said,“Well, it has. It is! And once Nonna told us Joseph Bianchin wanted the bottle, I figured that was the whole”—he gestured—“mystery. He was behind the attack on Nonna. Nasty old bastard.”
Everyone on the porch nodded.
Nonna said, “He tried to kill your grandfather on our wedding day. That makes him more than a nasty old bastard. That makes him a—”
Noah’s arm shot out, and he hugged her to him hard. “Nonna, speaking as one of your grandsons, I gotta tell you—you can’t say stuff like that. It makes us duck and run while we wait for the lightning to strike.”
She chuckled drily against his shirt and hugged him around the waist. “All right, dear, but I’ve heard all the words. I’ve even used them in Scrabble with Annie and June.”
Annie and June were Nonna’s sisters-in-law and best friends, Noah’s great-aunts, women who lived at the Di Luca family’s resorts on California’s romantic Far Island and on the wild Washington coast. “But you haven’t seen them in a year,” Noah objected.
Nonna dismissed his objection with a wave. “Oh, please. We play online.”
“Foolish me. Of course you do.” Because Nonna would use every means at hand to keep in touch with those she loved.
“I still believe Bianchin was behind it all,” Nonna said.
“It was definitely him who started the trouble. Noah’s done one thing right.” Rafe looked at Noah. “He chased Joseph Bianchin out of town.”
Noah inclined his head. “I wish he was back in town. I want to know what he knows, now that we figured out what was in that bottle—”
“ We figured it out?” Eli smirked.
“Okay, you.” Security guy that Rafe was, he liked to be the one who figured stuff out.
“Me and Chloë,” Eli said.
“She was the real brains behind the whole pink-diamond discovery, wasn’t she?” Rafe asked.
Eli stretched and grinned. “What do you think? She’s a writer. She plots mysteries for a living.”
Noah watched his brothers, amused by Rafe’s chagrin, by Eli’s newlywed complacency.
Rafe must have seen, for he turned on him and snapped, “Noah! Did you know something about Olivia?”
“What? No! Why?” He’d spent so many years practicing a casual expression—had he looked guilty? Or were Rafe and Eli suspicious of his every expression now?
“You were interested in her,” Rafe said. “Then you weren’t. Did you suspect her?”
Noah relaxed infinitesimally. “I was interested in her. She was interested in me. We shared a few kisses, but she wanted more than I was willing to give.”
“You mean like marriage?” Eli asked.
“Yup.”
“And you won’t marry,” Nonna said.
He looked away, discomfited by her steady gaze. “No. I won’t marry.”
Nonna lowered herself into the red-painted rocking chair, moving slowly, painfully, like an old lady.
She wasn’t an old lady. She was eighty, but until this ordeal had started Noah and his brothers had bragged about her, how active she was, how astute, how cool she was, a fan of Australian football, a proud, sharp-voiced liberal, a volunteer at the food kitchen, and when shedispensed advice about business or finances or personal matters, the Di Luca boys listened.
For God’s sake, she drove a 1967 titty pink Ford Mustang convertible with original upholstery. And she drove it fast .
Now she looked tired and red eyed, and as if she ached with sorrow.
Noah spoke hastily, waving the mystery of Olivia like a shiny toy to distract her. “Anyway, Olivia tried to put pressure on me, then suddenly… boom! She shrugged me off. I suppose she wanted money—my money. I suppose when they contacted her, she decided she didn’t need me.”
“They?” Rafe’s blue eyes lit with triumph, and he pounced. “Why they ? Why not him ? For a job like this, I always suspect a man.”
“Okay. Him .” Noah let his very real annoyance sound in his voice. “You know the ropes in a job like this . In my business, as head of the family’s
Everyone on the porch nodded.
Nonna said, “He tried to kill your grandfather on our wedding day. That makes him more than a nasty old bastard. That makes him a—”
Noah’s arm shot out, and he hugged her to him hard. “Nonna, speaking as one of your grandsons, I gotta tell you—you can’t say stuff like that. It makes us duck and run while we wait for the lightning to strike.”
She chuckled drily against his shirt and hugged him around the waist. “All right, dear, but I’ve heard all the words. I’ve even used them in Scrabble with Annie and June.”
Annie and June were Nonna’s sisters-in-law and best friends, Noah’s great-aunts, women who lived at the Di Luca family’s resorts on California’s romantic Far Island and on the wild Washington coast. “But you haven’t seen them in a year,” Noah objected.
Nonna dismissed his objection with a wave. “Oh, please. We play online.”
“Foolish me. Of course you do.” Because Nonna would use every means at hand to keep in touch with those she loved.
“I still believe Bianchin was behind it all,” Nonna said.
“It was definitely him who started the trouble. Noah’s done one thing right.” Rafe looked at Noah. “He chased Joseph Bianchin out of town.”
Noah inclined his head. “I wish he was back in town. I want to know what he knows, now that we figured out what was in that bottle—”
“ We figured it out?” Eli smirked.
“Okay, you.” Security guy that Rafe was, he liked to be the one who figured stuff out.
“Me and Chloë,” Eli said.
“She was the real brains behind the whole pink-diamond discovery, wasn’t she?” Rafe asked.
Eli stretched and grinned. “What do you think? She’s a writer. She plots mysteries for a living.”
Noah watched his brothers, amused by Rafe’s chagrin, by Eli’s newlywed complacency.
Rafe must have seen, for he turned on him and snapped, “Noah! Did you know something about Olivia?”
“What? No! Why?” He’d spent so many years practicing a casual expression—had he looked guilty? Or were Rafe and Eli suspicious of his every expression now?
“You were interested in her,” Rafe said. “Then you weren’t. Did you suspect her?”
Noah relaxed infinitesimally. “I was interested in her. She was interested in me. We shared a few kisses, but she wanted more than I was willing to give.”
“You mean like marriage?” Eli asked.
“Yup.”
“And you won’t marry,” Nonna said.
He looked away, discomfited by her steady gaze. “No. I won’t marry.”
Nonna lowered herself into the red-painted rocking chair, moving slowly, painfully, like an old lady.
She wasn’t an old lady. She was eighty, but until this ordeal had started Noah and his brothers had bragged about her, how active she was, how astute, how cool she was, a fan of Australian football, a proud, sharp-voiced liberal, a volunteer at the food kitchen, and when shedispensed advice about business or finances or personal matters, the Di Luca boys listened.
For God’s sake, she drove a 1967 titty pink Ford Mustang convertible with original upholstery. And she drove it fast .
Now she looked tired and red eyed, and as if she ached with sorrow.
Noah spoke hastily, waving the mystery of Olivia like a shiny toy to distract her. “Anyway, Olivia tried to put pressure on me, then suddenly… boom! She shrugged me off. I suppose she wanted money—my money. I suppose when they contacted her, she decided she didn’t need me.”
“They?” Rafe’s blue eyes lit with triumph, and he pounced. “Why they ? Why not him ? For a job like this, I always suspect a man.”
“Okay. Him .” Noah let his very real annoyance sound in his voice. “You know the ropes in a job like this . In my business, as head of the family’s
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