up her feet on the dash and crossed her arms, then looked out the window. He could tell she was trying to avoid this conversation.

“Katie, you’re going to have to deal with her at some point in your life. What about your brother and his new wife? Are you just planning to never spend family holidays together? And do you ever want to meet your brother Dante?”

“I don’t know. I was going to start with meeting my BD first, then see where it led.” She pouted and looked out the window, quietly.

“Well, at least that’s a start. You have heard that they are together right? They married again shortly after your parents’ divorce was final.”

She had; it had been all over the news. Her mother had finally, twenty-six years too late in her book, divorced her father and had moved to Rome to be with Damiano Cardone.

“Why do you think I was meeting him in Greece?”

He laughed, “Well, I know she’s been worried about you since the day you took off. She was on her way there, you know.”

“Where?” Katie sat up and looked at him.

“To Boston, to see you.”

“What?” This was news to her. The last she’d heard from her mother was a quick call which had interrupted a very awkward conversation with Jason.

“She showed up right after I got back to your place and started looking for you. I knew you’d taken your passport and wallet, but had left some major items behind. Like the iPhone I bought you for Christmas.”

He looked sad and she felt bad that she’d forgotten the damn phone.

“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“I figured that, since you had also taken a pair of shoes I knew you hated and left your comfy clothes behind.”

“You really do know me that well.” She thought for the first time in over a year about all the items she’d left behind. “Where is all my stuff?”

He looked over at her and smiled. “Storage.”

“Good, that’s good. I’d hate to see all my Gucci bags go to Goodwill and sell for a dollar, or worse, go to that blond girl down the hall from me.” They both laughed.

A few hours later, they drove into Rome. The evening traffic was heavy and she was very tired of sitting in the car. She didn’t know what the plans were, where they were going to stay, but she knew she wasn’t in the mood to meet any of her family tonight.

“How about we stop and get dinner and a hotel.” She was surprised the thought came from Jason, since she’d just been thinking the same thing.

“You read my mind.”

Less than an hour later, they found a wonderful bed and breakfast and lucked out that the place had a cancellation for the night. It was a beautiful old brick building right across from the Colosseum. Third Floor Bed and Breakfast, the antique sign read.

When they got to their room, he opened the curtains and they both gasped at the beautiful sight of the Colosseum out their window. They couldn’t have asked for a better, more romantic room. After dropping off their bags, they decided to spend the rest of the evening pretending to be tourists. Actually, they really
were
tourists, since neither of them had ever been to Rome before.

They walked across the street, hand in hand, and enjoyed going around the Colosseum for almost an hour. They even joined a tour group, learning the history of the Colosseum and watching several of the plays and skits that were going on around the building. When he pulled her close in a dark stone hallway of the underground Colosseum walkways and kissed her, she would have sworn she felt the whole building vibrate with her.

Then they walked over to the Arch of Constantine. It was a lot larger than Katie had thought. She’d seen it on several movies and never imagined all the detail that could still be seen seventeen centuries later.