Page 9 of Locked Out

He offered her a small smile. “Actually, there’s a lovely little restaurant not far from here that serves the most delectable desserts.”

No fucking way. “I’m not hungry, thanks.” Riss forced herself to remain calm.

The man’s gaze hardened. His eyes reminded her of shiny volcanic pebbles. He didn’t like her answer, or that she wouldn’t leave the safety of the hotel with him. Too damn bad. Cash had called her kitten as if he thought she was clumsy, but she had claws, and she wasn’t afraid to use them.

He sighed. “Of course. Perhaps in the bar?”

She glanced at the entrance, but the lights seemed to have dimmed since she and Cash had been in there. There was no way she was going anywhere that wasn’t well-lit with this man. “The lobby is better, I think. So well-lit and inviting.”

She was sure his teeth ground together, but he merely smiled and pointed towards the sofa and chairs that were in the middle of the room. She walked over and took a seat in an armchair at the end of the coffee table. He sat on the sofa next to her.

She turned to him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

“Allesio Umberti,” he said and offered his hand.

She took it but was surprised by the fact that it was warm. For some reason, she assumed it would be cold. “Well Mr. Umberti. What can you tell me about my family?”

“Allesio, please. My dear Larissa…may I call you that?”

“Riss,” she said. “I prefer Riss.”

“Riss,” he amended. Her name came out with a distinctive sibilant tone “I assume that Mr. Walker told you about your sister, Alicia.”

She frowned. “Mr. Walker? Is that his name?”

Umberti’s eyebrows went up. “He didn’t tell you his name?”

“He just said it was Cash.” Umberti seemed overly concerned about Cash, and Riss was sure there was subtext she was missing but honestly, the whole thing was giving her a headache. She gritted her teeth.

“I see. Well, Cash told you about Alicia, I assume. Your resemblance is quite striking.”

“I…I’ve only seen a picture of her so I wouldn’t know.”

He nodded. “Yes, her death was quite a blow.” He grimaced. “She would have liked to meet you. She’d spent a long time looking for her family.”

Riss’s stomach went hollow. All those years searching for each other only to miss one another by three months. “Did you know her well?”

He chuckled. “I doubt anyone knew Alicia well, but I admired her spirit. She was a strong-willed woman.”

“Cash said the same.” He hadn’t said anything else, however. “How did you meet Alicia?”

“She came into my shop. I have a curiosity shop not far from here. I occasionally have been known to track down items for people. She came in and asked me to find you.”

All the air fled Riss’s lungs. She gripped her hands together so hard, her knuckles went white. “She knew about me?”

Umberti nodded. “She did. It was her fondest wish to find you, her sister.”

It was a lot to take in. Knowing her sister knew about her and wanted to find her somehow made it that much more painful. She found herself gasping for breath. “I…How did she know about me?”

Umberti smiled. “Why the bible, of course?”

Riss frowned. “What bible?”

“Your family bible. You don’t know about it?” Allesio asked. His eyes opened wider but somehow she knew his surprise was an act. He was watching her closely. Studying her, in fact.

“No. I don’t know anything about it.” She started to reach for her necklace, but Umberti’s eyes followed her hand, and it made her nervous so she put her hand back in her lap.

“I see. Alicia saw it once when she was a child. Your grandfather had come to visit her. She was in care by that point. He’d told her he couldn’t help but that one day, she would grow up and he would be dead, and then she could come find her family. The bible has been passed down through the generations of your family. In the front, there is quite an elaborate family tree. You are listed on it. She’d been trying to find you for years.”

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