Turn Towards the Sun (35 page)

Standing in lin
e,
I try to engage Grayson in conversation.

“Do you have a love interest Grayson?”

“No ma’am.” He looks nervous.

“I wish you would be more comfortable with me.”

He looks down at
me,
and his eyes soften.

“I am comfortable with you.”
T
he hint of a smile form
s
on his lips.

“Then can you please start calling me Ava?”

His cheeks flush. “I’ll discuss it with Mr. Milano.”

“No, you won’t. It’s my name, I decide how it’s used.” I smile to soften my words.

“Yes ma’am…ur Ava.” I see his shoulders relax.

The lines are unbearable
, especially in this oppressive heat
. I should have called ahead for a reservation. We get closer but are still about an hour deep in the line.

“I have to go to the bathroom.”

Grayson frowns.

I point across the piazza. “Look
,
there are some right across from here. You can keep an eye on me from here.”

I make my way across the bustling piazza
,
turning back every so often to wave at Grayson and Gabby. I join yet another long line for the bathroom. The line wraps around a
building,
and I lose sight of Grayson in the crowd. I finally get inside the bathroom.
I thought my bladder would explode!

I walk out and look around for Gabby and Grayson. A commotion nearby catches my attention and a
huge crowd of people swarm towards me
. I try to push through the crowd to get back to my
friends,
but I’m surrounded by
chaos. I feel a sharp push and
try to ground myself but
I
’m
backed
against the building I just came out of.
I can’t move the person in front of me.
I hear Grayson calling my name and stretch my neck to find him.

A sharp pain resonates on the back of my
head,
and then
everything goes black.

CHAPTER
NINE

“Ava? Ava I’m here.”

I hear Enzo’s distant voice getting closer. I open my eyes to see Enzo, Gabby, Calvin, Grayson, and another man hovering nearby. Enzo is stroking my hand with a worried look on his face.

“What happ
ened?” I can’t remember a thing after I came out of the bathroom.

“
We’re not sure. Something happened
in the piazza, everyone panicked, and you got shoved against the building, hitting your head.” Enzo
says
. That explains the pounding sensation.

The unknown man walks towards me and puts his hand on my forehead. He looks to be about sixty and is wearing a stethoscope around his neck. He holds my wrist for a minute then speaks to Enzo in Italian.

“What is he saying?” Gabby is frantic.

“He said she’s okay, a little dehydrated and jet lagged is all.”

I try to sit
up,
but my pounding head makes me reconsider.

“Thank God it wasn’t worse.” Enzo strokes my forehead, his glorious face creased with concern.

Grayson approaches anxiously. “I tried to get to you as soon as I saw what was
happening,
but I wasn’t fast enough.”

“Grayson, it’s my fault. I wandered away. There was no way you could’ve gotten through that crowd.” I smile but even that seems to hurt.
I close my eyes. Why can’t I remember what happened?

“The doctor says you’ll be a little sore and have a
headache,
but you are fine.” Enzo stands and speaks to the man in Italian.

Gabby holds my hand. “You really worried us Ava.”

“Sorry.” I’m embarrassed.

“Don’t be sorry Ava. We’re just glad you’re okay.” Enzo smiles but I know he’s still worried. “Okay everyone, she needs to rest.” Enzo shows everyone out. He returns with a cup of water and some ibuprofen. I gulp down both
,
praying for relief from this headache.

He climbs in next to
me and puts his arms around me.
“You had me so worried. The thought of losing you was too much.”

I nod my aching head. “Please don’t be upset with Grayson.”

“I’m not.
He’s punishing himself enough.”
He squeezes me tighter.
“
I couldn’t go on if something happened to you. If you were gone…” His voice trails off.

“I’m not leaving Enzo. You’re stuck w
ith me got it?” I try
to sound lighthearted
even though
I’m
quite
serious.

I have to stay in bed the rest of the
day, which
is fine because my head hurts too much to move. Enzo orders room service and feeds me water, fruit, and the most glorious chicken soup I’ve ever had in my life.

“What else can I get you?’

“Enzo you need to work. I’m fine.” Which is not even remotely true. I’m so thankful for him right now.

“I am working. I can take a call and take care of you at the same time.” He leaves to answer the door.

Gabby comes in with some pastries she picked up. She climbs in bed with me and opens the package. “Which one do you want to try first Ava?”

Ten little adorable pastries grace the gold platter. Italians are so fancy about everything. They are so beautiful you almost don’t want to eat them. I point to one with a strawberry on top and gobble it up. It’s sponge cake with some kind of light cream in the middle.

“These are so good, thank you.”

“How’s your head?” Gabby asks.

“It’s a little better now. Did you see what happened?”

