Page 22 of Light Me Up

She gave him a hot, lingering kiss. “Hey,” she whispered. “You OK?”

“Fine.” He turned his face away again. “It’s so good with you, it almost kills me. That’s all.”

She hugged him close.

He felt her question in the silence. “I can’t risk losing you,” he said suddenly. “And if I let down my guard for one second and you got hurt…aw fuck, Caro.”

“Don’t talk like that.” She kissed his cheek, murmuring the words into his ear. “We can do what we just did anywhere. Even in Seattle. Let’sgo back home—”

“Hell no,” Noah said. “We’re going to see thisgoddamn cross.”

“Ah…ah…we’re doingwhat?”

“I called Morelli this morning. Before you woke up. It’s all set up.”

“But Noah…why didn’t you tell me?”

“I wanted to find out as much as I could first,” he said. “I meant to tell you at breakfast. Not my fault if you sashay around in that silky thing and distract me.”

She wriggled out of his arms and got up, grabbing the robe from the floor. “I want an explanation.”

Noah rose and slid his arms around her waist, pulling her close to his big hot body before she had a chance to put the robe on. “The short version orthe long one?”

She sighed with pleasure. His heat felt so good against her skin. “The highlights.”

“For starters, I now know everything that can be found online about Gianfranco Folti and his hedge fund.”

“OK,” she said. “What’s he worth?”

“A lot. He’s unbelievably fucking wealthy.”

She nodded. “Anything else?”

“I also studied the layout of the Palazzo Bellocchio and its surrounding grounds.” He smiled down at her. “In case we need to make an emergency getaway.”

“You’re paranoid,” she informed him. “But I love you. And for some reason,I married you.”

“Because you knew I’d always have your back.” He turned her inside his embrace and pressed a hot kiss against the nape of her neck. “It’s a really beautiful back. Like all the rest of you.”

Caro shivered with pleasure as she cuddled against him, then eased away with a smile. She shrugged on the robe. “Tell me more,” she told him. “I mean, about the Palazzo.”

Noah looked disappointed as she tied the silken sash. “If you insist.”

“I do.”

“Oh, I love it when you talkwedding to me.”

She gave him a mock slap. “Getto the point.”

“Well, did you know the Palazzo Bellocchio is riddled with secret passageways?”

“Of course it would be,” she said. “Castles and palaces always have a few. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? From your point ofview, I mean.”

“It’s an interesting thing,” he said. “And possibly useful. I read a thing about this count who lived there in the sixteen hundreds. He built a special passageway to a secret room in the Palazzo to smuggle in his mistresses, right under his wife’s nose.”

“That bad dog.”

“Pretty much,” he agreed. “Anyhow. I intend to make this event happen for you. But I want to make sure you’re onboard with a few obvious precautions.”

---