“You’re going to be good for her.”
“You’re good for her. Maybe all three of us can go shopping.”
“I’d love to, but I’d never catch up with you ladies. It wore me out doing your shopping.” She presses a finger to her lips. “Don’t tell Kayden, but Giada helped me. She’s closer to your age, and I wasn’t sure what you would like.”
“Oh. I’m surprised she didn’t tell me.”
“I asked her not to tell anyone. Kayden’s a very private person. He wouldn’t like her being involved.”
He is private and he doesn’t want Giada involved in much of anything, which I aspire to change, but right now, the idea of shopping reminds me of my lingerie. “The store where one of you bought my lingerie. Is that nearby?”
“It’s right next to Piazza di Spagna, which is the shopping area where we bought the majority of your items. It’s a drive, not a walk. I think that’s where Kayden got all of your Chanel items.”
I smile. “It’s hard to imagine him in a women’s department store.”
She laughs. “I’m sure all the women wished he was shopping for them. He’s quite the catch. Lucky you.”
“Lucky me,” I agree, and with every tidbit of my life and situation revealed, I become more determined than ever to enjoy every “lucky” moment.
And right on cue, it seems, the sexy man in question returns with a notebook computer in his hand, reclaiming his spot at the table while Marabella glances between us, a smile playing on her lips. “I should leave you two alone.”
“Actually,” Kayden says, “I was going to tell you to take a few days off.” He glances at me. “We’re set for the passport office on Thursday, so we can hibernate and let your body heal until then.”
Two days to forget everything and luxuriate in this man sounds pretty darn good right now. “Hibernating sounds good.”
“As does a few days off,” Marabella adds, “but you must eat. I can cook in my kitchen and drop it by if you like?”
“You’re going to spoil me,” I say, “and soon I’ll be on a diet.”
“She’s right,” Kayden agrees. “You do spoil us. Take some real time off. We’ll manage.”
“All right then,” Marabella agrees, “but if you need anything just call me.” She winks in my direction and dashes away.
“Good grief. She thinks we’re going to be naked for the next few days.”
“We are,” he says, “which is why we need to deal with a few issues now. David. Do you know what he looks like?”
I’m a bit stunned by how quickly he’s back in attack mode, wondering what he’s learned that I don’t yet know. “I remember very clearly. Why?”
“Matteo did a search for all Davids that traveled to Europe from San Francisco, and there were too many to be an effective search. By cross-referencing with the California DMV he w
as able to narrow the pool based on age, race, and travel particulars.”
“I’d also make an educated guess that a generic name wasn’t an accident, and that David wasn’t even his real name.” He picks up the syrup and pours it over his pancakes, then sets it beside my plate. “By the time we finish eating, the files should be in my email. There are only ten, so it won’t take long.”
He lifts his fork and cuts his pancakes, and there is a hint of tension between us that wasn’t there before and can be from only one source. David. No matter who that man was, or was not, in the recent past I was engaged to him, and it bothers Kayden.
“Kayden,” I say, drawing his gaze to mine, and when he looks at me those piercing blue eyes are just a little too cold for comfort. “I’m not going to suddenly be in love with David.”
“You were going to marry him.”
“I can’t explain what my mind hasn’t told me yet, but I know I didn’t love him.”
He studies me for several seconds, his gaze probing, intense, as if he is trying to look into my soul and see my past and my future. “I believe you,” he finally says.
And since Kayden doesn’t say anything he doesn’t mean, I believe him. “I’m glad,” I whisper, and the tension uncurls in my shoulders as a breath I did not realize I was holding escapes my lips.
I reach for the syrup and his hand comes down on mine. “You’re mine to lose—not his to take.”