She shakes her head. “No, too short. Grayson watched you the whole time but when you came out, the crowd just went nuts. It’s like they saw a snake or something. Weird.”

I try to think back and then, wait.
Someone
pushed me. I remember now. “I think I got pushed Gabby.”

“Yea for sure.”

“No, on purpose. Someone pushed me on purpose.”

She looks at me wide eyed. “Who would do that Ava?”

“I don’t know. Maybe someone was trying to rob me. I just remember being
shoved,
and it felt intentional.”

“I wouldn’t tell Enzo that if I were you.”

“Good point.”

Enzo comes in the room to check on me. Gabby assures him I’m doing well and eating. She leaves after an
hour,
and Enzo climbs back in bed with me.

“How’s your head?” He strokes
my hair off my face.

“It’s much better now. I have a question.”

“What is it my love?”

“Why do you make Grayson call you sir or Mr. Milano?”

“I don’t. I’ve told him many times he can call me
Enzo,
but he insists. He says it’s more professional. Every
now and then,
he will call me by name but not often. Why do you ask?”

“I told him to call me Ava
today,
and he said he would discuss it with you first.”

Enzo laughs. “I assure you he is free to call you by your name. He’s a very shy fellow, it must be uncomfortable for him to be around such a beautiful woman.” He kisses my forehead.
“Let’s go to sleep now. I’ve done enough work for the day.”

I cuddle in his arms happy that my head stopped
hurting,
and that I’m safe with him. Still, the thought does linger that what happened today was not a coincidence.

“I’m keeping you with me today.”

I sit
on the bed
and watch
him dress. Sometimes I shake my head at how handsome this man is.

“Gabriella can come too but you’re not leaving my sight today.”

I knew this would happen and know that it’s useless to argue.

“Francesca will meet us at the
hotel,
and we can get started.”

“What are we starting?”

“The renovation plans.” He says it like I should know what he’s talking about.

“What hotel?”

“The Leonardo.” He looks at me like he doesn’t understand my
questions,
and then he laughs.

“I keep forgetting you don’t understand Italian.”

I shake my head.

“I bought several hotels in
Italy,
and I’m going to renovate and rename all of them. In five years’
time,
I hope to have several converted over. We are starting with the Leonardo because Florence is my favorite town in Italy, except my home.”

“Is that why everyone was so excited at dinner the other night?” 

“Yes. I’m creating a lot of jobs in this renovation. Of
course,
I’ll eventually bring in my own management
team,
but I’m going to make sure that everyone who deserves a job keeps one.”

I think of the efficient young woman who took us to the dinner hall.

“So you’re going to fix up that terrible banquet room?”

He laughs. “Absolutely.”

“How do you keep up with all these projects?”

“I have a lot of smart people around me who keep things moving along.”

“How big is your company Enzo?” I am not at all sure. I remember reading about the worldwide
empire,
but I don’t know what that entails.

“Are you interested in this?”

“Very. It’s an important part of what makes you who you are.”

“Well, let’s see. I have two resorts in France. One in London that still needs work. I
had
the ones in Boston that I just sold of course. Then there is one location in California. You know about Girasole and the new Downtown Phoenix location that is being planned. For the next several
years,
I’ll be splitting my time between Arizona and Italy.”

Impressive. “How many employees do you have?”

“I have no idea. You’d have to ask Franco for that information.” He laughs.

“You always know everything going on at Girasole. You seem to be very hands on.” I’m ready for his hands to be on me again. I can’t help but smile at the double meaning of my sentence.

“Girasole is special to me. It’s small enough that I can keep up with the property. Plus it just feels like home. I stay there the most during the year.” He pauses. “It used to feel like home. Now wherever you are does.”

“Come sit with me Enzo.”

He walks to the edge of the bed.
“You should get up. We need to get to the hotel.”

“Come on, just sit for a minute. One little minute.”

He sighs and climbs on top of the bed with me
.
“I’m up here. Now what?”

“Are you sure we have to leave right now?”

“Miss Bradshaw
,
are you trying to tempt me?”

“Absolutely.” I reach up and stroke his cheek. Rising up to my knees
,
I run my hands down the length of his body, stopping to rub what I hope will become an erection
.
He throws his head back and releases a quiet groan.

“Seducing me won’t convince me to let you go out Ava.”

Busted.

I stop rubbing and he laughs. “Get up.”

Humph. “Fine.”

He pokes me in the side tickling me and making me laugh.

We arrive at the
hotel,
and I’m ushered into a room with
drab
couches, dated televisions, and Gabby. She
jumps up
and hugs me.

“Calvin told me Enzo won’t let you go anywhere.”

I nod.