The Roman's Woman (A Singular Obsession Book 4) Read Online Free PDF Page B

student. I have a few weeks off work before I start a new phase of my research. I decided, since I had to come to Italy anyway, that this was the perfect way to honor her memory—by seeing all the sights she loved when she was younger. She always meant to come back here for another visit. We even talked about coming here together, but I was always too busy with work. And then it was too late. She was too unwell to travel.”
    Her voice was low and thin by the end of the explanation.
    Gio surprised her by taking her hand. “I’m sorry for your loss. I, too, lost my mother. It was a plane crash, when I was a teenager. It’s only me and my father now. Well, and the rest of my extended family, which is rather large.”
    She met his eyes, grasping his hand before withdrawing it shyly. “Actually, my father also passed away a few months ago, but our relationship was…strained. We weren’t close. I didn’t see much of him after the divorce. I grew up with my mother in Portland and, though she has family in Mexico, I don’t see them a lot.”
    Gio smiled wryly. “I’m sorry about losing your father, as well. Even if you weren’t close, it must feel like something of a missed opportunity.”
    Surprised that he understood so well, she nodded. “That pretty much sums up our entire relationship, but we were in a fairly good place when he passed. As good as we were going to get.” She shrugged.
    “Any other family?” he asked.
    “None that I see regularly. They’re kind of scattered.”
    “I sometimes wish I didn’t have to see my family as often as I do. They can be quite an obligation sometimes.”
    She narrowed her eyes at him. “You can’t fool me. You love them. It’s obvious.”
    He laughed. “I didn’t say I didn’t love them. It's simply that they can be a handful. And they require a lot of time and energy. I sometimes feel like I’m constantly on call to mediate disputes and help them out of their difficulties.” He finished with a resigned shrug.
    Tempted to ask what a street performer could do to mediate disputes, she blinked and bit her tongue. His family dynamics were none of her business. But his description made her wistful. It was nice to have people, even if they were troublesome at times.
    “Still, it must be good to have them in your life. The closest family to where I live now would be some distant cousins in Spain. My father was Spanish, although he lived most of his life in England. My mother met him there, but we moved to the states after they broke up. I went back to England to be near him after she passed, but work kept us both so busy we didn’t see much of each other.”
    That was mostly true. Her twice-monthly visits to see her father had been regular, but they’d done little to bring them closer. All he had wanted to do was talk about his latest research study, but he hadn’t reciprocated in kind and discussed hers. The best she could do was tolerate the one-sided conversations.
    Under Gio’s gentle prodding, she told him about her father’s position at the University as chair of the sociology department and how she first met Kelly when the younger woman had been a teaching assistant for him.
    It was also how she’d met Richard, but she didn’t tell him that. The last thing she wanted was to do was talk about her ex. But Gio didn’t have that problem. Though he didn’t go into detail, he mentioned that he was divorced.
    “Just the one divorce?” she teased since he seemed pretty casual about it.
    “Yes,” he laughed.
    “Are you sure?”
    “Pretty sure. Why do assume there would be more?”
    She gestured with an open hand up and down to encompass his whole body. “Cause this whole thing, this supercharged-testosteroney-charm-overload thing you’ve got going on must work on a lot of women. I can see you with a string of ex-wives. Like at least five. And those are just the ones you put a ring on it. Then there are the baby mama’s…”
    “The what?” he asked,