Page 65 of No Stone Unturned

“Oh, right.”

Our room was on the second floor, so we had to take only one flight of stairs. The room was bright and sleek with a balcony and a gorgeous sea view, as Slash had promised. I dropped my bags and hat on the bed and headed to the balcony, my hands resting on a smooth white railing. The sapphire sea sparkled as the late afternoon sun cast a reddish, golden glow over the water. Sailboats dotted the horizon. To my left and right, the cliffs of the town were wedged with brightly colored houses and buildings built right into the stone like the hotel.

“This may be one of the most beautiful views I’ve ever seen,” I said in a hushed tone.

He came up behind me, circling his arms around my waist. “The Amalfi coast is one of my favorite places in the world. There is a certain quiet here that rests my soul.”

“I can see why.”

I’m not sure how long we stood there admiring the view, but when we finally moved back into the room, my stomach growled loudly.

I pressed a hand to my abdomen. “Ugh. My body is all out of sorts with the time change.”

“I’m hungry, too,” Slash said. “Let’s get the computers set up and I’ll order room service. We’ll eat dinner on the balcony, if that works for you.”

“That totally works for me. Can we have seafood?”

“We can. I highly recommend the seafood and pasta from this region.”

“Perfect.”

I set up the computers while Slash called room service. It took me a few minutes to create an automatic search for all males named Manuel de Rosa in Italy, narrowing the parameters to include a specific age range. Slash joined me, creating a duplicate search, but focusing on all Italian males named Manuel de Rosa who were associated with seminary training or the priesthood. We would cross reference later to see who, if anyone, popped.

Sooner than expected, room service arrived with our dinner. I went into the bathroom to wash up and was met with a stunning interior of white-and-earth-toned tiles, including a gorgeous white marble bowl sink. When I came out, room service had departed and Slash was placing our dinner on the small balcony table. I finished setting the table while he was in the bathroom. By the time he returned, everything was ready.

“I ordered two separate dishes and thought we could share,” he said, pulling out my chair. I sat down and lifted the top covering one of the plates. “I ordered a variety of stone fruits,manteca del Cilentoand pecorino cheese, black olives, fresh figs and bread.”

It was an amazing spread and only the first course. I was in heaven.

He sat and we loaded our plates. As the first bite of the pecorino cheese exploded on my tongue, I closed my eyes to savor the experience. “Best. Food. Ever.”

We both gorged on figs, fruit and cheese before Slash opened a couple of Italian craft beers for us to try. Like everything else, the beer was delicious.

“I can see why people love Italy so much,” I said, munching on a piece of bread. “Carbs for every meal of the day.”

He smiled. “Life does revolve around food in Italy.”

“I hope I can stay awake after we eat. I’m going to need a nap after this.”

“Then we’ll take a nap.”

I needed to stay up and get adjusted to Italian time, but I didn’t want to pass up the chance to let him hold me, so I reserved the right to take a nap if I needed one.

After the antipasto, we shared an excellent meal of spaghetti with clam sauce and eggplant parmigiana. For dessert, we drank coffee and nibbled on lemondelizie, a spongy cake filled with lemon custard. A couple of times while we were eating, I got up and checked on the progress of our search for Manuel de Rosa.

“It’s looking good so far,” I said, sitting back down. “We’ll have decent data to work with.”

“Good. I’m anticipating narrowing it down fairly quickly. I want to move rapidly on this. Either he’s a good lead or he’s not.”

“True.” I took another bite of the cake and finally put down my fork, sitting back in my chair. “I can’t eat another bite. Being this full reminds me of eating at Nonna’s house. Will we get to see her while we’re here?”

“I’d be in serious fear for my life if she found out I was in Italy and didn’t stop by. Besides, she’s excited about the engagement, and the fact that you accepted the ring she once wore.”

I looked down at my engagement ring. I was scared that a klutz like me was entrusted with such an important family heirloom. Regardless, I loved it and was already used to the feel of it on my finger.

“Well, in that case, we should definitely visit her.”

Slash grinned, lifting his coffee cup to me. “You just want to eat her food.”

---