Chapter Eight
Ella
The next morning, the three of us travel north to Messina along the spectacular coastline, but I barely see any of it. I’m so tired my eyes keep sliding closed.
Once I was in bed last night, I couldn’t get Gualtiero’s face out of my mind.
The memory of his hands on my body had me buzzing.
Hot and bothered, I debated pulling my vibrator out of the suitcase. Stubbornly, I resisted, refusing to surrender to this inexplicable attraction.
After hours of tossing and turning, I finally fell asleep, only to be woken a few hours later by Rhia cheerfully jumping on my bed.
I won’t make it through the day without a nap. Maybe that could be my excuse to cancel dinner.
No. Opposite Ella, remember?
“I’ve been invited to a Black Sheet Party,” Zoe’s cheerful voice comes from the backseat.
Jeez. How is she this perky? She’s not a morning person either. Not that ten o’clock is that early.
She’s only gracing us with her presence today because we’re going dress shopping for tonight’s dinner date.
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Rhia says as she turns into the busy streets of Messina. “You’re not seriously considering going, are you?”
“Have you been to one?” Zoe asks, ignoring her.
“God, no. Definitely not my thing.”
“But you like dress-up parties,” I say, frowning. “Is this some kind of Greek toga party… just with black sheets?”
Zoe bursts into laughter behind me. Rhia bites her lip, trying not to smile.
What am I missing?
“A black toga party,” Zoe repeats between fits of laughter.
When I turn around, she’s bent over, clutching her stomach, tears streaming down her face.
“I’m glad I’m amusing you,” I mutter.
“You have no idea what a Black Sheet Party is, do you?” Rhia asks, barely containing herself.
I don’t answer. It’s obvious my naivety is about to be exposed.
“It’s an orgy, El.”
My face must be priceless because Rhia loses it too.
I’m speechless. Zoe is into that?
“Who invited you?” Rhia asks.
“My friend Mathilda. You haven’t met her yet. I’d like to go.”
At my shocked expression, she adds, “Relax. I don’t want to bonk a heap of strangers. I just want to watch.”
I’m not sure I believe her. Jeez, Zoe really is the wild child of the family.
“Zo, be careful. Once you’re there…” Rhia trails off. She doesn’t need to finish.
Zoe shrugs. “Want to join me, big sis? To make sure I don’t get into trouble?”
“No thanks. I’d prefer you didn’t go.”
“You’re no fun since Lex wrapped you around his little finger.”
Rhia ignores the jab and focuses on navigating our little red Fiat Panda through the city center.
“What about you, El? Want to broaden your horizons?” Zoe asks, giggling.
“Leave her alone, you deviant,” Rhia says before I can respond.
I’m still trying to process the fact Zoe is even considering this when Rhia takes another turn, and suddenly cars are driving straight toward us.
“Rhia, why are there cars barreling down both lanes?” I shriek, my eyes wide as saucers.
She has no time to answer. Cars swerve around us, horns blaring. People lean out of windows, yelling, gesturing wildly, but our only option is to keep going.
Zoe and I scream. My heart slams against my ribs, and for the second day in a row, adrenaline surges through my body.
Fight or flight. Except there’s no one to fight and nowhere to flee.
I squeeze my eyes shut, bracing for impact, praying I’ll open them again.
At last, Rhia jerks the wheel right and pulls into a narrow side street, stopping the car. She exhales long and hard, her hands still gripping the steering wheel.
For a moment, none of us speaks. We just stare at each other, breathing too fast.
“Holy cow,” Rhia finally says. “Italian drivers are psychos.”
“I think the fact we’re in an Italian car made people scream less at us,” Zoe mumbles, looking a little pale.
I try to respond, but nothing comes out.
We sit by the side of the road until our heart rates slow and the tremor in my hands fades to something manageable.
“This is the second time I’ve tempted fate,” I say quietly. “Don’t all things come in threes?”
“That’s just a superstition,” Rhia replies, though she doesn’t sound convinced.
An omen. It has to be.
“Maybe I really should cancel tonight.”
“No!” Rhia and Zoe say at the same time.
“Nothing bad is going to happen,” Zoe adds. “Relax.”
Easy for them to say.
I glance at Rhia. “I thought you said you had no problems driving on the right side of the road?”
“It was a simple mistake,” she says, shrugging. “And I wasn’t the only one.”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“There was another car behind us going the same way,” she says. “So clearly we weren’t the only idiots.”
I glance behind, wondering if the other driver has also pulled over somewhere, but I see no one.
“Do you want to take over?” she asks.
“No, thank you. I don’t like driving on the wrong side of the road.”
“Zoe?”
“Nope.” Her sister shakes her head.
“Well, I’ll try not to do it again.” Rhia winks, puts on the blinker, and merges back into the traffic as if nothing happened.
She’s already shaken it off. She’s good like that, leaving things behind without looking back.
Rolling all the windows down, she cranks up the music and starts miming along happily. Before long, Zoe joins her.
Eventually, their mood seeps into me. The tension dissolves into something lighter, and the car fills with laughter again.
We go on a sightseeing tour of Messina, and afterward the girls drag me into boutique after boutique.
I blow my entire clothes budget for the year on an array of new summer dresses. There’s a reason I hate shopping, but at least now I won’t have to do it again for a long while.
There’s one dress in particular Rhia insists Opposite Ella has to wear tonight.
Her eyes light up when I step out of the changing room in a coral-red sleeveless dress with a plunging neckline. It hugs my curves in all the right places, and she refuses to let me leave the shop until I buy it.
We find the perfect high-heeled sandals to go with it in the shoe shop next door. I’ll look downright sinful tonight.
Zoe bounces off the walls all day at the prospect of having dinner with three Italian hunks, while Rhia continues to dream big about my future with Gualtiero.
It’s fun at first, but as the hours tick by, my trepidation creeps back in.
Did I imagine the magnetic pull between Gualtiero and me? What if it was nothing more than adrenaline?
Tonight, there might be nothing there at all.
God, this could be awful.
On the way back to Taormina, Rhia manages yet again to drive down the wrong way on a one-way street. This time, though, instead of freaking out, we all just laugh. What else is there to do? Laughing combats stress hormones, right?
By the time we make it back to the hotel, it’s late afternoon. The closer the clock creeps toward seven, the more my stomach churns.
We step out of the elevator, arms loaded with our purchases. Just like this morning, the hotel corridor is completely empty.
It’s bizarre. Yesterday, this floor was pumping with activity, people coming and going constantly.
Where is everybody?
I reach my room and open the door. As I’m about to step in, I stop dead in my tracks.
Oh my god.