“…uh… sure,” Roberto muttered.
 
 “Excellent. If I don’t see you before I leave, I’ll see you back home. Give me a call and keep me updated on your progress.”
 
 “…alright…”
 
 “Mr. Han – a pleasure.” I didn’t offer my hand since he’d refused it earlier when we’d met at the airport. Plus, now I knew he was the enemy.“Arrivederci.”
 
 I walked out of the restaurant and disappeared into the gamblers and tourists crowding the casino floor.
 
 I had anotherveryimportant meeting to attend to.
 
 I checked my watch.
 
 Seven minutes to spare before my hour was up.
 
 Perfect.
 
 61
 
 Sofia
 
 Idecided to take a shower while I waited. Not just to freshen up but to distract myself from waiting around.
 
 Truth be told, I was extremely anxious. After all, I’d never had sex before.
 
 I’d also never been so powerfully attracted to anyone…
 
 Much less a mafioso.
 
 And the whole ‘swearing not to kill me’ part added a whole new layer of mixed feelings, both good and bad.
 
 But once the hot water hit my skin, I started to calm down.
 
 My shoulders relaxed, and the tension slowly left my neck.
 
 The entire time the water poured over me, I wondered what it would be like…
 
 Whathewould be like.
 
 And it made me want him all the more.
 
 When I got out of the shower, I considered getting dressed again – but my clothes had that ‘been worn for 36 hours’ feel to them, and I hadn’t brought a change.
 
 I decided they were coming off anyway, so I put on a plush terrycloth robe instead.
 
 I wiped the condensation off the mirror and looked at myself.
 
 Good enough,I thought.
 
 If it’s not, he can leave.
 
 I killed time by watching a documentary on TV.
 
 I was trying to distract myself, but I kept glancing at the clock by the bedside.
 
 Then… almost exactly an hour after we’d parted…
 
 I heard a knock on the door.