Page 44 of Casanova LLC

I shook my head. Then a breathy laugh escaped me. “Well. Other than how to get you painting again.”

“Claire…” He sounded regretful that he’d told me. That this wasn’t supposed to be about him.

So I tried to joke. “You see, it’s like you’re a delicate chain, tangled up in a jewelry box.”

He laughed. Then backed away, leaning against the opposite wall. His hands lifted lazily at his sides. “Does the world need another painter?”

I came off my wall and grabbed his shoulders. He needed to see how serious I was when I said this: “I don’t want to live in a world that doesn’t have your art in it.”

“This is getting uncomfortably close to our conversation at your rehearsal dinner.” His eyes went soft. “When nothing happened.”

I got lost in those eyes for a time.

Finally, he leaned in again, and his phone rang.

It had better not be another fruit emergency.

He glanced at the screen. “This is the call I was waiting for.” He answered and spoke briefly in Italian. When he hung up, he looked at me. “So. Fancy going to an orgy tonight?”

“Seriously?”

“It’s the last weekend of Carnival so I wasn’t sure I’d be able to book the costumer on such short notice, but we’re all set. It’s happening.”

He must have seen the momentary flicker across my face, the second-guessing happening between what I thought I wanted and who I knew myself to actually be. “Amazing! Thank you so much.”

His smile softened and he reached for my hand. “We’ll go and you’ll scope it out. Maybe you’ll love it. Maybe you’ll want to leave immediately. Remember, Claire: We only do what you want.”

I wanted one more kiss. I pulled him to me and smoothed my hands over his shoulders. My fingers were drawn to the wool of his coat, the cashmere of his sweater as I kissed him with easy, comfortable pleasure. My mouth released him just to say, “I want a massage before the ball.”

His eyes flashed. His hands went to the back of my neck and pressed into the knots. “Then let’s go home.”

Home.

Episode 4

“The happiness I gave her increased mine twofold, for it has always been my weakness to compose the four-fifths of my enjoyment from the sum total of the happiness which I gave the charming being from whom I derived it.”

? Giacomo Casanova

Claire

Back at the palazzo, we hung our wet outer layers in the androne, then went upstairs and straight into the bedroom on the piano nobile. Alessandro grabbed a water bottle out of the mini-fridge and handed it to me before taking one for himself. I leaned against the counter and rolled my ankle.

“Are you tired? Do you want to take a quick nap?”

“No, just body-tired. I have Museum Feet.” I mimicked looking side-to-side, leaning in to read placards. “Art Neck.”

He cracked open his water bottle. “Why don’t you have a quick shower and I’ll get the table ready.”

“Great idea.” I turned to go up to my suite.

“Shower here.” He nodded toward the bathroom.

I happily kicked off my sneakers and shrugged out of my cardigan, throwing it on the bed.

Inside the bathroom, I closed the door, quickly stripped, and turned on the shower. Just as I was about to step in, I realized I didn’t want to get my hair wet, to have to dry it again before the costume fitting. Before I could start poking around for—maybe?—a forgotten hair band, Alessandro gave a knock and opened the door just enough to reach his hand through.

It was holding a shower cap.

---