And there was another reason she needed to hold back. This rush of emotions felt so new—so foreign. How could she possibly be falling for Roberto? Or was she just trying to fill that void in her heart?
Either way, she needed to slow things down. She didn’t trust herself where Roberto was concerned. And so she remained quiet as he moved out of sight.
DAY FIVE
Dubrovnik, Croatia
VENICE SEEMED SO far away.
Luckily Roberto hadn’t meant to keep his distance until then.
Stasia sat across the table from him. They’d just had lunch. Neither felt like going ashore. Instead they’d moved to the deck beneath the light blue sky. To keep up appearances with his family, they were spending a lot of time together. Every day they gravitated toward each other, and to Stasia’s surprise, she didn’t mind. In fact, she was enjoying having a friend on board.
While Roberto enjoyed an iced latte that she’d convinced him to try, she was sipping on a fruity umbrella drink. A gentle breeze rushed over her sun-warmed skin as they sat in comfortable silence.
“Roberto?” a female voice called.
In the next moment, his grandmother and a gentleman with silver hair who resembled Roberto, from his handsome face to his tall stature, approached. The man had some white in the temples that only accentuated his classic good looks. It was definitely Roberto’s grandfather. However, neither grandparent was smiling.
Roberto rose to his feet and gave his grandmother a hug. “Yaya, happy birthday.”
“Thank you,” his grandmother said. “Everything is arranged for the party this evening.” And then his grandmother smiled. Not one of those friendly, doting grandmotherly smiles, but one of those I-know-something-you-don’t-know smiles. And even though Stasia didn’t know the woman, it made her nervous.
“Good.” The straight line of Roberto’s shoulders eased. “Is there anything you need me to do—”
“Yes.” His grandfather spoke up. “I thought you’d be in your cabin working on that project I gave you.” The man frowned. Displeasure was written all over his face. “I should have known better—”
“I was just headed that way to get my laptop.”
His grandfather’s eyes widened in surprise. “I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts.”
“And you don’t want to give me a heads-up about what I’ll be looking for?”
He shook his head. “I want your unbiased opinion about the numbers.”
“Okay. I’ll do my best.”
“You have until the end of the cruise.”
Stasia felt for Roberto. How was he supposed to do what his grandfather wanted when the man was being so vague? And by the look on Roberto’s face, no matter what he said, pleasing his grandparents was important to him. He may have fooled himself into thinking otherwise, but she could see the love he had for them written all over his face. And she couldn’t blame him.
Family was something special—something she no longer had. And now that Xander was married with a child of his own, he felt further away than ever before. And that was why she needed to carve out a life for herself. She needed to find a job that she was as passionate about as Roberto was about his work.
“We should be going,” his grandmother said. And then she turned to Stasia. “It’s so good to see you again. I hope we’ll get a chance to speak more this evening at the party.”
“But, Yaya, she...she wasn’t invited,” Roberto said, looking utterly flustered.
His grandmother reached out and patted his arm. “All the details have been taken care off. We’ll see you both there.”
And then his grandparents strolled off toward the double doors leading to the interior of the ship.
Stasia turned to Roberto before he could say anything. “I don’t know about this.”
“She’s suspicious of us. I mean, if we were really a couple, you’d come with me, right?”
Stasia hesitated and then nodded. “I’m just having a problem thinking of us, you know, that way.”
“If you’ve changed your mind—”
“No. I said I’d do this.” Even though she was now having second and third thoughts about what she’d agreed to. But she refused to let Roberto down.