Run To Rome

Concetta ushered them inside where Halli met a gentleman named Giovani, who sat at a small kitchen table finishing his breakfast. Trent either missed Halli’s discreet questioning look, or he ignored it as he and Giovani settled into a discussion, also in Italian.

She sipped the unsweetened tea Concetta placed in front of her, hard pressed to conceal her rising frustration. Trent’s masculine voice in a foreign language would’ve been about the sexiest thing she’d ever heard, except she wanted to know what they were saying. Especially when each of their elderly hosts took a turn to smile in her direction. Neither spoke nor understood English, Trent had deigned to inform her at one point.

Giovani pushed to his feet and motioned Trent to follow. When Halli rose, Concetta stepped close to place a hand on either side of her face and spoke very seriously. Halli looked to Trent for translation.

Trent’s lips quirked into a small smile. “She says you will be lucky in life and love.”

Perfect, but currently proven so untrue. The kindness and conviction in the woman’s faded eyes prompted Halli to smile anyway. “Thank you. Um…grazie.”

Trent placed his hand against the small of Halli’s back as he brushed another kiss on Concetta’s cheek. His touch remained steady on their way out the back door; Halli’s pulse did not.

“What’s going on?” she asked to distract her hormones.

“We now have a car to get us to Milan,” he told her.

“We’re going right now?”

“Shortly.”

She was taken aback by an internal warring of emotion. She couldn’t wait to see Ben and Rachel again, God she longed for that. But the thought of saying goodbye to Trent brought a sharp ache to her chest. Completely crazy, given she’d only met him yesterday, and more than half the day she hadn’t even liked him.

I ask you, Concetta, how lucky is that?

Trent opened the passenger door of a small black car identical to the blue rental Ben had driven yesterday. Halli waved to Concetta, who watched from the doorway, and slid into the seat, thinking the woman was a little touched in the head. Giovani settled in behind the wheel, while Trent folded his long frame into the back.

She looked at him over her shoulder. “He’s driving us to Milan?”

“Not exactly.”

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

“I wasn’t kidding when I said I hate surprises.”

Trent simply smiled. The vehicle lurched forward and Halli faced forward in confusion. She didn’t like this at all. Surprises made her nervous. She didn’t know how to plan for them and the lack of control freaked her out. Hadn’t he figured that out by now?

A minute later, the little car squeezed between two buildings lining the old cobblestoned street. An ancient, vine-covered stone wall rose up before them and Giovani brought the car to an abrupt halt. Halli leaned forward to search for a way out of the dead end, but Trent exited the car and reached for her door. Apparently, they’d arrived.

Giovani withdrew a set of keys from his trousers and opened a door she hadn’t noticed under the leafy camouflage covering the wall. He pressed the car keys into Trent’s hand. They spoke only long enough for Halli to recognize Trent’s words of appreciation. Giovani responded with a low chuckle, nodded politely to her, and left them with the car and the open door in the wall.

“Where’s he going?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Trent faced her with a grin of anticipation. “Ready?”

“No.”

“Close your eyes.”

“Absolutely not.”

His hands landed on her shoulders and forced her gaze to meet his.

“Do you trust me?”

Despite all his outlandish teasing of the morning, his now sober gaze convinced her he wasn’t joking. She swallowed her uneasiness and answered honestly. “Yes.”

“Then close your eyes.”