Page 22 of Royally Roma
“Paola?”
“Sì.Yes,” she said.
“It’s me, Julia.”
“Oh, Julia!Meno male.”Thank God. Why did Paola sound so relieved to hear from her? “Giuseppe has been trying to reach you.”
Her boss. That was strange.
Something felt off. Scarily off.Stop being paranoid. You’ve done nothing wrong.“I had a missed call, but I assumed it was from you. I was hoping you had something for me for tomorrow. Even a half-day tour would be good. I’ll take anything.”
“Sorry, not yet. Nothing for tomorrow. So you still haven’t spoken with Giuseppe?”
“No. Is he there? Can I talk to him?” She made every effort to sound casual, despite the sense of foreboding she couldn’t quite shake.
“I’m afraid he’s just left for the Hotel de Russie. He was in quite a rush, but you might be able to reach him on his cell.”
“The Hotel de Russie? Why on earth is he going there?” Nothing about this conversation was making any sense.
“To fetch your client, Mr. Romano.” Paola was starting to sound just as confused as Julia felt.
“I don’t understand. Mr. Romano isn’t at the hotel. He’s with me.”
“Oh, that’s a relief. He was upset when he rang earlier. Quite upset. Has he managed to calm down?”
Mano had called the touring company? When? “He seems fine. A bit distracted perhaps, but not upset. We’re at the Colosseum. He needed to take a break and make a call, so I thought I’d check in.”
Surely his urgent phone call hadn’t been to Giuseppe.
No, it couldn’t possibly. Even if it had, why would her boss pick up and leave for Hotel de Russie?
“Paola, I’m confused. What’s going on?”
“Mr. Romano called here this morning and said you’d been a no-show. He was waiting at the hotel and was quite anxious to get started. Like I said, he was very upset. He gave Giuseppe an earful. So Giuseppe headed down there. He said he’d just do the tour himself since you weren’t answering your phone.”
This cannot be happening.
Failing to show up for a scheduled tour was the worst possible infraction she could make. One that would no doubt get her fired.
Breathe, just breathe. You didnotstand him up.
“But I’m here. I’m on the tour right now. Everything is fine.” Then why did she have such a gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach?
“Then I’m sure you have nothing to worry about. I’ll let Giuseppe know you’re with Mr. Romano the minute he walks in the door.”
“I don’t understand. I wasn’t late. In fact, I was early.” He hadn’t said a word to her about calling her boss. He’d just sat there drinking his Bloody Mary in his impeccable suit. And what was it that he’d said?I’m not talking to anyone right now.
Had that been his way of telling her he was angry? The man seriously needed to work on his social skills.
“Julia, really. Stop worrying. If you’re there with Mr. Romano, I’m sure everything is fine. It’s probably just some kind of misunderstanding.”
“Right.” A misunderstanding. That’s all it was. It was the only explanation. Still, she wanted nothing more at the moment than to strangle the maddening Mano Romano. “I’ve got to get back to the tour, Paola. Please tell me you’ll talk to Giuseppe and tell him that I’m here. Mr. Romano is here. Everybody is present and accounted for. Promise me.”
She could always call Giuseppe herself, but it would be better to give him some time to calm down. He possessed one of the most stereotypical hot Italian tempers that she’d ever seen. Besides, she needed to get back to Mano. She was beginning to regret taking her eyes off of him for even a second.
“I will. I promise.Ciao, bella,” Paola said.
“Ciao.” She hung up and took a deep breath.
