Chapter 33
Emilia
Things were going amazing with Giorgio.
Every night, the last thing I heard was his voice over the phone, making me feel safe and secure…
And every morning, I got to see his smiling face.
He’d usually come by the café during my shift just to say hello and check in on me.
And he would always hide a tiny gift for me to find – another bit of origami, or a tiny ring with a gemstone, or some funny tchotchke he’d found at a tourist kiosk.
Bianca dropped by for coffee and a chat almost every single day. If Lucia was in town, she would come, too.
I really enjoyed their visits –
But I couldn’t wait to walk home with Giorgio.
Every evening, he had to return to work as soon as he dropped me off at my apartment –
But I wanted him to come up… have a glass of wine…
And see where it went.
Although I knew exactly where I wanted it to go.
I was falling for him.
There wasn’t any point denying it.
I felt a flutter in my stomach every time I saw him –
Not to mention a tingling in other parts of my body.
Everything about him turned me on.
His voice, deep and kind…
His warm brown eyes, with the crinkles at the corners every time he smiled…
The smell of his cologne, subtle but masculine.
But to my growing frustration, he was taking it super slow.
He hadn’t even tried to kiss me yet, even though I kept inviting him with my eyes.
I chalked it up to how I’d treated him when he first came into the café.
He wanted to go slow and not spook me…
Although now the sexual tension was becoming unbearable.
I would fantasize about him often…
And almost forgot about what he did for a living.
Even better, I forgot all about Maurizio. I didn’t feel that creepy sensation of being watched anymore.
And then, one evening, everything changed – forever.
Giorgio met me at my apartment just before noon. I was closing that day, so I was able to sleep in, thank God.
He looked tired but happy.
When he said goodbye to me at the café, I felt that bittersweet ache – wanting the day to end as soon as possible so I could see him again.
Bianca and Lucia came by around 2 PM and gossiped with me as they drank espressos. They were both super-invested in the little romance they’d helped start, and dropped by for updates on their favorite soap opera.
“He still hasn’t kissed you yet?!” Lucia asked indignantly.
“Shhhhh!” I hushed her, afraid Giorgio might walk in and overhear.
“I’m going to have a talk with that boy,” she grumbled.
“Don’t you dare!” Bianca scolded her. “Let him do it when he’s ready!”
“Massimo and I were already sleeping together by this point,” Lucia griped.
“Yeah, well, you were trapped with him out in the woods with only one bed,” Bianca pointed out.
“Really,” I said, incredibly interested.
Lucia grinned. “We could set that up for you, if you want.”
“NO!” I said, laughing.
After they left, Giorgio texted me saying he couldn’t drop by, but he would see me at 8.
I counted off the minutes until I could close shop for the day.
At exactly 8 PM, just as I was locking up, the black Mercedes glided up in front of Bianca’s dress shop, and Giorgio hopped out.
“How’s my favorite barista?” he asked.
“Good, now that you’re here,” I beamed.
It was dark as we walked down the street in the lamplight. We joked around and chatted, trading stories about what we’d done that day –
When suddenly the hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and a cold shiver went down my spine.
My entire life, I’d had some sort of sixth sense about danger.
There was the time I’d been six years old, and I’d been creeped out by a friend of the family. I absolutely refused to be alone with him. If my parents walked out of the room and he was there, I ran after them.
It came out years later that he was a child molester. A girl told her parents about what he’d done; her father went over to his house and nearly killed the asshole before the police dragged the father off and arrested the pervert.
No one had ever suspected it… but somehow I’d known.
I figured it was like a deer catching the slightest hint of a predator. A scent on the wind, or maybe just a vibration of energy.
The feeling of eyes upon them.
Whatever it was, I felt it now.
I froze in my tracks.
Giorgio stopped, and his smile immediately faded.
“Did you see him?” he asked.
“No, but… is there someone behind us?” I whispered.
Giorgio glanced over my head, and his expression darkened. “Shorter than me, black hair, slightly pudgy?”
My stomach twisted.
I’d never described Maurizio to him before.
“That’s him,” I whispered.
Giorgio took my arm in his and gently forced me onwards.
“Walk with me,” he said firmly.
“What are we going to do?” I asked in a panic.
“You’re not going to do anything. I’m going to have a talk with him.”
“But – ”
“Don’t worry. It’s going to be fine.”
Giorgio stopped outside a crowded restaurant.
He took a 50-euro bill out of his pocket and folded it into my hand. “Go inside and have a drink – wine, brandy, anything to calm your nerves. When I get back, this will all be over.”
“Giorgio – ”
“Emilia,” he said, his voice dark and commanding –
And suddenly the sweet man I’d known all these weeks was gone.
He radiated power.
Confidence.
…danger.
And a calm certainty that told me he would take care of it.
“Go inside. When I get back, the last couple of months in Milan will seem like a bad dream, and you’ll forget it ever happened.” He smiled and winked. “Go.”
He pushed my back gently and forced me through the door of the restaurant.
He waited until I walked past the hostess and over to the bar…
Smiled when I turned to look at him…
And then he was gone.