Gavin glanced over his shoulder, saw Stasia standing there as if he’d conjured her up with his thoughts. Her face was pale and her eyes rimmed red. As if she’d cried plenty of tears.
“Hey,” he said gently, afraid he might spook her. She looked jittery, nervous, and he noticed her hand shaking when she raked her fingers through her hair, pushing it behind her ear.
“Sorry I missed lunch.” She offered him a weak smile and settled in the chair next to him.
“Not a problem.” He frowned as he studied her. She looked terrible. “Are you all right?”
“Yes.” She shook her head. “No. Not really. I spoke to my mother.”
Shock coursed through him, accompanied by relief. This was what they’d come for and it looked like she’d done it pretty easily. “What did she say?”
“A lot. Not enough and too much, all at once.” She laughed, but it sounded downright manic. “There’s so much I need to tell you. I don’t know where to start.”
Unable to stop himself, he reached out, settled his hand over hers where it rested on the arm of her chair. “If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s okay. You can tell me later—or never.”
“I appreciate that, really I do. And I need to tell you. You need to be prepared for when we meet with the Worth brothers. My half-brothers—there’s no denying it now. I believe everything my mother said.” She slipped her hand from beneath his, and he tried not to be offended. Because really, if he was, how much more of a jackass could he be? “I feel like I’m about to come out of my skin. Want to get out of here for a few hours?”
He frowned. “Are you serious?”
“Yes. I’m terribly serious. We have to be back by dinnertime because my mother will be joining us.” She tapped her finger against her lips, her gaze pensive. “Something else I need to talk to you about, you need to be prepared.”
“Prepared for what?” he asked warily. That didn’t sound good.
“I’ll tell you later. I swear. But first, let’s go. Did you bring swim trunks?”
“Uh, no. Hadn’t planned on swimming while we were here.” He hadn’t planned for this to turn into any semblance of a real vacation either.
“I’ll find some. My brothers always leave a few pairs at the house. One of them has to be close to your size, most likely Rafe. I’ll have Renzo send them to the tower and I’ll go change. Meet you by the car in fifteen minutes?”
“All right.” He watched as she leapt to her feet, moving at lightning-fast speed as she started for the house. She seemed frantic, frazzled, which wasn’t like her. The conversation with her mother must’ve upset her greatly, not that he was about to pry.
Though really he had every justification in the world to pry. She was his client. He needed to know everything so he was armed and ready before he faced the Worth brothers’ wrath.
She stopped, as if she remembered something, and turned to look at him. “I just need a few hours away from this place, you know? Away from everything.” She smiled, her gaze meeting his. “Thanks, Gavin.”
“No problem.” He had no idea what she was thanking him for but if she kept looking at him like that, she should watch out. He might grab her and pull her in for a kiss.
And never let her go.
Stasia took him to the public beach, where it was crowded and noisy and so damned distracting she forgot all her troubles in an instant. Focused instead on the warm sand beneath her feet, the giant, bright orange umbrella that gave them a bit of shade from the otherwise intense heat. She shed the skimpy dress she’d tossed on as a cover up before they left, stuffing it into her giant bag before she settled onto the lounge chair.
“You going to join me?” She lifted her sunglasses so they rested on her forehead, enjoyed seeing Gavin so completely out of his element. All around them people chattered in Italian, with a sprinkling of French and Spanish thrown in for good measure, the beach heavily populated with tourists and locals alike.
And there stood Gavin, glancing around warily, still clad in a faded red T-shirt and the black swim trunks borrowed from one of her brothers. The sunglasses he wore were borrowed as well, and they shielded his eyes, which was a damn shame. Though they rarely gave up his real thoughts or motives, she did enjoy drowning in his pretty green gaze.
Not that she’d ever admit such a crazy thing…
Looking sexily disgruntled, he pulled his T-shirt off in that one-handed way men had, letting it fall to the ground so it would get trampled and covered in sand by the time they left. He dropped onto the lounge chair next to hers, sticking out like a sore thumb compared to the majority of men who were tanned beyond reason and wearing skimpy Speedo-type swimsuits. How would he look in one of those types of swimsuits? Foolish or damn good?
She had a feeling it would be the latter.
“I can’t believe you wanted to come here,” he muttered as he settled into the chair. “This beach is packed. Wall-to-wall.”
“I know, isn’t it great?” She sighed, settled her sunglasses over her eyes and drew her legs up so they were bent at the knee. Wrapping her arms around them, she hugged herself. “I needed the distraction.”
“What your mother said must’ve really shaken you.”
Stasia nodded, didn’t bother looking his way. Too afraid if she saw any trace of emotion, a hint of sympathy, she might lose it. “It did. Funny how I expected it all yet it was a shock to hear anyway.”