Intimate Betrayal Read Online Free PDF

nephew of the older man who was still up on the scaffolding, GiuseppeBrindesi, the Italian master craftsman and world-renowned stained glass expert. Vico was a wild, unpredictable ruffian, forever
     taunting his uncle, who had gotten him the job here.
    When Giuseppe saw the party of visitors, he climbed down from the scaffolding—a long climb that most of the workers didn’t
     bother with, instead using one of the construction cranes or aerial lifts to raise and lower themselves. But Giuseppe prided
     himself on his physical conditioning.
    “I apologize for my nephew’s behavior,” he said to the group, shaking his head. Annie noticed that he looked quite upset.
     “Children today have no respect.”
    Giuseppe was a strong, stocky man in his late forties. Annie figured that he must have been a real heartbreaker about twenty
     years before. He had roguish eyes and boundless energy. And during the few moments each day when he wasn’t completely absorbed
     in his stained glass work, he made sure that Annie felt the full effect of his masculine charm.
    She’d originally met Giuseppe through Francesca Carlyle, who, as head of the United Path Church building committee, had highly
     recommended his work. Although he and his sister’s family lived in San Francisco, Giuseppe spent a fair amount of time abroad,
     doing restoration work in the great cathedrals of Europe. In fact, he’d been out of the country for over a year recently,
     and Annie was thankful that he’d managed to squeeze this job into his schedule.
    Giuseppe hugged Annie and smiled expansively at Darcy. “How is my little madonna?” he asked Darcy, who laughed. He had once
     told her that she resembled the Virgin in one of the most beautiful stained glass representations in St. Peter’s in Rome.
     Darcy found it hilarious to be taken for a virgin, and an immaculate one at that.
    “How is the work progressing?” Annie asked.
    “It is satisfactory,” he said. “There are some things I do not like, but that is not unusual.”
    Nothing was ever more than satisfactory for Giuseppe. He was not only a master but also a strict perfectionist.
    “I’ve brought my boss with me today,” Annie explained. “He wants to meet you.”
    Sam stepped forward and Annie made the introductions. When Sam put out his hand to Giuseppe in his usual friendly manner,
     Annie was surprised to see the older man hesitate. He was staring intently at Sam, a puzzled look in his eyes.
    “Have we met before, signor?” Giuseppe asked.
    Sam looked briefly surprised, then shrugged. “If so, I apologize for not knowing it,” he said affably. “Put it down to my
     lousy memory for faces.”
    “Me, I have an excellent memory for the human face and form,” Giuseppe said.
    “And you re-create them exquisitely in the stained glass,” said Annie. “We are very fortunate to have your talents. These
     will be the finest stained glass panels in the entire city!”
    “In the entire country, if not the world,” Giuseppe corrected. He was not a modest man.
    “It looks as if you’re almost finished with the rose window,” Sid Canin noted.
    “Yes. Tomorrow we start on the large panels over the doors in the transept aisle,” Giuseppe said. He waved his hand toward
     the front of the cathedral, where there was a lot of hammering going on. “They are installing my scaffolding now.”
    “May I climb up there with you and get a closer look?” Darcy asked, squinting up at the rose window.
    Giuseppe nodded and smiled. He seemed to have put aside the altercation with his nephew. “You are the architect, are you not,
     madonna? Yes, please, come up. There are several things I would like to show you.”
    “Be careful, Darcy,” Sam called out as she started to climb.
    Darcy turned and shot him a flirtatious grin. “Will you catch me if I fall?”
    Sam laughed. “Hey, if you fall, I’m getting the hell out of the way!”
    “You’d both better be careful,” Sidney Canin said in his